Despite strong evidence that human activity played a role in catastrophic weather events and the emergence of a war-induced fuel crisis in Ukraine, greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise. However, the UN kept the climate emergency high on the international agenda, reaching important agreements on financing and biodiversity.
At the end of 2021, when the UN climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow concluded, none of those present could have suspected that a war in Ukraine would throw the world economy into turmoil, convincing many nations to suspend their commitments to a low carbon economy. economy, while struggling to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies, and secure supplies of fossil fuels elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a slew of studies pointed to the continued warming of the Earth and humanity’s failure to reduce carbon emissions and deal with the existential threat of the climate emergency.
Yet the UN continued to lead the slow, laborious but essential task of reaching international climate agreements, while putting sustained pressure on major economies to do more to reduce fossil fuel use and support developing countries. , whose citizens are bearing the burden. the brunt of droughts, floods and extreme weather conditions resulting from man-made climate change.
Wildfires that ripped through parts of the western US have turned the sky over San Francisco orange.Record heat waves, droughts and floods
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a litany of crude reports throughout the year. A January study, which announced that 2021 had joined the seven warmest years on record, set the tone for the year.
In the summer, when record heatwaves hit several European countries, the agency warned we should get used to more in the coming years, while Africa can expect a worsening food crisis, centered in the Horn of Africa, displacing millions of people: it is unlikely that four out of five countries on the continent will have sustainably managed water resources by 2030.
While some regions suffered from lack of water, others suffered from catastrophic flooding. In Pakistan, a national emergency was declared in August, following severe flooding and landslides caused by monsoon rains that, at the height of the crisis, submerged around a third of the country. Tens of millions were displaced.
Unprecedented floods in Chad affected more than 340,000 people in August, and in October the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) declared some 3.4 million people in West and Central Africa in need of assistance, amid the worst flooding in a decade.
Fossil fuel power plants are one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gasesA ‘delusional’ addiction to fossil fuels
In its October Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the WMO detailed record levels of the three main gases: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, which recorded the largest year-on-year increase in concentrations in 40 years, identifying human activity as a major factor in the changing climate.
Yet despite all the evidence that a shift to a low-carbon economy is urgently needed, the world’s major economies responded to the war-precipitated energy crisis in Ukraine by reopening aging power plants and seeking new oil suppliers. and gas.
UN Secretary General António Guterres denounced their reaction as delusional at an Austrian climate summit in June, arguing that if they had invested in renewable energy in the past, these countries would have avoided price instability in energy markets. fossil fuels.
At an energy event in Washington DC the same month, Mr. Guterres compared the behavior of the fossil fuel industry to the activities of major tobacco companies in the mid-20th century: “just like tobacco interests, fossil fuel interests and their financial accomplices must not escape responsibility,” he said “The argument for sidelining climate action to tackle domestic problems also rings false“.
Young women from the highlands of BhutanClean and healthy environment a universal human right
The UN General Assembly’s July decision to declare access to a clean and healthy environment a universal human right was hailed as a major milestone, building on similar text adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2021.
Mr. Guterres said in a statement that the landmark development would help reduce environmental injustices, close protection gaps and empower people, especially those in vulnerable situations, including environmental human rights defenders, children, youth, women and indigenous peoples.
The importance of this movement was underlined in October by Ian Fry, the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Human Rights in the context of Climate Change. Mr Fry told UN News that the resolution is already starting to take effect and the European Union is discussing how to incorporate it into national legislation and constitutions.
Coral reefs provide valuable habitat for fish and other animals.Revolutionary agreements reached at UN climate conferences
The year was marked by three major United Nations climate-related summits: the Ocean Conference in June, the COP27 Climate Conference in November and the much-delayed COP15 Biodiversity Conference in December, which demonstrated that the organization achieves much more than simply declaring the dire climate situation and calling for change.
At each event, progress was made in advancing international commitments to protect the environment and reduce damage and destruction caused by human activity.
Critical issues were discussed at the Oceans Conference and new ideas were generated. World leaders admitted to being deeply alarmed by the global emergency facing the ocean and renewed their commitment to take urgent action, cooperate at all levels and achieve the goals as soon as possible.
More than 6,000 participants, including 24 Heads of State and Government, and more than 2,000 civil society representatives attended the Conference, advocating for urgent and concrete action to address the ocean crisis.
They highlighted that innovative and science-based actions, together with international cooperation, are essential to provide the necessary solutions.
Financing of ‘loss and damage’ was agreed, for the benefit of developing countries
COP27, the UN Climate Conference, which was held in Egypt in November, seemed destined to end without any agreement, as the talks dragged on well beyond the official end of the summit.
Yet the negotiators somehow managed to not only agree to draft a final document, but also set up a funding mechanism to compensate vulnerable nations for loss and damage caused by weather-induced disasters.
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These nations have spent decades advocating for such a provision, so the listing was hailed as a breakthrough. Details about how the mechanism will work and who will benefit will be defined in the coming months.
However, little progress was made on other key issues, particularly the phasing out of fossil fuels, and language hardened on the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Enhanced biodiversity protection promised in Montreal
After two years of delays and postponements as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifteenth UN biodiversity conference, COP15, finally took place in Montreal this December and concluded with an agreement to protect 30 percent of land, coastal and inland areas of the planet. waters at the end of the decade. Inger Andersen, director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), described the result as a “first step in restoring our relationship with the natural world.”
The world’s biodiversity is in a dangerous state, with around a million species threatened with extinction. UN experts agree that the crisis will grow, with catastrophic results for humanity, unless we interact with nature in a more sustainable way.
The agreement, officially the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, includes impressive commitments, but these must now be turned into action. This has been a major sticking point at previous biodiversity conferences, but a platform, launched at COP15, to help countries speed up implementation is expected to help turn the plan into reality.
