“Many little children can no longer play outside as they would have some years back. The warming climate is shifting weather patterns in Zambia creating stronger and more frequent storms. In some months, the heat is unbearable” – Prudence Muchinouta’s letter to leaders.
The rapid growth of solar and wind power in recent years has breathed hope into global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the most dangerous effects of climate change.
The implications of the latest UNFCCC NDC Synthesis report could not be clearer: the world has not made anything like enough progress to tackle the climate crisis. Without immediate action, we risk losing our race to zero emissions and the better world promised by the Paris Agreement.
Over the past decade, global economic losses from weather events like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires have grown more costly. During the first decade of the 21st century, there were only two years when weather disasters cost more than $200 billion (including 2010).
“I was honoured to chair today’s second meeting of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) CEO Principals Group. The Group discussed the progress being made on GFANZ’s priorities, workstreams and deliverables for COP26 and beyond. We will continue to drive this work forward, to help unlock the systemic change needed to achieve the global transition to net zero.” – Mark Carney
As Europe aims to eliminate the sales of polluting vehicles by 2035, Monica Araya, Special Adviser, High Level Champion for Climate Action, COP26, considers how such an ambitious policy can transform electric transportation across the globe.
2030, nearly 40% of the world’s population will live in vulnerable housing. Disasters are increasing in frequency due to the impacts of climate change, and those living in lower income countries feel the consequences of climate change the greatest. CEO of Build Change, Elizabeth Hausler’s letter to world leaders.
“To the leaders of the developing countries, including my own, I would like to say: be bold! Show to the world your vision of how you want to transform your communities in order to survive AND thrive post-pandemic and amid continuous and exacerbated climate threats” — Vladislav Kaim, UN Secretary General’s Youth Advisor on Climate Change.
The heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors hold the key to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Show that we can decarbonize these, and we can decarbonize the whole global economy, argue Faustine Delasalle, Co-Executive Director, Mission Possible Partnership & Anthony Robert Hobley Co-Executive Director, Mission Possible Partnership.
“Climate change isn’t about countries: it’s about people. It’s about the world we want to live in for generations to come and the species we share it with. In other words, it’s far too important to leave just to world leaders – this crisis requires all of us to step up” – Governor of California, Gavin Newsom explains what’s at stake.
Formula One World Champion and winner of 23 Grands Prix, Nico Rosberg on the power of sport, gender equality and the future of e-mobility.
“Africa for years has been experiencing the impacts of climate change and these are becoming more and more catastrophic. It has been our past, it is our present and might become our future if we don’t Act Now.” Ugandan Climate Activist, Evelyn Acham’s submission to the Our World in Your Hands project.
“We are building commitment to a whole economy transition because we know we won’t get to net zero in a niche” – Mark Carney, UK Prime Minister’s Finance Advisor and UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, speech at the Venice International Climate Conference.
The sooner we begin retrofitting existing buildings and constructing new ones that can withstand climate change, the better, argues Ran Boydell, Visiting Lecturer in Sustainable Development, Heriot-Watt University.
The UN High Level Champions have designed a toolkit to help us all understand what a credible net zero commitment looks like, and which commitments lack the substance needed to deliver a zero carbon world in time.
Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy and the Greater London Authority; Catherine McGuinness, Chair of the Policy and Resources Institute at the City of London Corporation; and Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council discuss the monumental challenge and opportunity of a net zero London.
“Fighting climate change helps us create a better world. And net zero is the lever to get us there,” Farhana Yamin speaking at a town hall meeting convened by the UN High Level Champions on June 28.
More construction companies must actively play a role in 2021 as the most decisive year in climate action history.
In picking up from the wreckage wrought by Covid-19, the climate crisis and the devastatingly fast loss of nature and biodiversity, we find ourselves on the cusp of a great regeneration. It’s a regeneration of our health, of our planet, and of our economy.
To win the Race to Zero, all companies must put sustainability at the heart of their business model and undergo their own green transformation, argues Jakob Askou Bøss, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Stakeholder Relations at Ørsted.
All forms of ecosystem degradation have one thing in common: When people hurt ecosystems, they also hurt economies, biodiversity and the climate.
