UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
19
January
2020 | |
Racing to Zero and Resilience
Together
At the Same
Time | |
We enter 2021 amid worry, uncertainty and
weariness from the seemingly relentless Covid-19
virus. The pandemic has laid bare the fragility
of our systems, from public health, to global
supply chains, to jobs and industries.
But it has also made clear what the world
needs to strive for as we roll out vaccines and
recover from the health and economic shock of a
generation: resilience. Resilience to future
health, economic or environmental disruptions
will be the foundation of our Marshall Plan to
build back to a healthier, safer, cleaner and
more secure future.
This is why we’re starting 2021 by kicking
off the Race to
Resilience, a sibling campaign to the Race
to Zero, which will work with partner
initiatives to drive cities, regions,
businesses, investors and others to build
resilience by 2030 for 4 billion people who are
vulnerable to climate risks such as extreme
heat, drought, flooding and sea level
rise.
Building climate resilience means helping
communities, businesses and economies better
prepare for, recover from, and thrive in spite
of the impacts of climate change. It means
protecting and restoring our global commons -
the air, water, forests, oceans and mangroves
that keep us alive. It means, for example,
choosing crops that will resist droughts or
floods and setting policies in favour of the
jobs and industries that protect, rather than
endanger, public health.
Within the decade, the Race to Resilience
will transform urban slums into healthy, clean
and safe cities; equip smallholder farmers with
the tools and skills needed to adapt to climate
change; and protect coastal homes and
businesses.
The Race for Resilience will be officially
introduced at the Climate
Adaptation Summit on 25-26 January, hosted
by the Netherlands. The summit will also see the
launch of the new Adaptation Action Coalition,
by the UK with its partners the Netherlands,
Egypt, Bangladesh, Malawi, St Lucia and The
United Nations. The summit will also see a new
Adaptation Action Agenda, a framework to propel
work to adapt and build resilience to climate
change by
2030. | |
The outlook for life without it is bleak,
according to the Global
Commission on Adaptation. Over 100 million
people in developing countries could slip below
the poverty line by the end of this decade. The
number of people who could lack sufficient
water, at least one month per year, will soar to
5 billion by 2050, from 3.6 billion today.
Rising seas and stronger storms could force
millions of people in coastal cities to flee
their homes, adding $1 trillion per year in
costs for urban areas by 2050.
These impacts are already unfolding. 2020
is tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record
worldwide, marking the sixth exceptionally warm
year in a row, according to the World
Meteorological Organization and Copernicus Climate Changer
Service. It was Europe’s warmest ever
recorded. The Arctic and Siberia saw unusually
destructive wildfires as temperatures rose by as
much as 3-6°C above average, while Arctic sea
ice dropped significantly below average in
summer months.
Natural catastrophes in 2020 inflicted a
record US$210 billion in losses worldwide, up
from $166 billion in 2019, according to insurer
Munich RE. Six out of the 10 costliest
disasters took place in the US, including
tropical storms and wildfires. China experienced
the single costliest event - summer floods -
while India and Bangladesh sustained the worst
tropical cyclone.
The cost of adapting to climate change is
growing too. For developing countries, it could
reach US$ 300 billion in 2030 and $500 billion
in 2050, from $70 billion today, according to
the UN Environment Programme’s Adaptation Gap Report.
Financing for adaptation still falls far short
of what is needed. But there is a way out:
cutting emissions will reduce both the impacts
and costs of climate change, the report
said. | |
Breaking Through to Zero
Carbon | |
Now
that 70
percent of global GDP
is covered by goals for net zero emissions, it’s
inevitable that every sector will transform
exponentially - just like the transitions from
horses to cars and from analog to digital, with
most of the technology we use today.
Exponential
change is already happening in many key sectors
of the economy, often driven by Race to Zero
partners. From zero-carbon vehicles to
regenerative agriculture, solving these
challenges will create economic and societal
advantages for the countries, cities and
companies who emerge as leaders.
In
2021, the Race to Zero will be challenging its
members to keep powering ahead and driving for
bigger and faster breakthroughs. Stay tuned for
more
soon. | |
- The
UN’s
central objective this year
is to “build a global coalition for carbon
neutrality by the middle of the century”,
Guterres said in his first speech of
2021.
- The
UN Net
Zero Asset Owner Alliance
has published its protocol for members to set
their first interim emissions reduction targets
of 16-29 percent by 2025.
- The
Investor
Forum,
which collectively manages £20 trillion in
assets, called for an annual, non-binding
shareholder vote on company climate plans.
- The
International Energy Agency will in May publish
the first comprehensive roadmap for reaching net
zero emissions across the global energy sector
by 2050, Executive Director Fatih Birol
announced.
- An
accelerated energy transition could push oil to
peak by 2025 and reduce emissions by 1.1 percent
per year, McKinsey’s Global Energy
Perspective
finds.
- China’s
national emissions trading scheme
is expected to launch in mid-2021, Reuters
reports, citing China’s Securities Times.
- The
African
Development Bank
has pledged to mobilize US$6.5 billion to
support Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative
over the next five years.
- Britain’s
Prince Charles is urging countries to join the
new Terra
Carta
- an Earth charter that aims to raise £7.3
billion to invest in the natural world, BBC
reports.
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