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Spotlight on climate action

Photo: Unsplash/Tobias Rademacher

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.

This live feed will keep you up-to-date with all the latest news from the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

19 Nov 2024 13:15

Restoring the Indus, Pakistan’s lifeline

Man looking at Indus
Todd Brown/UNEP

The Indus River and the vast Himalayan glaciers that feed it have come to pose an increasingly unpredictable threat: deadly floods, exacerbated by climate change, have struck the river basin repeatedly in recent years. 

Those disasters, along with growing concern about environmental degradation, have added urgency to the Living Indus initiative, an ambitious effort to restore the river’s ailing ecosystems and secure the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Restoration measures are wide-ranging: they cover everything from growing mangroves in the Indus delta to grafting glaciers high in the mountains. 

The initiative, led by the Pakistani government, has been recognised as a World Restoration Flagship. The award is part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and recognises initiatives that are helping to protect and revive the natural world. Read the full article.

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19 Nov 2024 12:04

Progress on climate finance slow in Baku, as G20 statement urges action

COP29
UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth

Progress remains slow on climate finance in Baku with a general understanding that "trillions" of dollars will be needed to help developing countries both adapt to the climate crisis and transition away from fossil fuels. Yet, there remains issues over who should pay and what form this money should take. 

It comes after the G20 - meeting in Brazil - issued a declaration calling for "trillions of dollars" for climate finance, but said that this must come from "all sources", which disappointed some in Baku.

Adonia Ayebare, the chair of the G77 + China, a grouping of developing nations, told AFP that the G77 was “not comfortable” with vague wording saying the money should come from “all sources”. “We have been insisting that this has to be from public sources. Grants, not loans,” Ayebare said.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell said that G20 leaders had “sent a clear message to their negotiators at COP29: do not leave Baku without a successful new finance goal”. “This is in every country’s clear interests,” he added.

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19 Nov 2024 12:00

How a new type of insurance is helping Uganda’s banana farmers avoid catastrophe

For Ahumwire Justine, a banana farmer from Shuku, in Uganda’s southwest, a day last October brought home just how vulnerable her plantation was to extreme weather.    

That day, a devastating rain and hailstorm destroyed 300 of her banana trees and killed two of her cows. The damage was so bad, she and her family considered leaving their two-hectare plot, which was not insured.    

“We had no food, no money for school fees for my children and no food for my animals,” the mother of four says.    

The frequency and intensity of storms like the one that destroyed Justine’s crops is increasing due to climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Read the full story. 

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19 Nov 2024 08:22

Global cooperation needed for new national climate plans

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18 Nov 2024 18:52

As freshwater levels drop, COP29 events highlight its importance

Lake in Vietnam
Pexels/Quang Nguyen Vinh

Last week Nasa scientists revealed that freshwater levels have dropped dramatically since 2014. From 2015 through 2023, satellite measurements showed that the average amount of freshwater stored on land – that includes liquid surface water like lakes and rivers, plus water in aquifers underground – was 1,200 cubic km lower than the average levels from 2002 to 2014. 

The reduction in available water can lead to poverty, famine and conflict, as well as an increased risk of disease when people turn to contaminated water sources, according to a UN report on water stress published earlier this year. 

At COP29, there are a number of events that focus on this crucial issue including this event tomorrow on accelerating climate action through regional cooperation on water, energy, food and ecosystems. On Thursday there are two water-focused events: this event on how countries can integrate water into their climate plans; and this event which will see the Water Declaration endorsed, which is a call for integrated approaches when combating the causes and impacts of climate change on water basins and water-related ecosystems. 

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18 Nov 2024 18:15

New data shows impact of climate change on extreme weather events

aftermath of forest fire
Pexels/Island hopper

New data compiled by Carbon Brief has revealed that 74 per cent of extreme weather events were made more likely or severe because of climate change. This includes multiple cases where scientists found that an extreme was virtually impossible without human influence on global temperatures. 

The most clearly linked events were “heat events” such as wildfires, followed by rain and flooding, followed by drought.  

The data highlights the importance of country’s new NDCs – or climate plans – showing reduced CO2 emissions and developing countries getting the finance needed to adapt to climate change and increasingly common extreme weather events. 

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18 Nov 2024 17:28

On now: High-level ministerial on global cooling

Air conditioning units
Pexels/Sergei A

COP28 saw more than 70 countries and 60 non-state actors pledge to reduce cooling related emissions across all sectors by at least 68 per cent globally by 2050. This meeting will share the collective progress on the implementation of the Global Cooling Pledge, and spotlight how cooling emissions reductions can be featured in countries NDCs or climate plans, due in February. 

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18 Nov 2024 15:39

Will COP29 deliver the trillions needed to halt the climate crisis?

COP29
UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth

Delegates are expected to sign off on a beefed-up funding target to replace the existing $100 billion per year commitment in Baku. The final figure the negotiators arrive at remains to be seen and it could be anywhere from a few hundred billion, to over a trillion dollars per year. 

This episode of the UN podcast, The Lid Is On explains what has been achieved so far, and why the deal gaveled through on carbon markets is important. We also find out what the UN is doing to prevent the rush for the minerals needed for the climate transition turning into a “stampede for greed.’ 

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18 Nov 2024 14:27

UNEP head: transparency vital to achieving Paris Agreement goals

Inger Andersen
UNEP/Florian Fussstetter

UNEP Executive Secretary Inger Andersen has highlighted the importance of transparency in countries NDCs - their climate plans - which are due in February next year. 

While pointing out that current climate plans will result in a global temperature rise of 2.6 to 2.8°C, she emphasised the need for transparency in the new plans during an event in Baku earlier today.

"The Paris Agreement’s Enhanced Transparency Framework is key to building trust and providing accurate data sets that underpin the preparation of ambitious NDCs," she said.

She highlighted the role of Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) in this process. BTRs are where countries submit updates of their progress in meeting their climate commitments.

"When BTRs give high-quality, consistent climate data, they offer predictability for investment, which supports green finance and investment flows," Andrsen said. "When data is measured regularly and shared openly, countries are more likely to meet and even exceed their commitments."

 


 

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18 Nov 2024 14:02

UN Climate head: adaptation finance difference between life and death

Simon Stiell
UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth

With negotiations over climate finance still fraught in Baku, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, has underscored what getting money into the hands of developing countries means.

"This year, we saw how every bit of preparation – every policy, every plan – is the difference between life and death for millions of people around the world," he said earlier today. "People, communities, nations want to act, to protect themselves and their loved ones, to strengthen their businesses and economies – but they do not have the means."

As UNEP's Adaptation Gap Report 2024 highlights, countries need US$187-359 billion per year in climate finance to adapt to the effects of the climate crisis.

"We can no longer rely on small streams of finance," Stiell said. "We need torrents of funding. The funding exists. We need to unlock and unblock it."

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Related Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1

Goal 1: No Poverty
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Goal 7

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
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Goal 11

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
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Goal 12

Goal 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production
+

Goal 13

Goal 13: Climate Action
+

Goal 14

Goal 14: Life Below Water
+

Goal 15

Goal 15: Life on Land
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