At times it seemed that a resolution was still hours or even days away but, on Saturday evening, a final document was finally adopted, despite the misgivings expressed by many countries at revised language regarding fossil fuels. COP26 President, Alok Sharma, seemed close to tears at one point, betraying the enormous pressure felt by so many of those closely involved with the negotiations. In the last episode of , Conor Lennon and Laura Qui帽ones discuss the outcome of the conference, the Glasgow Climate Pact.
The UN Climate Conference 鈥 COP26 鈥 has wrapped up in Glasgow, with a new agreement to limit global heating. It has been described by UN Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres as an important step, 鈥渂ut not enough.鈥 鈥淲e must accelerate climate action to keep alive the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees,鈥 he said. of our lifetime. Scientific consensus says we cannot have a healthy planet with a temperature increase higher than 1.5掳C. We are already at 1.2掳C.
鈥淲hen there are floods, we take our shoes and socks off and put them in our school bags,鈥 says Fathimath. 鈥淲e have to wade through the water to our classrooms.鈥 Fathimath鈥檚 school is on a small island about a 45-minute boat ride from Male, the capital of Maldives 鈥 and just 30 metres from the ocean. The only thing protecting the school from rising sea levels are a handful of coconut palms, some of which have already collapsed into the sea, and a line of sandbags packed under the school鈥檚 main gate. Even with this precaution, the area still floods a few times a year, covering the school courtyard.
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom is a crucial opportunity to achieve pivotal, transformational change in global climate policy and action. It is a credibility test for global efforts to address climate change and it is where Parties must make considerable progress to reach consensus on issues they have been discussing for several years. COP 26 comes against the background of widespread, rapid and intensifying climate change impacts, which are already impacting every region on Earth.
A scientific assessment has found that forests in World Heritage sites play a vital role in mitigating climate change by absorbing 190 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.
The report presents the Children鈥檚 Climate Risk Index, which uses data showing new global evidence on how many children are currently exposed to climate hazards, shocks and stresses.
How and who should pay the costs associated with climate change? Climate finance is at the heart of the discussions at COP26. To date, has committed US$990 million in climate finance.
When you think of climate migration, you probably think of people moving from one country to another to escape rising seas or expanding deserts. And to some extent, you鈥檇 be right. But the fact is, the vast majority of climate migrants are actually moving within their country鈥檚 borders Hotspots of climate migration may start to emerge as early as 2030, as people leave places that can no longer sustain them and go to areas that offer opportunities. The drivers of these migrations, according to the , will be water scarcity, declining crop productivity and sea-level rise.
New data from 100 countries shows that only 53% of the world鈥檚 national education curricula make any reference to climate change and when the subject is mentioned, it is almost always given very low priority. Furthermore, fewer than 40% of teachers surveyed by UNESCO and Education International were confident in teaching about the severity of climate change and only about one-third felt able to explain the effects of climate change on their region or locality. Over a quarter of those surveyed felt some approaches to teaching climate education were not suited to online teaching.
While coal played a major role in the development of the modern world, it is also the primary reason behind climate change: coal burning is responsible for more than 40 per cent of global carbon emissions and more than 75 per cent of emissions from electricity generation. The clean energy transition means shifting energy production away from sources that release a lot of greenhouse gases to those that release little to no greenhouse gases. The fosters sustainable nuclear energy development by producing publications, facilitating technical cooperation, and coordinating research.
The latest round of global climate talks, 26 (COP26), takes place from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in . Thousands of government delegates and people from civil society, business and the media will gather to advance climate action. The world will be watching. Science confirms we have reached a 鈥渃ode red鈥 for our world and must be a turning point. It must deliver bold, large-scale and rapid actions to deliver in full on the promises made in the Paris Agreement. Get to know the priorities of this important meeting.
Cities worldwide are increasingly suffering the effects of climate-related disasters, such as floods, droughts, sea level rise, heatwaves, landslides and storms. At least 130 port cities will be affected by coastal flooding and the one billion people in urban informal settlements are particularly at risk. Creating more sustainable, climate-resilient societies involves addressing poverty reduction, managing ecosystems, among a wide range of issues. This World Cities Day (31 October), the UN affirms that better cities create better lives as they adapt to climate resilience.
In of , the UN climate action podcast, UN News talked to Mr. Ezekiel about why we should be treating climate change with the same urgency we have treated COVID-19, how he works with local leaders and youth to protect Ghana鈥檚 environment, and why he faced arrest for simply speaking out against coal.
Our food systems are breaking the planet 鈥 and the climate crisis is breaking our food systems. These are two of the biggest problems the world is facing today, and subject to the two biggest conversations the UN. At the UN Food Systems Summit in September, the issued a wake-up call: 811 million people are going to bed hungry in countries where food systems are unequal, strained or broken. Yet, as more than 190 countries come together for COP26, the topic of food systems is yet to make it into the mainstream conversation at UN climate meetings.