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.
As warming temperatures cause glaciers to melt and oceans to expand, sea levels could rise up to 1.1 metres by 2100, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which brings together hundreds of leading climate scientists. Even if humanity dramatically cuts the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, seas could still swell by 60 centimetres.
Either scenario would swamp swathes of the Maldives and send saltwater pouring into the country’s scarce drinking water supplies.
To counter that threat, UNEP is helping Maldives develop a national plan to adapt to climate change, one of several UNEP projects in the country. The nation is also among the first to benefit from a UN push to roll out early warning systems for climate-change-related disasters, such as superstorms and floods.
For a long time, the Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games have been a source of competition among candidate cities. In recent years, however, a new question has become the priority: how can hosting the Olympics contribute to a city's sustainable development?
Indeed, the Olympic and Paralympic Games have become catalysts of sustainable urban transformations that, once implemented in host cities, can be replicated elsewhere.
Register for the event happening on 6 September, in the morning, on the sides of the Paralympic flag handover ceremony between Paris and Los Angeles.
As countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) prepare for the next round of NDCs, there is a unique opportunity to elevate climate strategies toward higher ambition, leveraging lessons from previous implementation efforts. Europe is the fastest warming continent, with temperatures rising at twice the global average rate. New national climate plans (NDCs 3.0) must be implementable, inclusive, adequately financed, transparent and based on science and if done well can serve as blueprints for stronger economies and societies
As the region has huge potential for transition to a green and just development pathway with youth population, renewable energy capacity and vibrant economy, the new cycle of national climate plans (NDCs 3.0) with the whole of society approach and economy wide targets will be a window of opportunity.
This Forum will explore how COP28 outcomes, particularly the GST decision, can guide national processes to strengthen ambition in future NDC and contribute to sustainable development by addressing climate mitigation and adaptation jointly. Through peer-learning and exchange, countries in the region will discuss best practices, challenges, and opportunities, accelerating the adoption of solutions and innovative financing models. Tools and guidance will be made available to support the inclusion of specific measures and targets into NDC reviews.
Learn more and watch this space for more updates.
Delegates from the Latin America and the Caribbean region are meeting in Bogota, Colombia this week to deliberate on the next phase of emission reduction plans to limit global warming. Through peer learning, delegates will discuss best practices and opportunities, accelerating solutions and innovative financing models.
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At a joint press conference with WMO on Tuesday 27 August at 11am Tonga time, the UN Secretary-General will highlight the present-day impacts and future projections of sea-level rise - including coastal flooding - at a global and regional level, including for major coastal cities in the G20 and Pacific Small Island Developing States.
A technical brief providing a summary of the latest data and science on sea level rise will be published on the UN climate action site at the time of the press conference.
On 25 September 2024, the General Assembly will convene a high-level meeting to address existential threats posed by sea-level rise.
Every year, humanity clears 10 million hectares of forests, an area equivalent to the size of Portugal.
The loss of these ecosystems is devastating for wildlife and the billions of people who rely on forests for food, water and other essentials.
But deforestation has another, often-overlooked peril: it is stoking climate change. The felling of trees in tropical areas alone releases more than 5.6 billion tonnes of planet-warming greenhouse gasses every year. That is more than four times the combined total of aviation and shipping.
As countries prepare to update their national climate pledges in 2025, a key part of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, experts are urging them to include concrete targets to end deforestation and restore forests. Without those provisions, experts say, countries will be hard pressed to rein in a climate crisis that is shattering temperature records and unleashing a maelstrom of extreme weather around the world.
Here is a closer look at how forests can counter the climate crisis.
On August 13, join a dynamic webinar led by UrbanShift, World Resources Institute, and the UN Environment Programme-led Cool Coalition on how cities can take action against extreme heat.
Urban heat is an intensifying challenge for cities. As climate change impacts unfold, cities are bearing the disproportionate impacts of the warming planet. And within cities, the effects of extreme heat vary widely and along socioeconomic lines. In more affluent communities, tree cover and more resilient building construction shield residents from the worst impacts, but in more economically vulnerable communities and informal settlements, lack of urban greenspaces and inadequate infrastructure, like steel roofs, magnify the impacts of heat. The challenges are great, but cities are not powerless in the face of intensifying heat.
