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 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a report today revealing that in 2015, livestock agrifood systems – including farm production activities and some key supply chain processes such as land use change related to feed, transport and input manufacturing – accounted for approximately 12 per cent of all anthropogenic GHG emissions and about 40 per cent of total emissions from agrifood systems.
The report highlights a number of solutions to reduce the sector's emissions including increasiing agroforestry and optimized rotating grazing, and boosting animal health.
So, how much do you know about the global food system?
Take this quiz and find out!
More than 100 Indigenous Peoples groups and NGOs have called for their rights and land to be protected in an open later released today at COP28.
They want COP28 to be a "platform to discuss Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the context of the increasing demand for minerals mined for energy storage, electrified transportation batteries, and other green energy technologies."
This is particularly important given that 54 per cent of energy transition minerals globally are located on or near Indigenous Peoples’ lands.
The letter also highlights the fact that "many Indigenous leaders are pursuing and championing clean energy and transportation solutions on their territories that align with their self-determined needs and goals. These Indigenous-led solutions need to be acknowledged, recognised, promoted, and funded by States and private entities."
Read more about Indigenous Peoples and the land they protect here.
Food systems are responsible for about 30 per cent of current manmade GHG emissions, while animal products account for almost 60 per cent of those emissions.
There is a need to change the way we produce and consume the food we eat because of its growing impact on climate change, particularly in high- and middle-income countries.
While many approaches are available to address the adverse impacts of animal agriculture, this report – the latest in UNEP's Frontiers series – looks specifically at novel alternatives to conventional animal source food.
One of today's focuses at COP28 is on youth, children, education and skills. We know that today's children and youth will be impacted hugely by the climate crisis in the coming years and decades, and so today aims to explore investment in youth-led innovation and entrepreneurship, inclusion in policymaking processes capacity-building, and transforming education to close the skills gap for green jobs aligned with climate action.
UNEP has long championed the rights of youth to a sustainable environment and has increasingly involved them in the process.
A child-friendly version of the Principles and Guidance on Children’s Right to a Healthy Environment in the ASEAN Region was released in response to one of the ten Principles, which stated that children must have “access to age-appropriate, gender-sensitive, localised and contextualised information.”
Read more about UNEP's work with children and youth here.
Negotiations over COP28's final agreement are ramping up as government ministers begin to start meeting to whittle down the text.
Questions remain whether countries will agree to "phase down" or "phase out" fossil fuels, with five days left of negotiations. More than 100 countries support adding text referring to a "phase out" and the science is clear: without the phasing out of fossil fuels, the Paris Agreement goals cannot be met.
Some positivity emerged earlier today when it was revealed that the COP28 President had asked Canada to help to develop language on the potential phase down or phase out of fossil fuels. Yesterday Canada announced it would require its fossil fuel industry to cut its emissions between 35 per cent to 38 per cent below 2019 levels starting in 2030.
The aim is to have a text finalised by the end of the day on Tuesday, although previously COPs have often gone on deep into the early hours of of the morning.
One of today's focuses is on food and specifically how our food systems are impacting the climate. They are responsible for 70 per cent of the water extracted from nature, account for up to one-third of human-linked greenhouse gas emissions, and agriculture has been identified as the threat to 24,000 of the 28,000 species (over 86 per cent) at risk of extinction.
According to UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report 2021, people globally waste 1 billion tonnes of food each year. A staggering one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted.
The evidence is becoming too hard to ignore. Food systems reform is critical to tackling the planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste.
Transport, Buildings and Cities Day will highlight solutions to transition to low carbon and resilient built environments and infrastructure, sustainable and circular waste systems, and sustainable mobility and freight.
UNEP Pavilion: Shifting to electric buses in Africa cities
This event will feature the need for e-bus finance from both a country and private sector perspective and provides insights on electric bus financing from the World Bank and the Green Climate Fund. It will furthermore elaborate on the importance to develop bankable e-bus proposals and how this will be supported through targeted technical assistance.
Time: 10.30-11.15am
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Reinventing cities: Unlocking action for a resilient urban future
This event will highlight the critical role of cities in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. By focusing on core elements such as integrated planning, multi-level governance, integration to international processes, and access to international climate finance, this session will explore how to unlock some of the barriers cities are facing. It will showcase concrete examples from the GEF-funded UrbanShift programme and other UNEP projects, in particular the Saida Sustainable City Initiative.
Time: 11.45-12.30pm
Watch here.
UNEP Pavilion: Loss and damage: Addressing soft limits to adaptation to avert and minimize L&D
This event will build from the 2023 UNEP Adaptation Gap Report and ongoing work by the World Adaptation Science Programme’s Working Group on Loss and Damage. It will address the soft limits to adaptation to avert and minimize losses and damages. Experts will provide an overview of the issue and discuss the topic with the audience, providing further clarity on the soft limits to adaptation.
Time: 14.00-14.45pm
Watch here.
UNEP event: Uniting for Climate Action: Calling for International Cooperation on Technology and Innovation
This event aims to strengthen international cooperation on technology development and transfer and capacity building recognizing the critical role of technology and innovation towards achieving accelerated climate actions by engaging various stakeholders.
Time: 16.00-17.00pm
Climate and Clean Air Ministerial 2023
The Climate & Clean Air Coalition’s annual Climate & Clean Air Ministerial meeting provides strategic guidance and leadership for the Coalition. Government ministers from country Partners and heads of Partner organisations participate in the meeting, and meet at least once per year. The Ministerial this year will focus on the overarching theme of finance for SLCPs, with spotlights on upcoming initiatives and opportunities for partners to engage in the CCAC’s work over the next years. Ministers will also launch the CCAC’s new Clean Air Flagship.
Time: 18.00-20.00pm
UNEP event: Fostering innovation through collaborative climate technology
This event will focus on stimulating collaborative climate technology research, development, and deployment (RD&D) to bridge the gap between the Technology Mechanism and country Parties. The objective is to identify ways to enhance the effective participation of developing country Parties in collaborative climate technology RD&D. Speakers include Jim Skea, IPCC chair, who will provide the keynote on the vision of the IPCC with regards to the collaborative RD&D. The event will highlight successful international, regional, and national collaborative climate technology RD&D partnerships.
Time: 18.30-20.00pm
Tomorrow is a well-deserved rest day for everyone at COP28, and for us too. We will be back bright and early on Friday morning in time for the big final weekend push. Thanks for joining us on the blog so far - see you on Friday!
Speaking at COP28 today, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said: "Transport is a big driver of emissions. As electric vehicle sales surge globally, we need countries to continue to lead and speed up this transition. It’s a win win: new jobs, clean air and climate action."
Later she also talked about the importance of a inclusive, clean and safe transport transition: "Hundreds are killed every day on roads across Africa. We need a transport revolution that is inclusive, cleaner and safe. Active mobility policies and infrastructure can allow everyone to travel as they need while we meet our climate goals.
One African country that has made progress in transitioning to electric vehicles is Rwanda.
The country of 13 million has in recent years introduced tax breaks for EV buyers, cultivated local electric vehicle makers and unveiled ambitious plans to electrify public buses. The changes are part of the country’s efforts to curb rising air pollution and cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change.
“E-mobility is one of the transport decarbonization initiatives the government has undertaken,” says François Zirikana, an e-mobility specialist with the City of Kigali. “Other initiatives include Kigali bike share scheme as well as car-free zones and car-free days.”
The Buildings Breakthrough will see countries joining forces to accelerate the transformation of the sector – which accounts for 21 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions – with a view to making near-zero emissions and climate resilient buildings the new normal by 2030.
Under the Buildings Breakthrough, the UNEP/GlobalABC secretariat, the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency, together with the High-level Climate Champions, will undertake an annual assessment of global progress in the sector, closely aligned with the UNEP/GlobalABC annual Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction.
At COP28, UNEP extended an open invitation to nations worldwide to join the Buildings Breakthrough and unite in this global effort towards near-zero emission and resilient buildings by 2030. So far, 27 countries have pledged their commitment to the Buildings Breakthrough.
