At the end of 2021, when the United Nations climate conference (COP26) concluded in Glasgow, none of those present could have expected that a war in Ukraine would send the global economy into disrepair. chaos, persuading many countries to suspend only low-carbon commitments. economies, as they scramble to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies, and secure fossil fuel supplies elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a series of studies have pointed to the continued warming of the Earth and humanity’s failure to reduce carbon emissions as well as capture the existential threat of a gas emergency. Queen.
However, the United Nations continues to lead the slow, difficult, but essential task of reaching international climate agreements, while exerting continued pressure on major economies to do more to address climate change. cut fossil fuel use and support developing countries whose citizens are bearing the brunt of drought, flooding and extreme weather caused by human-caused climate change.
© Unsplash/Patrick Perkins
Record heat waves, droughts and floods
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a series of explicit reports throughout the year. A study in January, announced that 2021 already has participation the top seven hottest years on record, setting the tone for the year.
In the summer, when record heat waves were recorded in several European countries, the agency alert that we should get used to more things in the next few years, while Africa can wait a worsening food crisis, centered in the Horn of Africa, displaced millions: four out of five countries on the continent are unlikely to have sustainably managed water by 2030.
While some regions suffered from water shortages, others were hit by catastrophic floods. Pakistan declares national emergency declare in August, following massive floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains, which, at the height of the crisis, left about a third of the country under water. Tens of millions of people have been displaced.
unprecedented floods in Chad affected more than 340,000 people in August, and in October the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) claims some 3.4 million people in West and Central Africa need aid amid the worst floods in a decade.
© Unsplash/Ella Ivanescu
Addicted to ‘delusions’ on fossil fuels
In its October Greenhouse gas newsletterWMO has detailed the levels of three main gases – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, which saw the largest annual increase in concentrations in 40 years, identifying human activity as a major contributor out climate change.
Yet despite all the evidence that a transition to a low-carbon economy is urgently needed, the world’s major economies have responded to the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. by reopening old power plants and finding new oil and gas suppliers.
UN Secretary General António Guterres denigrate their reaction, calling it illusionat a climate summit in Austria in June, and argued that if they had previously invested in renewable energy, these countries would have avoided the price volatility of the fuel market. fossil.
At an energy event held in Washington DC the same month, Mr. Guterres so The behavior of the fossil fuel industry on the performance of major tobacco companies in the mid-20th century: “like tobacco interests, fossil fuel interests and their financial accomplices do not shirk responsibility,” he said.The argument of setting aside climate action to address domestic problems also becomes hollow“.
A clean and healthy environment is a universal human right
July decision of the United Nations General Assembly to declare that access to a clean and healthy environment is a universal human right hailed as an important milestone, based on a similar document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Dong Nhan Quyen Association in 2021.
Mr. Guterres said in the statement that the landmark development will help reduce environmental injustices, close protections gaps and empower everyone, especially those in vulnerable situations. vulnerable, including environmental human rights defenders, children, young people, women and indigenous peoples.
The importance of this move is underlined in October by Ian Fry, the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Defense of Human Rights in the Context of Climate Change. Mr Fry told UN News that the resolution has already entered into force, with the European Union discussing how to include it in national legislation and constitutions.
© Ocean Image Bank/Matt Curnock
Breakthrough agreements reached at UN climate conferences
The year was marked by three key UN climate-related summits – the Ocean Conference in June, the COP27 Climate Conference in November and the much-delayed COP15 Biodiversity Conference. in December – proving that the organization is far more than simply declaring a disaster. climate situation, and call for change.
At each event, progress was made in promoting international commitments to protect the environment and reduce the harm and destruction caused by human activities.
The Ocean Conference saw important issues discussed and new ideas generated. World leaders acknowledge the profound alarm at the global emergency facing the Oceans, and recommit to urgent action, cooperation at all levels, and full achievement. goals as soon as possible.
More than 6,000 delegates, including 24 Heads of State and Government, and more than 2,000 representatives of civil society organizations attended the Conference, advocating for urgent and specific action to solve the pandemic crisis. positive.
They emphasize that science-based and innovative actions, along with international cooperation, are essential to deliver the necessary solutions.
Agreed ‘loss and damage’ funding, in favor of developing countries
COP27, the United Nations Climate Conference, to be held in Egypt in November, is likely to end without any agreement, as negotiations drag on beyond the official end date. of the summit.
Somehow, however, the negotiators managed to not only agree on the wording of the resulting text, but also establish a funding mechanism to compensate vulnerable countries. about the losses and damages caused by climate disasters.
These countries have spent decades debating such a provision, so the inclusion is hailed as a big step forward. Details on how the mechanism works, and who will benefit, will now be discussed in the coming months.
However, little progress has been made on other key issues, particularly on phasing out fossil fuels and tightening the language on the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. .
Enhanced Biodiversity Protection Promises in Montreal
After two years of delay and delay due to COVID-19 pandemic, the fifteenth UN biodiversity conference, COP15, finally took place in Montreal this December, conclusion with an agreement to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land, coastal areas and inland waters by the end of the decade. Inger Andersen, head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), described the results as “the first step in re-establishing our relationship with the natural world”.
The world’s biodiversity is in jeopardy, with about a million species facing have ability to be extinct. UN experts agree that the crisis will intensify, with dire consequences for humanity, unless we interact with nature in a more sustainable way.
The agreement, officially known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, includes impressive commitments, but these now need to be translated into action. This has been a major obstacle at previous biodiversity conferences, but it is hoped that a forum, launched at COP15, to help countries strengthen implementation, will help turn the plan into action. details come true.
