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.
This event at the UNEP Pavilion – starting at 14.00pm UAE time – will showcase the first public release of data from UNEP’s Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) and unpack how advanced remote sensing is providing the transparency needed for governments, companies and civil society to deliver methane progress and achieve the goals of the Global Methane Pledge.
The event will also launch the 2023 edition of International Methane Emissions Observatory Annual Report, which provides an analysis of the methane emissions data submitted by companies under the OGMP2.0 assessing the progress made to achieve reduce methane emissions.
The Buildings Pavilion at COP28 is designed to be a space for businesses and policymakers to interact, a meeting place for the buildings and construction community, and a space to showcase solutions through a variety of events, presentations and exhibitions.
It also aims to be a place where the buildings and construction sector can take stock of progress made since COP21 and showcase buildings as solutions for climate action.
COP28 will see the launch of the Buildings Breakthrough, which aims to speed the global transition towards climate-resilient and near-zero-emission buildings.
As the buildings and construction sector is responsible for 37 per cent of energy-related CO2 emissions, this transition is vital if the Paris Agreement goals are to be achieved.
World leaders arrived at COP28 this morning for the first day of the World Climate Action Summit.
The two-day event sees heads of state and government, as well as leaders from civil society business, youth, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, frontline communities, science and other sectors discuss concrete actions and plans aimed at scaling climate action.
The summit serves as an important platform for major announcements and is intended to provide momentum and guidance to the remainder of the COP.
Watch the opening of the World Climate Action Summit here.
Today – the first full day of COP28 – is Technology & Industry Day in Dubai. As well as the first day of the World Climate Action Summit, there are multiple UNEP events on throughout the day.
UNEP Pavilion: Nexus dialogue: transitioning to net zero and ending plastic pollution
UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen will be joined by three representatives from different sectors (government, industry and the scientific community) as well as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza, to discuss solutions to transition to net zero while ensuring a world free from plastic pollution.
Time: 10.30-11.15am
UNEP Pavilion: Assessing the fossil fuel production gap: Key messages from the Production Gap Report 2023
Following the launch of the Production Gap Report 2023, this event facilitates a discussion on the discrepancy between governments' fossil fuel production plans and the global production levels necessary to limit warming to 1.5°C or 2°C.This event, featuring UNEP’s Senior Programme Coordinator, Niklas Hagelberg, will share the perspectives of a variety of different stakeholders, and discuss what it will take to achieve a just energy transition.
Time: 11.45-12.30pm
UNEP Pavilion: Methane data revolution: The road to radical transparency
This event will showcase the first public release of data from UNEP’s Methane Alert and Response System (MARS) and unpack how advanced remote sensing is providing the transparency needed for governments, companies and civil society to deliver methane progress and achieve the goals of the Global Methane Pledge. The event will also launch the 2023 edition of International Methane Emissions Observatory Annual Report, which provides an analysis of the methane emissions data submitted by companies under the OGMP2.0 assessing the progress made to achieve reduce methane emissions.
Time: 14.00-14.45pm
UNEP Pavilion: Decarbonization and detoxification: Linkages and opportunities for integrated actions
This event will emphasize the scientific evidence for the complex linkages between climate change and chemical pollution and identify opportunities for taking actions to address interlinked environmental crises.
Time: 15.15-16.00pm
UNEP Pavilion: Shaping a climate-resilient 21st century
This event focuses on industry and the private sector's role in climate diplomacy and empowerment for least developed countries. The event aims to reshape conversations, renew commitments, and promote developing countries as hubs for innovation, sustainable technologies, and innovative financing.
Time: 16.30-17.15pm
UNEP side-event: Human Right to a Healthy Environment: What Next?
A healthy environment is a human right, however, for humans to fully enjoy it, it needs stronger legal mechanisms for implementation. This event looks at how governments and civil society can take the next steps under the UNFCCC and beyond, with a special focus on children's rights. UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen is one of the panellists.
Time: 16.45-18.15pm
In a win on the first day of COP28, countries agreed on the setting up of a loss and damage fund to compensate vulnerable countries deal with the irreversible impacts of the climate crisis.
Payments to the fund will be voluntary with the aim that fund has at least US$100 billion a year by 2030.
So far countries have pledged US$400 million to the fund, although some have criticised the fact that the fund is voluntary, and point out that developing countries need closer to US$400 billion a year.
2023 is set to be the warmest year on record according to a new climate report. The World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Provisional State of the Global Climate report, launched today, also reveals that the past nine years have been the warmest on record, highlighting the ever increasing effects of the climate crisis.
United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres was clear on the intensity of the crisis: “we are living through climate collapse in real time – and the impact is devastating,” he said in a video statement accompanying the launch of the report.
It is not just temperature records that are being broken with the report revealing that atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide also reached record highs last year.
WMO said that carbon dioxide levels are 50 per cent above the pre-industrial era and that the gas’s long lifetime “means that temperatures will continue to rise for many years to come”.
As delegates arrive in Dubai for the first day of COP28, the world is hoping there will be concrete breakthroughs during the conference.
COP28 is now opening in Dubai, ushering in 12 days of what is hoped will be a productive climate conference.
World leaders, business luminaries and civil society members are descending on Dubai today for the opening of the United Nations’ annual climate change conference (COP28). The nearly two-week-long summit will look to address some of the most-pressing issues related to what experts say is a rapidly accelerating climate crisis.
A key moment at COP28 will be the conclusion of the first Global Stocktake, a process that will see the world gauge what progress has been made towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement – and where countries are falling short.
So, what else needs to happen in Dubai?
The UNEP Pavilion officially opens today at 15.00 UAE time, featuring UNEP’s Executive Director, Inger Andersen, singer Rocky Dawuni and UNEP’s chief digital officer, Golestan Radwan.
Throughout COP28, the UNEP Pavilion will showcase solutions to the climate crisis and sheds light on the role of robust science and data, transparency, and the importance of leaving no one behind.
Every morning, we will be posting previews of the day's events at the UNEP Pavilion and across the COP.
When leaders gather this week in Dubai for COP28, they will be urged to sign a pact to broaden access to a range of sustainable cooling services and technologies, a push that comes with 2023 poised to become the hottest year on record.
The Global Cooling Pledge, led by COP28 host the United Arab Emirates, is designed to make things like air conditioners, deep freezers and heat-dissipating homes more affordable, especially in developing countries, while reining in planet-warming emissions from the sprawling cooling sector.
Why? Cooling is already responsible for more than seven per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and demand for cooling is expected to triple by 2050. That is troubling news for a planet on track to warm 3°C by century’s end, twice the most ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement.
