From words to environmentally just actions in the last Climate Ambition Summit

perspectives by Amalee Thanthrige and Elena Andres

Key concepts:

• Environmental justice: “equitable distribution of environmental benefits and harms experienced as a result of rectifying systems of oppression” (Dearing, 2023)

• UN Climate ambition summit: A special summit, not happening every year, under the organization of a UN General Assembly, aiming to accelerate climate action. In 2023 it was celebrated in September in New York aligned with the UNGA78 and it was a prelude to the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28).

• COP (Conference of Parties): The main governance body of a UN Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, which meets annually, and its duty is to review and take decisions to promote the effective implementation of the Convention. In this article when referring to COP we are referring to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that includes, among others, the Kyoto protocol or the Paris Agreement.

WHY A CLIMATE AMBITION SUMMIT? MAIN OUTCOMES

The world is no longer in the era of global warming but has entered the ‘global boiling era’. It's a reminder that time is no longer a luxury we can afford to squander'.  Despite having many other challenges that require our attention it is crucial to emphasize the seriousness of climate change and its consequences. Accordingly, several bodies of the UN, including the United Nations Environment Programme, have been playing a key role in stressing the necessity of urgent actions while monitoring and evaluating how the member states contribute to the common goals of addressing energy efficiency, waste and pollution reduction, environmental policy adaptation and mitigation, investing on climate finance, etc.

The ethos guiding those responsible for monitoring and evaluating progress, particularly within the Conference of the Parties (COP), has shifted towards tangible action over mere rhetoric. The last Climate Summit, a preamble of the COP organized directly by the UN Secretary during the General Assembly in September 2023, was a clear example: an extended list of countries (Australia, Japan, UK, USA) did not secure a spot at the Summit as the Secretary General last year reserved the participation for those who had ambitious new commitments and were on track with their climate targets, in order to  “demonstrate that tangible and ambitious action to credibly cut emissions and deliver climate justice was possible and practical and inspire others to follow” 

So far, the COP has gathered for 28 years and the question we all have is, whether these gatherings have yielded meaningful results. Let's see the perspective from two different countries.

SRI LANKA IN THE CLIMATE AMBITION SUMMIT

It is an undeniable reality that the impacts of the climate crisis spare no nation, yet it is the most vulnerable countries, often situated in the global south, that bear the brunt of its consequences. Among many developing countries from the global south, Sri Lanka is one of the countries that has been affected by frequent extreme weather conditions, floods, droughts and landslides. Obviously, natural reasons are not the only reasons for these occurings. According to the UNDP-Sri Lanka updates on Sri Lankan adaptation to climate policies, about 2 million people have been affected by flooding and landslides between 2016 and 2017. As a member state of the United Nation and as a country that signed the Paris Agreement in the first round along with the other 116 countries in 2015, has Sri Lanka contributed to targets of the Paris Agreement as promised? While the responsible minister publicly announced new initiatives called “Sri Lanka NEXT- Blue Green era”, the discrepancy between rhetoric and action is evident amidst the mounting challenges of urbanization and development.

At the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement, Sri Lanka pledged ambitious targets, including the establishment of 10,000 climate resilient villages and will be focusing on increasing renewables by 20% while increasing the forest cover to 32%. However, as the world leaders gathered for the COP28 in Dubai, there was no showcase of achieving these promised initiatives despite already the agreed deadline having passed. In fact, Sri Lanka has taken remarkable actions through introducing various policies especially through the National Climate Change Policy and the National Climate Adaptation Strategy for Sri Lanka from 2011 to 2016. Despite the introduction of these crucial policies, Sri Lanka acknowledges the existence of gaps in information and technology necessary in order to be successful in fighting against climate change and behaving as a responsible nation to the Paris Agreement. 

Recognizing key areas such as food security, water resources, health, and ecosystem conservation as priorities, it is crucial to establish a system that ensures, with sufficient resources, institutional coordination and prioritization through comprehensive actions. Sri Lanka embarked on a journey to address climate change, setting short-term and long-term goals starting from 2016, with aims to achieve them by 2025. 

While Sri Lanka has failed to fulfill its promise that the Environment Minister of 2016 stated, the current President has stated that Sri Lanka will establish the world’s first climate change university. This observation suggests that many leaders prioritize impressing other states during these international conferences, rather than addressing the shortcomings of interventions and strategizing how to bridge those gaps, despite the pressing array of national and international challenges demanding attention.  

SPAIN IN THE CLIMATE AMBITION SUMMIT

Spain participated in the Climate Ambition summit with ambitious commitments to accelerate decarbonization and the delivery of climate justice: no new coal and acceleration of the phase out of coal by 2024 policy and an announcement of a contribution of €225 million to the Green Climate Fund for its ongoing second replenishment. Embracing the summit's call to showcase tangible actions rather than mere pledges, Spain signed a coordination agreement with the Dominican Republic in order to transform the adaptation priorities of the caribbean state into a pipeline of projects (The Adaptation Pipeline Accelerator) that could enhance public policies and implement the financial requirements to increase the climate resilience of the Dominican Republic.

President Pedro Sanchez underscored the ambitious objectives outlined in Spain's National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan: based on 2020 and a 2030 objective, a 56% reduction in greenhouse emissions, improvement of energy efficiency in 44%, and ensuring that 32% of the total consumption of gross final energy comes from renewable energies. Additionally, Spain aims to close its last thermal power plant by 2025, having already eliminated 80% of its reliance on coal.

All of these goals and the plan itself sound beautiful but, are they enough? Checking the SDG’s track it could be observed that on SDG 13-Climate Action Spain remains “in red” with a trend “in yellow”, meaning respectively that major challenges remain when taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impact, and the trend is moderately improving but remains insufficient to attain the goal by 2030.  Of the four indicators related to SDG 13, only one has been achieved by 2021. 

Furthermore, projections from the Sixth Report of Evaluation of the Intergovernmental Group of IPCC Climate Change Experts paint a concerning picture of Spain's future climate. Anticipated declines in precipitation and increased aridity and drought pose significant risks, particularly to southern and central regions. The Mediterranean region, including Spain, faces heightened threats from extreme heat phenomena due to climate warming.

In light of the current climate challenges and their tangible impacts, Spain's existing action plans appear insufficient. The country is suffering from unprecedented droughts: as an example, in early February authorities of Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain, declared a drought emergency. The reservoirs that supply 6 million people, including the population of Barcelona, ​​are at less than 16% of their capacity, a historic low.

AND, IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP OR INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN SRI LANKA AND SPAIN?

Comparing CO2 emissions per capita, Sri Lanka records 0.89 tons per capita, ranking 89th out of 209 countries. In contrast, Spain's metric stands at 5.42 tons per capita, placing it as the 24th country with the highest CO2 emissions per capita. This discrepancy underscores a crucial aspect of climate justice. That basically means that Spain is polluting more than Sri Lanka, and here is where climate justice comes into play. Despite Spain's commendable efforts to combat climate change, the reality remains: the planet is indifferent to the quality of Spain's climate plans when its CO2 emissions remain disproportionately high. This disparity in emissions impacts countries with fewer resources to combat climate change, exacerbating their vulnerability to its effects. It's a reminder of the growing divide between the Global North and the Global South in addressing planetary crises.

In this context, climate justice emerges as a critical tool for holding the Global North accountable for its environmental impact and addressing the repercussions faced by the Global South. It calls for reparative actions, mitigation measures, and proactive steps to prevent further harm, bridging the gap between nations and fostering a more equitable response to the climate crisis.

CLIMATE JUSTICE IS ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMANITARIAN WORK. BECAUSE ACHIEVING ALL KINDS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT GOALS WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT PLANET EARTH.

This article was written collaboratively between Amalee Thanthrige and Elena Andres.

Because there is no success when leaving each other behind, but when walking together for a better common goal.

References

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2. Dearing, A. (2023, May 19). Toward Environmental Justice: Key Concepts. JSTOR Daily. Retrieved February 10, 2024, from https://daily.jstor.org/toward-environmental-justice-key-concepts/ 

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