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.
UNEP Executive Secretary, Inger Andersen has highlighted the importance of protecting the world's water supplies.
Speaking at the launch of the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action, she underscored the fragility of our water systems.
"Nearly three billion people face water scarcity. Over 90 per cent of disasters are water-related, including drought, desertification, fires and floods," she said.
Andersen proposed "a dramatic shift from sectoral thinking to an economy-wide approach across the entire water cycle. Linking national water resources management processes to biodiversity, climate and development action plans is essential."
She emphasised that this will take all sections of society working together, while governments must increase finance.
"They can do this through greater certainty in policies to protect, conserve and restore freshwater ecosystems. Through efforts to manage water demand more effectively and equitably and improve cost-recovery to enable continuous maintenance and investments," she added.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged negotiators at COP29 to "soften hard lines, navigate through difference and keep your eyes on bigger picture."
Speaking as negotiations continued on the draft texts, he emphasised the role of climate finance in protecting the future of humanity.
“Finance is not a handout but an investment against devastation that unchecked climate chaos will inflict on us all, a down payment for a safer future for every nation on earth,” he said.
"This is a COP to deliver justice in face of climate catastrophe, to move us closer to securing a decent world for all humanity.”
Reflecting the reality of what has been a sometimes frustrating week, he urged action.
"I sense an appetite for agreement, but lets be frank: many substantial differences are still remaining. Success is not yet guaranteed."
Climate and nature are interlinked, and the Paris Agreement goals cannot be met without protecting and restoring ecosystems.
UNEP research shows that land-based and marine ecosystems play a vital role in regulating the climate. They currently absorb half of the human-made carbon emissions, with the ocean and the world’s forests, mangrove and peat bogs acting as natural carbon sinks.
Read more about why nature holds the key to meeting climate goals.
Water is the lifeblood of our planet and freshwater ecosystems play a key role in sopping up planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions and making our societies resilient to climate disasters. But the delicate balance of water availability and the habitats that keep it clean and supply it are under mounting pressure from climate change and often receive short shrift during international climate talks.
That is poised to change this week at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29). On 21 November, COP29 Presidency Azerbaijan will launch the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action, a formal series of discussions to be held each year during the UN climate summit. These dialogues will bring together governments, businesses and other groups to ensure that water remains central to negotiations on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
So, why exactly is all this so important? Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP’s Ecosystems Division, explains the importance of the Baku Water for Climate Action Dialogue and how action on water and freshwater ecosystems can help keep the Paris Agreement goals alive.
The draft texts were released early this morning in Baku and met with a muted response, particularly on climate finance where no figure has been yet put forward, instead being marked with an “x” on the page.
It’s vital that countries agree on a New Common Quantified Goal of Climate Finance (NCQG), and raise the amount of annual climate finance provided by developed to developing countries from a floor of $100 billion. Developing countries need the finance ensure they can reduce emissions and ensure their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - or climate plans, due in February - are ambitious enough to cut emissions in line with the 1.5C figure.
Delegates, campaigners are observers will all hope that common ground can be found in the next 48 hours.
The COP29 Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action High-Level Launch Event will see countries endorse the Water Declaration, a call on stakeholders to take integrated approaches when combating the causes and impacts of climate change on water basins and water-related ecosystems, strengthen regional and international cooperation, integrated water-related mitigation and adaptation measures in national climate policies.
The Baku Dialogue will see a formal series of discussions to be held each year during the UN climate summit, developed with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the World Meteorological Organization.
While COP29 in Baku is focusing on climate, next month another COP is taking place in Saudi Arabia from Dec 2- 16. UNCCD COP16 will focus on accelerating action on land, drought resilience and green transition in Saudi Arabia, the region and beyond. Desertification and land degradation is a huge issue, with the planet losing 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land each year.
Global Leaders Dialogue: Aligning Climate Action and Biodiversity Conservation for Achieving a Nature-Positive Future and the Paris Agreement Goals
Today focuses on the rather wide-ranging themes of nature and biodiversity, indigenous people, gender equality and ocean and coastal zones. It’s also a day where we will hopefully see progress on negotiations in Baku although much work needs to be done.
This event will highlight how the UN system is supporting Parties' strategies and plans to scale up and implement water-related mitigation and adaptation measures, including through National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Climate change is taking a toll on the South Caucasus, so how can science best translate into policies for adaptation? What does successful regional cooperation look like? This event will dive into these questions and feature the launch of UNEP’s Caucasus Environment Outlook.
This event will focus on overcoming the predominant barriers faced by nature-based solutions inside urban areas, particularly around policy and regulation; finance; and space and scale. A panel discussion will offer several examples from cities that demonstrate how Nature-based Solutions can be rolled out in cities and made attractive to policymakers.
Taxi driver Chanjira Ruangchan is weaving her electric motorcycle through the crowded streets of downtown Bangkok when she spots what looks like a bank of airport lockers.
Ruangchan, 53, pulls over and with a few presses on her phone, a door pops open. Inside is a freshly charged battery. Ruangchan swaps it in for the nearly depleted power cell in her bike and in two minutes speeds off in search of her next fare.
The battery swap station, which sprung in part from a project supported by UNEP, addresses a major drawback of electric vehicles: the relatively long time it takes to charge a battery from scratch. Read the full story.
Forty-four per cent of reef-building coral species globally are at risk of extinction, it was revealed in a new report today.
The conservation status of 892 warm-water reef-building coral species has now been reassessed for the IUCN Red List, and analysis shows that 44 per cent are threatened. The threats to reef-building corals were last assessed for the IUCN Red List in 2008, and at that time one third were found to be threatened.
The report highlights the impact the climate crisis is having on ecosystems, with warming oceans and increased CO2 levels leading to ocean acidification - both impacting coral reefs.
