Can Environmental Negotiations Regain Momentum in 2020?
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UNCCD Library
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In a new IISD report, 'The State of Global Environmental Governance 2019,' the Earth Negotiations Bulletin team reflects on the successes, shortcomings and overall trends of 2019. It is timely to take stock of global environmental governance as the world enters a new year and a new decade. In our new report, ‘The State of Global Environmental Governance 2019,’ the Earth Negotiations Bulletin team reflects on the successes, shortcomings and overall trends of 2019. We also look ahead, with optimism 2020 will regain the momentum recently lost.
In 2019, scientists were truth-tellers. Over the course of the year, international scientific bodies produced a range of reports on climate change, biodiversity, and the environment as a whole. Each report contains dire warnings for the future of the planet due to the impact of climate change on food production, of pollution on human health, and land incursions on species extinctions. Given historic inaction, nearly every system on the planet is in danger.
Yet, despite the thousands of pages of scientific evidence, intergovernmental political processes remain deadlocked on so many issues. Policy makers could not mount the type of response commensurate with the science.
Climate change governance had a particularly difficult year, limping to the end of the decade after the historic adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. The demands for climate ambition are loud, and angry. Millions of children and youth, feeling their futures have been stolen, participated in climate strikes every Friday throughout the year. Hearing their calls, 67 countries pledged greater climate ambition at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in September, but these countries represent only a small fraction of global emissions. As the year came to a close, governments at the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid (COP 25) failed to issue a clear call for ambition and could not agree on rules for the market mechanism necessary to complete the Paris Agreement rulebook. The Paris Agreement officially begins in 2020 amid major questions about its ability to catalyze climate ambition and prevent global warming above 2°C.
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In 2019, scientists were truth-tellers. Over the course of the year, international scientific bodies produced a range of reports on climate change, biodiversity, and the environment as a whole. Each report contains dire warnings for the future of the planet due to the impact of climate change on food production, of pollution on human health, and land incursions on species extinctions. Given historic inaction, nearly every system on the planet is in danger.
Yet, despite the thousands of pages of scientific evidence, intergovernmental political processes remain deadlocked on so many issues. Policy makers could not mount the type of response commensurate with the science.
Climate change governance had a particularly difficult year, limping to the end of the decade after the historic adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. The demands for climate ambition are loud, and angry. Millions of children and youth, feeling their futures have been stolen, participated in climate strikes every Friday throughout the year. Hearing their calls, 67 countries pledged greater climate ambition at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in September, but these countries represent only a small fraction of global emissions. As the year came to a close, governments at the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid (COP 25) failed to issue a clear call for ambition and could not agree on rules for the market mechanism necessary to complete the Paris Agreement rulebook. The Paris Agreement officially begins in 2020 amid major questions about its ability to catalyze climate ambition and prevent global warming above 2°C.
Read the full article from the source, follow the link to the source above.
Keywords
environmental assessment
environmental agreements
environmental crisis
Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA)
land degradation
biodiversity
climate change
gender equality
urbanization
public health
conflicts
disasters
environmental governance
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