Noting that climate change constitutes a decisive global challenge which, if not urgently managed, will put at risk not only the environment but also world economic prosperity, development and, more broadly, stability and security, the Foreign Affairs Council adopted a set of conclusions on 24 June to further mainstream climate diplomacy into EU and Member States' priority agendas. The aim is to help mobilising the necessary political will globally in support of an ambitious climate agreement in 2015 and more effective climate action on the ground.
The adoption of renewed Council conclusions on EU climate diplomacy and the lively debate among ministers underlined the high degree of consensus among MemberStates, the HR/VP and Commission on the relevance and urgency to strategically address climate change, including its security dimension. Indeed, climate change affects and increasingly shapes policy agendas and outcomes in the economic and security fields, a fact reflected in unequivocal policy reports of international institutions including the World Bank, IMF and the OECD but also, consistently, in reports of the intelligence and security community.
Global climate action is picking up speed as more than 90 countries representing all together more than 80% of global emissions, have already decided to undertake domestic emissions reductions. However, ministers noted with concern that today's global ambition level is still far from sufficient to limit global average temperature increases to less than 2°C from the pre-industrial level and avoid the devastating consequences of current emission trends, if left unchecked. More political lobbying for climate ambition is urgently needed.
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Colombia’s long-standing internal conflict and the country’s contribution to climate change share one common root cause: land concentration. Policies to strengthen access to land and to ensure sustainable land use might therefore hold the key to promoting peacebuilding in Colombia, while simultaneously reducing emissions.
As disasters wreak havoc all over South Asia, health impacts have increasingly emerged as a major concern for communities and governments in the region. It underscores the need for concerted efforts towards building synergies between the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly now, in the post-disaster reconstruction phase, to ensure “building back better” and future disaster prevention.
In the Inner Mongolian county of Horinger, Northwestern China, afforestation efforts have transformed a barren, dusty landscape into a pine forest. Planting trees has diminished the sandstorms, boosted biodiversity and improved the environment generally. As the climate emergency worsens, the potential for planted trees to draw carbon out of the atmosphere is being re-examined. What can the world learn from the Chinese experience with afforestation?
Two events in August 2019 underlined the complexity of paving the way to a climate-neutral world: the publishing of the new IPCC report and the Amazon fires. Both events demand that climate diplomats move beyond a narrowed focus on energy in decarbonisation debates.