The climate emergency is a direct consequence of carbon-heavy land-use and agriculture, transport, buildings and industrial processes and polluting energy sources. Without profound changes to these sectors and a drastic cut to carbon footprints, there is little hope of protecting the planet from the devastating effects of a warmer world.
Below are climate-related news and events from the United Nations and partners.
In Tanzania, UNEP is working to spearhead the shift to electric vehicles through its Global Electric Mobility Programme. Along with countering climate change, the transition could create new economic opportunities, found a recent UNEP-led report.
Tanzania has about 1.2 million motorcycles and three-wheelers with internal combustion engines. At least 10 companies have entered the country’s electric mobility market, hoping to capitalize on an untapped opportunity. For example, leading ride-hailing platform Bolt, asset financer Watu and TRÍ have just launched a pilot programme, deploying 25 electric bajaj taxis.
“Transitioning from vehicles with internal combustion engines to those powered by electricity is not just a trend. It is a necessary shift to achieve net-zero emissions targets,” says Rob De Jong, Head of the Sustainable Mobility Unit with UNEP.
Cities and regions are in the frontlines of the escalating global triple planetary crisis.
At the ICLEI World Congress, in her keynote speech, Gulnara Roll, Head of the Cities Unit, at the Climate Change Division in UNEP highlighted the connection between cities and the triple planetary crisis and how urban nature offers cost-effective solutions to reduce climate impacts and improve urban life. She outlined how UNEP through Generation Restoration is providing cities with access to information, technical assistance, peer to peer exchange, capacity building, direct financing, and exemplary case studies.
UNEP with ICLEI and other partners are collaborating to enhance multilevel action and explore innovative financing mechanisms for nature-based solutions.
Assemble a team of 7 to 10 sustainability enthusiasts and register for the "My Sustainable Living Challenge" before 5 July 2024.
The challenge is a 6-week online gamified learning platform that channels learning towards behaviour change through actionable commitments.
On World Refugee Day, UNEP CCC are hosting a webinar on market creation strategies for solar e-cooking technologies in off-grid and displaced communities that ties in with the day’s theme and UNEP’s focus on climate and refugees.
The Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 is the world’s largest standalone public opinion survey on climate change launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It serves as a platform for people to express their concerns and needs on climate change to world leaders.
See the survey results, including at the country level.
Four reports were launched on 11 June by experts convened by the UN, showing how action to tackle climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals can be accelerated by addressing both crises together, notably in the key areas of policy frameworks; financial systems; knowledge and data; and cities.
Under the umbrella title Seeking Synergy Solutions, the four thematic reports, spearheaded by the Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy, were launched at a special event at the climate meetings in Bonn, Germany, laying the groundwork for the 2024 global synthesis report on climate and SDG synergy, to be released in July. The Expert Group is co-convened by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), which co-hosted the launch, joined by the secretariats of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Read the Knowledge and Data report.
Read the Policy report.
Read the Finance report.
Read the Cities report.
The NDC Partnership & UNFCCC launch a tool to support countries in raising NDCs 3.0 ambition and accelerating implementation. Explore the interactive tool (NDC 3.0 Navigator) designed to support countries in raising NDCs 3.0 ambition and accelerating the implementation of the next round of NDCs to be submitted in early 2025. The Navigator was developed with technical inputs from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Resources Institute (WRI) and over 30 other partners.
The tool is launched in time for countries as they submit their revised contributions due in early 2025.
