Can 1 1.5 be saved?
“Keep 1.5 Alive” has been the UN’s slogan for many years, a reference to the goal of ensuring average global temperatures do not rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The scientific consensus is that lack of action will have catastrophic consequences, especially for so-called “frontline countries” – developing countries that could disappear beneath the sea due to rising sea levels.
© UNICEF/Lasse Bak Mejlvang
A man fishes while sitting on sandbags that protect the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu from sea erosion.
Mitigation (i.e. measures and policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to rising temperatures) is likely to be a key focus at COP30, the UN climate conference scheduled to take place between 10 and 21 November 2025.
Countries around the world will arrive with upgraded and more ambitious commitments to lower greenhouse gases. This is a recognition that existing commitments are completely inadequate in terms of reducing temperatures, and is part of the agreement that member states signed at the COP in Paris in 2015 (countries are expected to “scale up” their commitments every five years). The last time this happened was the 2021 Glasgow COP, which was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2 nature protection
Hosting COP30 in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest region is symbolically important. This reminds us of the early days of international attempts to protect the environment. A pivotal “Earth Summit” that led to the establishment of three environmental treaties on climate change, biodiversity and desertification took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1992.
© Unsplash/Sreenivas
A parrot stands on a tree branch in Maharashtra, India.
The site also highlights the role nature has to play in the climate crisis. Tropical rainforests are huge “carbon sinks” that contribute to warming by absorbing and storing the greenhouse gas CO2 and preventing it from entering the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, rainforests and other “nature-based solutions” face threats from human development, such as illegal logging, which has devastated vast swaths of the region. The United Nations will continue efforts started in 2024 to improve protection of rainforests and other ecosystems at biodiversity talks scheduled to resume in Rome in February.
3 Who pays for all this?
Finance has long been a thorny issue in international climate negotiations. Developing countries argue that rich countries should contribute much more to projects and initiatives that could move their economies away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy sources. The backlash from rich countries is that even fast-growing economies like China, now the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, should also pay their share.
© UNFCCC/Khabib Samadov
Activists protest against fossil fuels at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
A breakthrough of sorts was achieved at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, when an agreement was adopted to triple the amount of climate finance provided to developing countries to $300 billion per year by 2035. The deal is a clear step forward, but the final total is far less than the $1.3 trillion that climate experts say these countries need to adapt to the crisis.
We expect further progress on 2025 financing at the Spanish summit at the end of June. The Conference on Financing for Development is held only once a decade, and next year’s conference is seen as an opportunity to bring fundamental changes to the international financial structure. Environmental and climate concerns will be raised and potential solutions such as green taxes, carbon pricing and subsidies will all be discussed.
4 enact laws
When the International Court of Justice’s attention turned to climate change last December, it was hailed as a landmark moment for states’ legal obligations under international law.
© UNDP/Silke von Brockhausen
Vanuatu frequently experiences destructive extreme weather events, such as typhoons, which are exacerbated by climate change.
Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation particularly vulnerable to the crisis, has asked the court for an advisory role to clarify the state’s obligations related to climate change and inform future judicial proceedings.
Over two weeks, 96 countries and 11 regional organizations, including Vanuatu and other Pacific island nations and major economies including China and the United States, participated in public hearings at the court.
The ICJ will deliberate for several months before issuing an advisory opinion on the topic. This opinion is not binding, but is expected to guide future international climate law.
5 Plastic Pollution
A meeting convened by the United Nations to address the growing problem of plastic pollution around the world is nearing an agreement in negotiations held in Busan, South Korea.
Several major developments were achieved at the November 2024 meeting. This is the fifth round of negotiations since the 2022 UN Environment General Assembly resolution calling for an internationally legally binding mechanism on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.
Agreement must be reached on three pivotal areas: plastic products, including chemical issues; sustainable production and consumption; And financing.
UNDP India
In India, we collect plastic bottles for recycling.
Member states are now tasked with finding a political solution to their differences and striking a final deal that addresses the entire life cycle of plastics and delivers a global drive to end plastic pollution before the restarted conference begins.
“It is clear that the world still wants and demands an end to plastic pollution,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). “We need to build instruments that solve problems powerfully, rather than punching them below their potential weight. “I urge all Member States to resort to it.”
