It's an issue noticeably absent from the US presidential election but climate change and its effects are felt everywhere. So pressing are the economic, social and environmental effects of climate change that there is an urgent need for the world's governments, particularly foreign ministries, to engage in climate diplomacy to avert future crises, warn representatives from Adelphi.
According to its website, Adelphi is a think tank that offers creative solutions and services on global environment and development challenges for policy, business and civil-society communities.
Here are the facts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) noted that there is a 90 per cent probability that over the last 250 years, human activity has warmed the planet and that human-produced green gases have caused the observed increase in temperatures. The IPCC has predicted that by 2100, the planet's temperatures would have increased by 2 – 4 degrees celsius and that sea levels would rise by 18-59 cm. Additionally population and economic growth will accelerate climate change noted expert in Climate and Energy and International Environmental Policy and head of Climate and Energy Policies at Adelphi, Dennis Tanzler. While addressing the audience at the Learning Resource Centre at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine on October 18, Tanzler explained that by 2050, the world's population would reach nine billon, the world would urbanise further and rapidly, concentrating people in small areas – this would result in increasing demands on land, energy, food, water and other resources already affected by climate change.
But is climate change a conflict driver, a threat to international peace and security? The answer is yes, say experts from Adelphi.
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Even as the US officially pulled out of the Paris Agreement earlier this week, it might be too soon to lose hope on the country's long-term commitments to climate action. If a Democrat wins the upcoming presidential elections, which are set for November 2020, a reaccession process could begin shortly after the withdrawal is complete. In the meantime, however, the effect on trade policy could be significant.
European peatlands could turn from carbon sinks to sources as a quarter have reached levels of dryness unsurpassed in a record stretching back 2,000 years, according to a new study. This trend of “widespread” and “substantial” drying corresponds to recent climate change, both natural and human-caused, but may also be exacerbated by the peatlands being used for agriculture and fuel.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has contributed $28 million to back FAO's work to boost the resilience of food systems in Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan - part of a new initiative to scale-up resilience-based development work in countries affected by protracted crises.
A group of five small countries have announced that they will launch negotiations on a new Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability, which, if successful, would constitute the first international trade agreement focused solely on climate change and sustainable development. The initiative also breaks new ground by aiming to simultaneously remove barriers for trade in environmental goods and services and crafting binding rules to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. Small countries can pioneer the development of new trade rules that can help achieve climate goals, but making credible commitments, attracting additional participants, and ensuring transparency will be essential ingredients for long-term success.