Category: Climate Change

Human activities have devastated our wildlife. Human ingenuity can help to save it,” he said.

This year’s theme focuses on how digital technologies can drive wildlife conservation at a time when pollution, climate chaos, habitat loss and exploitation of nature are putting a million plant and animal species at risk of extinction.

No ‘silver bullet’

“Already, satellites are helping to track animals under threat. And data is charting wildlife migration and land use, supporting efforts to protect them. But they are a tool in our arsenal, not a silver bullet,” Mr. Guterres said.

He underscored the need for concerted efforts to help preserve wildlife and build a just, sustainable global future. 

The Secretary-General urged countries to take urgent action to drastically reduce emissions, adapt to climate extremes, prevent pollution and reduce biodiversity loss.

World Wildlife Day, commemorated annually on 3 March, was established by the UN General Assembly in 2013 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of the planet’s flora and fauna. 

The date also marks the day the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was adopted in 1973.

Mr. Guterres visited a project that is helping the Caribbean nation to combat the effects of coastal erosion and rising seas – among the impacts of global warming.

While commending the initiative, known as the Georgetown Sea Defense, he underlined the need for greater solidarity and financial support.

UN Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre

Efforts to tackle erosion and sea-level rise are underway in St. Vincent and the Grenadines where a new coastal sea defense project is being constructed in the Sandy Bay community.

Climate justice

“We must have stronger support from the international community – what we call climate justice – which means adequate financing at low cost, quickly decided, in order to allow for all these works that we have been seeing to protect the island against the sea, and against the floods and storms,” he said.

Responding to a journalist’s question, Mr. Guterres said that SIDS must have quick and easy access to climate finance through the Loss and Damage Fund.

The long-awaited mechanism to help vulnerable countries offset the damage from droughts, floods and other extreme weather caused by climate change, finally became operational at the UN COP28 climate conference in Dubai last year.

Mr. Guterres explained that under the fund, small projects like the one he visited would not require the same level of bureaucracy as those costing billions.

They instead call for “quick decisions and quick operationalization of the money available, and much more funding,” he said.

“The people of the Small Island Developing States are on the frontlines of climate change. They did not contribute to global warming, but they are paying the price,” he added.

UN Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre

Prefabricated homes built in Orange Hill resettlement area, in northeast Saint Vincent, to house some people who lived in areas declared unsuitable for habitation after the eruptions of the La Soufriere volcano in 2021.

Rising from the ashes

The Secretary-General also surveyed areas of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines that were affected by the April 2021 eruption of the La Soufrière volcano.

Some 20,000 people, roughly a fifth of the population, had to evacuate immediately. New houses were built in the resettlement area for those whose homes were destroyed.

The UN chief was in the country to attend the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held on Friday.

He arrived in the capital, Kingstown, the previous day, where, during a press conference, he paid tribute to the courage, resilience and solidarity of the people in the aftermath of the volcano. 

With more than 7,000 delegates from 182 UN Member States and more than 170 ministers participating in Nairobi, UNEA-6 adopted a package of action plans, from promoting sustainable lifestyles to the sound management of chemicals and waste and sand and dust storms, issuing calls for immediate steps to rein in overconsumption and take smarter, greener steps towards sustainability.

“The world needs action, speed and real, lasting change”, said Inger Anderson, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) at the closing session on Friday.

A ministerial declaration affirmed the international community’s strong intent to slow climate change, restore nature and land and create a pollution-free world, she said.

She added that true multilateralism was prevailing with wide engagement from civil society, indigenous peoples, international organisations, scientists and the private sector.

“UNEA-6 has delivered an extra boost to help us deliver this change and to ensure every person on this planet enjoys the right to a safe and healthy environment,” she said.

Hope amid triple planetary crisis

At a time when the world faces a triple planetary crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change, action must be swift and concerted, said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.

She said the robust UNEA-6 discussions and outcome will accelerate the world’s common goals, including efforts to achieve both the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Goals.

“We cannot afford to deplete nature’s resources without facing serious consequences,” the Deputy UN chief said in a video message. “The decisions we make today will shape our destiny tomorrow.”

UN News/Natalia Jidovanu

The virtual reality experience Vanishing Treasures aims to convey the impact of climate change on snow leopards, Bengal tigers and mountain gorillas.

Environmental decision makers

Known as the “world parliament on the environment”, UNEA-6 became the  highest decision-making body in the field at its inception in 2012. The goal is simple: to help restore the harmony between people and the nature. Read our explainer here.

During the five-day conference, UNEA-6 saw delegates debate everything from the use of artificial intelligence to solar engineering techniques.

Among the adopted resolutions, one provided guidance on how the world can do better on protecting the environment during and after conflicts, and another addressed how best to combat desertification.

UNEP/Natalia Mroz

Rappers Frida Amani and Dex McBean perform their track Get with the Programme/Twende na Mpangoon on Multilateral Environmental Agreements Day at UNEA-6.

New day, new approach, new reports

Dozens of side events considered fresh initiatives and possible breakthroughs, including the use of artificial intelligence to fight climate change.

In the so-called fast fashion field, a UNEP and UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion exhibit featured stylish clothing showcasing a project aimed at stopping overproduction and overconsumption, eliminating hazardous chemical byproducts and scaling circular business models which benefit the environment.

The UNEA-6 also hosted the first Multilateral Environmental Agreements Day, marked on 28 February.

Bridging the divide

Rich countries use six times more resources and generate 10 times the climate impacts than low-income nations, according to a UNEP report launched on Friday at UNEA-6.

The 2024 Global Resource Outlook contains a wide range of evidence-based findings and calls for sweeping policy changes to close the divide between rich and poor at all levels, while growing the economy, improving wellbeing and minimizing environmental impacts.

“The triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution is driven from a crisis of unsustainable consumption and production. We must work with nature, instead of merely exploiting it,” said UNEP chief Ms. Andersen ahead of the launch.

Plundering the Earth

Indeed, the report showed that natural resource extraction is expected to rise by 60 per cent by 2060 and could derail efforts to achieve not only global climate, biodiversity, and pollution targets, but also economic prosperity and human wellbeing.

“Reducing the resource intensity of mobility, housing, food and energy systems is the only way we can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ultimately a just and liveable planet for all,” she said.

The outcome of UNEA-6 will feed into other like-minded collaborative global efforts towards sustainability, including the Summit of the Future, to be held at UN Headquarters in September.

United Nations

SDG 13

SDG 13: COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE

 

• Strengthen resilience and adaptation to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
• Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
• Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaption, impact reduction and early warning
• Raise capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries

 

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

UN News’s Daniel Dickinson travelled to Madagascar ahead of the United Nations Environment Assembly, which is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 26 February, to ask people how they are coping.

Life is becoming increasingly challenging in the village of Zanavo Fagnalenga on the southernmost tip of Madagascar. Years of under-development, a series of humanitarian crises and the impact of climate change has pushed this village of several hundred people into poverty and has made it almost uninhabitable at times.

Small wood and grass triangular-shaped dwellings dot the dusty and arid landscape. A few villagers sell peanuts piled up in small rusty cans, and manioc are arranged in rows and available to anyone who can afford them.

The small amount of water that is available is dedicated to human consumption and to keeping a few crops alive on the margins of the settlement.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

People in southern Madagascar are learning to adapt to climate change.

Climate change intensifies weather’s impact

For as long as people can remember, fishing and farming have been the main activities here, and people have been able to cope with the vicissitudes of the weather, including the seasonal wind which builds in intensity from the beginning of March every year.

It blows in from the Indian Ocean and whips up the red sandy soil along this once fertile coastline. It is called the Tiomena, which translates from the Malagasy language as red wind.

Jean Christian Lahanbitoly, a fisher and community leader, says the Tiomena has had a significant impact on life in coastal communities.

“The Tiomena carries the sand on the hills along the coast and drives it inland towards our village. When it is strong, it is almost impossible to work outside. When we don’t work, it means we have no money to buy food or water, so we suffer a lot.”

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

Jean Christian Lahanbitoly is a fisher and community leader.

The Tiomena is not a new challenge to this and other communities in the rural communes of Maroalopoty and Maroalomainty, but its intensity has increased due to climate change.

Deforestation over many decades has left many hillsides bare and open to ravages of the strong winds, which have led to increased erosion of the sandy soils these communities are built on. And as sands creep over the land of these predominantly farming people, the ability to cultivate crops is decreasing.

But, the village is blighted by another aspect of climate change – the lack of water.

“It is very difficult for farmers to grow any crops as the Tiomena is bringing sand that is invading our land and village,” Mr. Lahanbitoly said. “It’s becoming even harder now, as we also don’t get enough rain.”

Madagascar is the fourth most climate change-affected country in the world according to the UN, and across southern Madagascar, farmers are struggling to harvest parched crops, especially maize which is traditionally grown but which requires a lot of water.

Some people have started leaving villages like Zanavo Fagnalenga and migrating north in the search of less challenging growing conditions “where the land is better and life is easier”, Mr. Lahanbitoly said. For many, it is the only way to avoid going hungry.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

A woman sells produce in the village of Zanavo Fagnalenga.

‘I am an optimist’

“I am an optimist,” he added, “but, the pessimistic view is that if things don’t improve, we will all die of hunger.”

Mr. Lahanbitoly is right to feel optimistic following the launch of a project which is aimed at protecting the vulnerable coastal habitat and enabling communities to earn their livelihoods.

The focus is the humble sisal plant, which is resistant to harsh conditions and well adapted to more a more arid environment. 

When cultivated in grids, the plant can help to secure the topsoil and prevent further erosion. In Maroalopoty and Maroalomainty, this means fewer sandstorms and more opportunities to work the land.

The stiff fibre it produces can also be exploited commercially and processed into rope and even clothes.

“For so long we have not been able to cultivate this land because of the sand,” said local farmer Lydia Monique Anjarasoa, “but we have planted sisal plants, which have helped the community.”

The planting of sisal, along with cactus and ipomoea, a type of vine, which provides more stability and water-retention qualities to the soil, has been supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the government.

Individuals were paid to plant the crop, providing much needed income they were able to spend in their communities, thereby boosting local economies.

UN News/Daniel Dickinson

UNDP’s Fabrice Mamitiana.

One plant has changed the landscape

“The people living here are very vulnerable and have become poorer as harvests have decreased,” said UNDP’s Fabrice Mamitiana. “The community is happy because we created employment, and they saw that the sands stopped advancing because of the sisal they planted. This allowed them to continue growing on the remaining agricultural land and with the little amount of rain that came, they were able to have a small harvest.”

Now, farmers and their families are growing, eating and selling beans, millet and sorghum amongst other crops. They are now more resilient to the increasingly harsh environment and are recognizing for the first time in some years that they have a productive and sustainable future on their land.

However, there is little they can do to change the inconsistent rainfall. “Where there is no rainfall, there is no production and this has led to the decapitalization of the people in this region and has pushed them towards hunger,” said the Governor of Androy region, Soja Lahimaro.

“There are emergency solutions,” he explained, “but these are just temporary, so we are working together with the UN and government on a longer-term development plan.”

There are plans, if funds are available, to extend the planting of sisal to other communities in the south to reinforce their resilience to the changing climate and to put them on the path to sustainable development.

United Nations

SDG 15

SDG 15: SUSTAINABLY USE ECOSYSTEMS

 

• Combat desertification and restore degraded land and soil
• Ensure conservation of mountain ecosystems to enhance their capacity to provide benefits essential for sustainable development
• Promote fair, equitable sharing of and access to benefits related to genetic resources use
• End poaching and trafficking of protected species and address demand and supply of illegal wildlife products
• Mobilize and increase financial resources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems and to fund sustainable forest management

 

Escalating forest losses, land degradation, and species extinction pose severe threats to the planet and people