The local climate disaster topped the agenda on the 2021 UN widespread meeting (UNGA), which launched collectively world leaders and worldwide stakeholders simply six weeks forward of COP26. inside the final dash to Glasgow, UN basis vp for local climate and ambiance Pete Ogden attracts on the insights of the UN basis’s local climate and ambiance group to unpack a quantity of in all probability the most very important developments and why they matter heading into November.
The devastating report of the Intergovernmental Panel on local climate Change (IPCC), which left little doubt that the window to hold away from catastrophic local climate impacts is closing quickly, has ratcheted up the strain on international places to take decisive and fast local climate movement. talking after the discharge of the report final month, the Secretary-widespread acknowledged as it a “code crimson for humanity” that should spur governments into movement. Many leaders repeated his warning all by means of UNGA — a sturdy signal that local climate is precisely the place it should be at this vital second for worldwide cooperation and local climate diplomacy: on the center of the multilateral agenda.
working event: very important convenings and extreme-profile moments on local climate occurred on daily of extreme-stage week. listed right here are a quantity of the local climate occasions that dominated the agenda, and beneath a quantity of the assorted bulletins and commitments they led to.
The UN basis’s local climate and ambiance group has recognized the important factor takeaways and subsequent steps inside the dash to Glasgow:
local climate Finance
one among many critical factors heading into COP26, to be held Nov. 1-12 in Glasgow, Scotland, was the failure of developed international places to meet their dedication to mobilize $one hundred billion per yr of local climate finance starting in 2020. A latest OECD report that found that developed international places have been falling some $20 billion a yr in want of their pledge extra contaminated tensions, and the difficulty posed a rising risk to the flexibility of nations to rally collectively round a sturdy consequence in Glasgow and past.
The Secretary-widespread made that is usually a central focus of the week, calling unequivocally for developed international places to ship on their promise — in his local climate finance report again to the general meeting, in the course of the most very important Economies discussion board (held on the Friday earlier than extreme-stage week), and in the course of the informal Leaders Roundtable on local climate that he co-hosted with Prime Minister Johnson.
And progress was certainly made. President Joe Biden introduced that the U.S. would double its local climate-associated monetary assist to creating economies, on extreme of the doubling he already introduced at his Leaders Summit on local climate in April, to obtain $eleven.4 billion per yr by 2024 — a vital increase in the direction of reaching the $one hundred billion local climate finance aim.
China additionally stepped up with an very important finance announcement of its personal: President Xi Jinping declared that China would assist creating economies deploy inexperienced and low-carbon power and would cease supporting the progress of coal-fired power crops overseas. that is very important progress for a rustic that has been far and away the largest supporter of overseas coal power plant progress.
Taken collectively, these developments mark an very important step in the direction of aligning all monetary flows with the goals of the Paris settlement and set the stage for extra progress on the upcoming World financial institution conferences, the G20 main worldwide economies, and, in the end, in Glasgow.
Ocean, transport, and local climate
whereas the dangerous impacts of local climate change on the ocean have been garnering elevated consideration, the ocean is now additionally starting to get the eye it warrants as a supply of local climate options, each for mitigation and adaptation. The significance of ocean ecosystems as worldwide carbon sinks was on current from a broad set of actors all by means of UNGA, collectively with Seychelles, Colombia, and a quantity of completely different completely different international places which have included defending these strategies of their nationally decided contributions (NDCs). As extra international places revise their NDCs over the approaching weeks, there’s an alternative for others to adjust to swimsuit.
all by means of UNGA, the worldwide maritime sector additionally acquired extreme-stage consideration from governments, the private sector, and civil society, shining a lightweight on what has traditionally been a reasonably remoted sector. as a consequence of of the launch of the attending to Zero Coalition’s “name to movement,” which requires an formidable and equitable transition, momentum is constructing for extra zero-emission dedication inside the sector, which we count on to proceed by means of the extreme of the yr. the discharge of the Blue meals evaluation and the rising inclusion of ocean and completely different aquatic-based mostly meals inside the worldwide meals agenda, collectively with on the meals strategies Summit, additionally signaled the emergence of the ocean as a vital an component of attaining the Sustainable progress goals (SDGs) and supporting local climate movement, a progress which will proceed by means of the Our Ocean and UN Ocean Conferences subsequent yr.
meals strategies and local climate
meals strategies have been additionally a precedence all by means of UNGA as a consequence of the Secretary-widespread convened the primary-ever UN meals strategies Summit to unleash formidable new actions to rework our meals strategies whereas delivering throughout all SDGs. virtually 300 commitments have been made by civil society, farmers, youth, Indigenous peoples, and international places, collectively with a quantity of new multistakeholder coalitions — and a quantity of completely different international places dedicated new sources to enhancing worldwide meals strategies, collectively with a $10 billion dedication from the U.S. over 5 years.
The summit shone a lightweight on meals strategies, not solely as a driver, however in addition as a potential reply to the local climate disaster. as an illustration, a quantity of international places introduced their intention to affix Agriculture Innovation Mission for local climate (aim for local climate), a coalition comprising virtually 30 international places which will search to pace up worldwide innovation evaluation and progress (R&D) on agriculture and meals strategies, amongst completely different issues, to sort out the local climate problem.
As we strategy COP26, governments could have the risk to take these commitments — collectively with some nationwide meals system transition plans — forward by incorporating them into their NDCs and by adopting insurance coverage policies that place meals strategies as a vital lever for efficient local climate movement.
The Centrality of local climate Change to Our widespread Agenda
Stepping again from this slender window of time between UNGA and the COP, it was notable for international places to start to rise to the problem that the Secretary-widespread set out in his Our widespread Agenda report again to the general meeting earlier this month to “reinvigorate inclusive, networked, and efficient multilateralism.” As an component of the intensive yearlong method of creating this report, the UN basis supplied pretty simply a few inputs, collectively with evaluation that unpacks how the previous 30 years of multilateral local climate cooperation have contributed to driving local climate movement and helped to create governance strategies which will ratchet up ambition in protecting with the science. It additionally appears at what goes to in all probability be required inside the years to get back, collectively with placing people on the center of the transition to web zero, making that transition common, credible, and inevitable, and organizing worldwide strategies for a low-carbon age.
however first comes the take a look at of Glasgow, our final best probability to protect worldwide temperature rise in confirm to hold away from in all probability the most catastrophic impacts of local climate change. whereas there’s nonetheless a lot work to be carried out to make this COP worthwhile, the previous week is proof that progress is potential and that multilateralism gives the world in all probability the most viable pathway out of the local climate disaster.