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.
The global goal on adaptation (GGA) is a collective commitment established under the Paris agreement – aimed at driving political action and finance for adaptation on the same scale as mitigation.
Adaptation refers to adapting to the impacts of climate change such as planting mangroves to combat rising sea levels or planting trees in cities to reduce temperatures.
There has been little progress on the CGA for the past six years and so today's draft text is welcome. It urges developed countries to double finance from 2019 levels by 2025, and highlights human rights, intergenerational rights, social justice, vulnerable groups, cascading risks and social protection measures.
Some analysts are disappointed with the text, saying it does not go far enough, given the urgency of the situation. UNEP's Adaptation Gap Report 2023, revealed that adaptation finance needs to reach $194-366b a year, yet public multilateral and bilateral adaptation finance flows to developing countries declined by 15 per cent to US$21 billion in 2021.
Climate change is already having catastrophic impacts on many migratory animals and their ability to provide vital ecosystem services to humanity according to a major new report of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a UN biodiversity treaty.
Released today at COP28, the report finds that the direct effects of climate change on many migratory species are already being seen, including poleward range shifts, changes in the timing of migration, and reduced breeding success and survival. Integral to the ecosystems they live in, migratory species support vital ecosystem services that both mitigate the impacts of climate change and increase the resilience to climatic hazards.
Food, Agriculture and Water Day will look into specific food and agriculture focuses include innovation investment, regenerative agriculture, and national transformation pathways, underpinned by financing mechanisms and project preparation.
UNEP Pavilion: Cultivating change: Pioneering financial innovations and technical solutions for food systems transformation
This event will bring together leaders, researchers, financial institutions, and policymakers who will share their visions, strategies, and successes in driving the food systems transition towards a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive system.
Time: 10.30-11.15am
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Food is never waste: Tackling food waste as an essential climate action
To achieve global food security, we need to half food waste and transition to circular food systems: act today to reduce the risks of and prepare for future threats. Identifying food waste reduction strategies is therefore essential to cut methane and other GHG emissions and reach Paris Agreement targets. This event will highlight key findings from the new Food Waste Index Report 2023, as well as successful anti-food waste initiatives from the region.
Time: 11.45-13.30pm
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Cooking demonstration and lunch reception
A lunch reception and cooking demonstration by UNEP Advocate on Food Waste in West Asia, Chef Leyla Fathallah and Senior Director, Culinary, EMEA, Hilton, Chef Sebastian Nohse.
Time: 12.30-13.30pm
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Wastewater and Nutrient Management: A Key for Climate, Water, Food and Energy Security
This event will highlight the nexus between nutrients, wastewater, and climate change and builds on the work done by the Global Wastewater Initiative and Global Partnership on Nutrient Management to reuse wastewater and recover nutrients from wastewater to protect marine and freshwater ecosystems.
Time: 14.00-14.45pm
Watch here.
Coral reefs occupy less than 1 per cent of the ocean floor yet they are home to more than 25 per cent of marine life. Yet human activity and a warming planet are rapidly degrading these precious and fragile ecosystems.
Reefs teem with life. In fact, they harbour the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem globally, making them one of the most biologically complex and valuable ecosystems on the planet. These vibrant ecosystems exist throughout the tropics and support more than 1 billion people through their invaluable ecosystem services.
Right now at the UNEP Pavilion, an event is on highlighting the potential of forests to combat climate change. The Collaborative Partnership on Forests – comprising 16 international organizations – recently unveiled its Joint Call to Action for Forests towards 2030. Building on this launch, this event will focus on best practices and case studies on capturing full values of forests, productive functions of forests and potential of renewable materials and green jobs.
Forests are home to more than half of the world’s land-based species of animals, plants and insects. They combat climate change because of their capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it, which is called forest mitigation.
This avoiding and reducing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which prevents the planet from warming to more extreme temperatures, is also called Climate change mitigation.
Forests also buffer the impacts of storms and floods. By feeding our rivers, forests supply drinking water for nearly half of the world’s largest cities. They also provide shelter, jobs and security for forest-dependent populations.
Given it's Forest and Land Use Day at COP28, there will be lots of discussion about nature-based solutions as a way to tackle both biodiversity loss and the climate crisis. So, what are nature-based solutions, and why do they matter?
Nature-based solutions simply mean that we turn to the natural world, rather than man-made solutions. For example, instead of building a sea wall to prevent coastal flooding, we plant mangroves. Or instead of a farmer using plastic sheeting to provide soil cover they plant cover crops.
Nature-based solutions usually have multiple benefits. For example, planting mangroves not only protects coastal communities from flooding, it provides a habitat for wildlife, improves soil quality and stores carbon – none of which a man-made flood defence does.
Read more about UNEP's work with nature-based solutions here.
Each morning in Addis Ababa, the bustling capital of Ethiopia, the same scene plays out.
As the sun rises, thousands of commuters jostle for space on public minibuses. Others hop on the city’s light rail line, the first network of its kind in Africa. Notably absent are bicycles; cyclists are not something seen regularly on these streets.
Ephrem Bekele Woldeyesus wants to change that. The 34-year-old co-founded a community organization, Along the Way, that aims to make cycling common in the capital, in part to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the climate crisis.
“It’s good for the environment and people’s health,” Woldeyesus said of cycling. “But here, people think it’s not safe. There are too many cars.”
Woldeyesus is among a growing number of campaigners and government officials who want to make cycling and walking safer in Africa’s cities, where roads are notoriously dangerous. They believe that will lead more people to choose what’s known as active mobility, reducing gridlock and helping to counter a climate crisis that is already sowing chaos on the continent of 1.3 billion.
Mangroves are often misunderstood and undervalued ecosystems. These coastal forests are sometimes perceived as “dirty” or “dead areas”, a wasteland that could be cleared in favour of sandy beaches, tourist resorts or other developments.
These myths about mangroves could not be farther from the truth. They are the only trees that thrive in salty waters and improve water quality by filtering out nutrients and sediments.
They are also teeming with life: more than 1,500 plant and animal species depend on mangroves. This includes fish and birds who use the shallow waters beneath mangrove trees as nurseries. Research now indicates that mangroves are also critical for larger mammals, such as monkeys, sloths, tigers, hyenas and African wild dogs.
COP28 has entered its final weekend with pressure mounting on governments to agree to phase out fossil fuels as part of the final text.
Countries are currently discussing the global stocktake, which examines progress towards meeting the Paris Agreement goals of keeping global temperature rise “well below” 2C and “pursuing efforts” to keep them to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Right now the world is wildly off track to meet those goals, which is why it is vital that there is an agreement to phase out fossil fuels – which more than 100 countries are pushing for – as part of the global stocktake’s recommendations.
As revealed by UNEP's Emissions Gap Report 2023, 86 days this year saw temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial.
Fossil fuel producing countries are however pushing for the stocktake to refer to “abated” fossil fuels, which refers to the burning of fossil fuels whereby a portion of it is captured and stored.
Other issues remain around climate finance, with developing countries arguing that developed countries must take on more responsibility for cutting emissions and providing financial help to the countries currently experiencing the brunt of the climate crisis.
It is hoped that progress will be made in the coming days, but as always with COPs, nothing can be taken for granted.
A few dozen kilometres inland from northern Panama’s coast is the Hato Chami school. Set amid winding roads, green trees and stunning mountains, it has more than 1,000 pupils, most of whom hail from one of Panama’s largest indigenous groups, the Ngäbe.
The single-storey school stands out from other buildings in the impoverished Hato Chami region because of the solar water heaters fitted to its roof. The recently installed devices allow students to take hot showers and make it easier for staff to boil water when preparing meals.
“People think that because Panama is a hot country there is no need for hot water,” said Luis Navntoft, an advisor at Termosolar Panama, a broad-based partnership that installed the solar water heaters. “They are often not aware about the need for heat, either for hot water or cooking."
