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.
Blue ecosystems – including kelp forests, mangroves, seagrass meadows and coral reefs – are vital for biodiversity, fighting the effects of climate change as well as providing food and income to millions around the world.
Yet these crucial habitats are increasingly threatened, which would have devastating effects on both people and planet.
Check out this interactive deep dive into why blue ecosystems matter and how humanity can safeguard and restore our vital underwater habitats.
Today is Blue Ecosystems Day at COP28, with a range of events focusing on its importance when it comes to fighting climate change.
UNEP Pavilion: Measuring progress in addressing drought risk and impacts: the role of ecosystem-based approaches
This event will highlight perspectives from climate-vulnerable communities and decision-makers, emphasizing locally led adaptation for climate resilience and sparking a broader policy conversation on measuring progress in ecosystem-based adaptation to address drought risks globally.
Time: 10.30-11.15am
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Unlocking sustainable investment in nature-based solutions for climate action
This event will advocate for the cost-effectiveness of nature-based solutions in addressing climate resilience challenges and will highlight their economic benefits. It will also showcase cutting-edge climate adaptation practices, such as the production of wetland crops on former drained peatlands.
Time: 11.45-12.15pm
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Partnerships to improve blue carbon market integrity
This event will highlight a variety of national experiences in order to foster a deeper understanding of the opportunities and risks inherent in the blue carbon market. It will also emphasize the importance of partnerships between countries and across sectors, including the private sector and civil society.
Time: 13.20-14.30pm
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: EMG high-level dialogue on strengthening UN system climate actions
Heads of UN entities – including UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen and UNFCCC Executive Director, Simon Stiell – will reflect on the support, cooperation and solutions the UN system is offering parties to the UNFCCC in terms of effective climate action and its interlinkages with other key areas of sustainable development.
Time: 15.00-16.00pm
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Launch of the coral reef breakthrough
The High-level Coral Reef Breakthrough Launch event will mark a watershed moment in the history of global action to save the world’s most threatened ecosystem. The event will bring together state leaders, renowned experts, and private sector executives to launch the first-ever global targets for coral reefs, aiming to secure their future existence and their vast ecosystem benefits supporting more than 500 million people globally.
Time: 16.30-17.30pm
Watch here.
The world is getting a "failing grade" in its efforts to slow climate change, which is breeding instability in a growing number of countries, said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen during an event on climate change and security at COP28 today.
Andersen said floods, droughts and famines are inflicting misery on millions, driving people from their homes and threatening peace. "Climate change is not something we can build walls around," she said.
And just as climate change can lead to instability and conflict, conflict exacerbates climate change, as this story about the toxic legacy of the Ukraine war illustrates.
The world must move from advocacy and the recognition of the right to a healthy environment to strong and rapid implementation, UNEP Executive Secretary Inger Andersen told guests at COP28 today.
Andersen was speaking at the UNEP event: Human Right to a Healthy Environment: What Next?
"Our task now is to transition from advocacy and recognition to strong and rapid implementation. If nations implement this right fully, it will change so much – by empowering action on the triple planetary crisis, providing a more predictable and consistent global regulatory environment for businesses, and protecting those who defend nature," she said.
She also detailed what we mean when we talk about the right to a healthy environment: "Substantive elements include clean air. A safe and stable climate. Access to safe water and adequate sanitation. Healthy and sustainably produced food. Non-toxic environments in which to live, work, study and play. Healthy biodiversity and ecosystems. Procedural elements include access to information, the right to participate in decision-making, and access to justice and effective remedies – including the exercise of these rights free from reprisals. These are the elements upon which we must focus our efforts."
Andersen also highlighted the vital role indigenous peoples and environmental human rights defenders have played in the past few decades.
The An Eye on Methane Report, launched today, delves into the progress made to achieve deep reduction of methane emissions, starting with the fossil fuel sector.
The International Methane Emissions Observatory's third annual report seeks to provide decision makers with a framework of action to track and monitor methane emissions to plan targeted and ambitious action for their mitigation.
Anthropogenic methane emissions drive roughly 30 per cent of the global warming. In order to reach the Paris Agreement goals, methane emissions need to be reduced by about a third.
As highlighted by the IPCC’s latest Synthesis Report, reducing methane emissions is one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to immediately slow the current rate of warming as we decarbonize.
COPs are nothing if not colourful. Here are some of the more interesting shots of COP28 so far.
World governments plan to produce approximately 110 per cent more coal, gas and oil in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, a UNEP report released last month shows.
Governments from 151 nations have pledged to achieve net-zero emissions, yet current plans would lead to increases in global coal production until 2030 and in global oil and gas production until at least 2050, according to the Production Gap Report 2023.
Fossil fuels will, as always, be a contentious issue at this COP, with some pushing for language calling for their "phase-out" in the final declaration, while others, including fossil fuel producing nations, calling for a different approach.
"The 1.5-degree limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce. Not abate," said United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres earlier today.
A report published today by UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has revealed “an unprecedented emergency on a planetary scale, where the massive impacts of human-induced droughts are only starting to unfold.”
The UNCCD report, Global Drought Snapshot, revealed some sobering facts including that China is expected to have 80 per cent more drought intensity by 2100; it has been 500 years since Europe experienced a drought as severe as in 2022; and 170 million people are expected to experience extreme drought if average global temperatures rise 3°C above pre-industrial levels.
There are multiple solutions to this crisis, including focusing on nature-based solutions such as land restoration and efficient water management, such as drip irrigation.
World leaders are speaking at COP28 now, with calls for more to be done to tackle the climate crisis, particularly when it comes to helping developing nations, who are bearing the brunt of the crisis.
UN Secretary General, António Guterres pointed out that "current policies will lead to an earth scorching three degree rise" and that "the G20, which represents 80 per cent of the world's emissions must lead."
Tupou VI, the King of Tonga said it was “painful” for small developing island states to see the lack of progress on reaching the Paris Agreement Goals. Small island countries such as Tonga, are of course, experiencing existential threats from the climate crisis.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made a call to “rescue the belief in multilateralism” emphasising that no country can tackle the climate crisis alone.
Indigenous voices were heard too, with Isabel Prestes da Fonseca, co-founder of Brazil’s Instituto Zág (pictured above) saying: "I am here today as an indigenous woman, mother and sister… Every day I witness all that is happening with much sadness – the devastation of our forests. In the name of indigenous lives, join us in this fight. United we will restore our Earth, preserve our heritage, and rescue lost harmony,” she said.
In what is the first COP resolution that focuses on food systems and the climate crisis, world leaders have signed a declaration recognising that “unprecedented adverse climate impacts are increasingly threatening the resilience of agriculture and food systems as well as the ability of many, especially the most vulnerable, to produce and access food in the face of mounting hunger, malnutrition, and economic stresses.”
More than 100 countries have signed the declaration, and have committed to including food and land use in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans by COP30 in 2025.
Food systems are responsible for almost one third of greenhouse gas emissions, the majority coming from livestock and fertilizers.
Food production itself has also caused wide-scale changes in ecosystems, being responsible for 70 per cent of water withdrawals and a significant driver of deforestation and loss of biodiversity. It is also heavily dependent on these natural resources.
Earlier this year UNEP, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a guide to more sustainable food systems.
