At least ten countries pledged to halt glacier melt and thawing permafrost in the Arctic at a conference on Monday.
Foreign ministers and officials from the European Union, Japan and United States, signed a joint statement during the State Department-devised Glacier summit in Anchorage, Alaska.
They endorsed mounting scientific research documenting retreating sea ice, set out an action plan to curb black carbon emissions and called for more research to measure the advance of permafrost and wildfires.
But China and India did not sign the document, somewhat limiting its impact.
“Climate change poses a grave challenge in the Arctic and to the world,” the declaration read.
“But these challenges also present an imperative for cooperation, innovation, and engagement as we work together to safeguard this vital region and to inform the world why the Arctic matters to us all.”
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Climate adaptation has been praised for its potential for contributing to peace. It is highlighted for the potential to remake systems and equip the world to better cope with the impacts of climate change. However, these remain hopeful claims until rigorous research is done on how this might take place and what type of peace we might expect to result from the implementation of climate adaptation.
Responding to climate change has become more urgent than ever. Cooperation within communities is a precondition for urban resilience, as recurring heatwaves and hurricanes cannot be put down to chance any more. Lou del Bello argues that part of the response to disaster risks lies in digital communications, which will help build preparedness from the bottom up.
Almost 200 states have agreed on measures to limit global warming in Katowice, Poland, after a two-week marathon of negotiations. The state representatives participating at the Conference of the Parties (COP24) agreed on a 156-page rulebook on Saturday night, listing measures and controls to limit the global rise in average temperatures to well below two degrees Celsius.
This year’s annual UN climate conference concluded late on Saturday evening in Katowice, Poland, after two weeks of tension-filled talks.