View previous stories
	A toxic tidal wave of plastic pollution threatens life on earth by OHCHR, WWF, CIEL, Greenpeace, agencies   Nov. 2024   Plastic pollution a global threat to human rights, say UN experts. (OHCHR)   UN experts say the legally binding global instrument on plastic pollution, now in the final phase of negotiation, must secure accountability in all stages of the plastic cycle. Ahead of the last scheduled session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Busan, South Korea, the experts issued this statement:   “The current direction of the negotiations to produce a new international treaty on plastic pollution risks shifting responsibility from plastic-producing States to developing States that lack the capacity or resources to confront the global plastic scourge. Plastic producers, and the States where they are based, are not doing their part in addressing the global adverse impacts on human rights.   The legally binding instrument under negotiation must include explicit references to human rights to properly frame effective and legitimate solutions. Language on the right to information, the right to development, and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment are indispensable. In addition, the treaty should also reflect key human rights principles, including transparency, prevention and accountability.   Every stage of the plastic cycle generates plastic pollution that threatens the effective enjoyment of human rights. The mandate given by the UN Environment Assembly to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee was clear: the instrument under negotiation must address the full lifecycle of plastics.   Transparency for plastic pollution in all stages of the plastics cycle means the public must have access to accurate and accessible information on the chemicals of concern used in plastic polymers and products, the type and amounts of pollutants emitted or released in each of the stages of the plastic lifecycle, and the volumes of plastics produced.   This information is critical for the protection of human rights from the harmful impacts of plastics, as well as for adequate monitoring and enforcement of states duties and business responsibilities, including in respect of the reductions of plastic production that need to be established by the new instrument.   Accountability means that plastic producers must make contributions to a global fund. This fund should operationalize the polluter-pays principle and support implementation of effective waste management measures and technologies suitable to protect human rights in the specific context of developing countries, especially in small island developing States and least developed countries burdened by plastic pollution.   It should also cover the clean-up of the toxic legacy of plastics, including the island-sized plastic gyres in the marine environment.   Prevention of harm to human and environmental health requires that chemicals of concern must be adequately controlled and kept out of plastics. This will also enable the transition to a chemically safe circular economy.   Prevention also means that plastic product design must enable both the phase-out of non-essential plastic products as well as chemically safe recycling. This is particularly important for developing countries that lack economies of scale and rely on imports.   A human rights-based approach also demands access to remedies, especially for those people who suffer disproportionate impacts from plastic pollution. A just transition that leaves no one behind is also critical to address the situation of many individuals and groups who derive an income from work on plastics.   The international community must come together to end plastic pollution. This requires bold vision that confronts the negative externalities imposed by the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries and responds to the full evidence base on the causes and impacts on human rights of plastic pollution throughout its full lifecycle, including its impacts on the other planetary crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.   A legitimate and just transition to ending plastic pollution necessitates placing human rights at the core of the legally binding instrument under negotiation.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/plastic-pollution-global-threat-human-rights-say-un-experts   Apr. 2024   8 in 10 people support cut in plastic production. (Greenpeace International)   Eight out of 10 people support cutting plastic production revealed a new Greenpeace International report ahead of the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC4) meeting for a Global Plastics Treaty to be held in Ottawa, Canada this month. The survey which was conducted across 19 countries also indicates overwhelming public backing for measures aimed at ending single-use plastics and promoting reuse-based solutions.   Key findings include:   82% of respondents support cutting the production of plastic to stop plastic pollution. 80% of respondents advocate for protecting biodiversity and the climate by reducing plastics production. 90% of respondents endorse transitioning away from single-use plastic packaging to reusable and refillable alternatives.   75% of respondents support a ban on single-use plastic packaging. 80% of respondents express concern[1] about the health impacts of plastic on their loved ones and 84% of parents surveyed express concern about the health impacts of plastic on their children.   Graham Forbes, Greenpeace Head of Delegation to the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations and Global Plastics Campaign Lead for Greenpeace USA, said: “The level of public support demonstrated by this survey sends a clear message: the vast majority of people want a Global Plastics Treaty that cuts plastic production and ends single use plastic. It is time for world leaders to listen and rise to the occasion. They must stand up to the fossil fuel industry and deliver a strong and ambitious treaty that represents the will of the people.”   The survey reveals consistent support for ambitious action on plastics across all countries, particularly in the Global South regions where plastic pollution levels are notably high.   A strong majority of people support these measures across all categories, including 60% of respondents who supported the exclusion of lobbyists from the fossil fuel and chemical industries from treaty negotiations.   In several countries there is a significant disconnect between the level of public support for cutting plastic production and the position of their governments on the treaty.   For example, the Indian and Chinese governments oppose limiting the production of plastics, and the Brazilian government does not specify its support for this measure, compared to overwhelming public support to cut production in China of 92%, 89% in Brazil, and 86% in India.   Greenpeace is demanding that the Global Plastics Treaty cuts total plastic production by at least 75% by 2040 to protect biodiversity and ensure that global temperatures stay below 1.5° C. Over 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels, and with production set to skyrocket, it is a significant driver of climate change.   “We only have two negotiation meetings left – the clock is ticking and we are either heading towards a treaty that will solve the global plastics crisis or end up with a weak treaty that will only let the planet spiral towards disaster. We cannot let the fossil fuel industry dictate the terms of how the world solves a problem that they’ve created. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to solve the plastics crisis – let’s not waste it,” Forbes added.   Government ministers from 173 countries are set to gather at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, Canada from April 23 to 29, 2024, for the INC4 conference to negotiate a legally binding Treaty. The last negotiation meeting will happen in Busan, South Korea in November 2024. The INC3 meeting in Nairobi, Kenya last November 2023 ended in frustration as low-ambition countries derailed the negotiations, with the talks ending without a mandate to create a first draft of the treaty.   * FAO: Studies have shown we are breathing microplastics, eating microplastics, drinking microplastics, and picking them up through skin contact. Evidence is mounting that they can pose a potential threat to food safety and human health. Scientists have found microplastics in the gut, human heart tissue and blood. They’ve been detected in breast milk, placentas, and developing brains. There is currently research suggesting that microplastics, a complex mix of chemicals, leach chemical compounds during cooking processes.   The enormous climate impact of plastic production, report from GAIA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory   In advance of the fourth round of United Nations negotiations for an international plastics treaty in Ottawa April 23-29, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has released a groundbreaking study revealing the enormous climate impact of plastic production. The report’s findings reinforce the importance of the treaty covering the entire life cycle of plastic, from extraction to disposal, as enshrined in the 175-country agreement Resolution 5/14, which forms the basis for the treaty talks. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) has created a policy brief that shows how rapidly the world must reduce plastic production in time to avert catastrophic warming.   Key Findings:   Plastics’ impact on the climate starts with extraction. To fully capture, measure, evaluate and address the impacts of plastic pollution, assessment and regulatory controls must consider the complete lifecycle, beginning with extraction.   Growth in plastic production alone will doom international climate goals. Even if every other source of greenhouse gas emissions – transportation, electricity, agriculture, heavy industry, etc. – were to miraculously and completely decarbonize in 2024, at current growth rates, primary plastic production alone would completely consume the global carbon budget as early as 2060.   Deep, rapid cuts in plastic production are required by the Paris Agreement. To avoid breaching the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement, primary plastic production must decrease by at least 12% to 17% per year, starting in 2024.   A key tension point in the negotiations thus far is over including ambitious and binding plastic production cuts in the final treaty. The vast majority of countries engaged in the negotiation process have remained open to including production reduction targets in the treaty. However a small but vocal minority, primarily made up of fossil fuel-producing nations, have sought to sabotage the talks through obstruction tactics and by arguing that plastic pollution starts only at the disposal stage. In light of the new data from LBNL, this small group’s obstruction imperils the world’s ability to decarbonize in time to avoid climate disaster.   The petrochemical industry itself has had a significant presence at the negotiations– 143 industry lobbyists registered to attend INC-3, a larger group than any national delegation or civil society organization, and has gained extensive access to government representatives from around the world. Civil society is calling for their removal from further negotiations to avoid conflict of interest.   GAIA Science and Policy Director and Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, Dr. Neil Tangri, states: “While global leaders are trying to negotiate a solution to the plastic crisis, the petrochemical industry is investing billions of dollars in making the problem rapidly worse. We need a global agreement to stop this cancerous growth, bring down plastic production, and usher in a world with less plastic and less pollution.”   Co-author Dr. Sam Adu-Kumi, former Director of the Chemicals Control and Management Centre of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana, says, “Africa has been one of the most ambitious regions in the plastics treaty negotiations. We recognize the impact of plastic pollution on our people’s health, environment and livelihoods and we know from experience that upstream measures are needed to enable downstream success in combating plastic pollution.”   Co-author Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, Adjunct Professor and Research Faculty Fellow, Siliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines, states, “The Philippines is on the frontlines of both climate change and plastic pollution. Heat waves, powerful typhoons and flooding are getting worse, and the petrochemical industry has displaced our traditional systems with mountains of plastic that poison our communities. Whether the treaty includes plastic production cuts is not just a policy debate. It’s a matter of survival.”   http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/30/developed-countries-accused-bowing-lobbyists-plastic-pollution-talks http://www.thenewlede.org/2024/08/its-scary-scientists-finding-mounting-evidence-of-plastic-pollution-in-human-organs/ http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2746 http://www.thenewlede.org/2024/06/plastics-producers-face-potential-wave-of-lawsuits-report-suggests/ http://www.ciel.org/news/new-report-helps-cities-states-legal-fight-plastic-pollution/ http://www.ciel.org/news/outcome-plastics-negotiations-inc4-ottawa/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/01052024/united-nations-plastics-treaty-negotiations/ http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/66210/8-in-10-people-support-cut-in-plastic-production-ahead-of-global-plastics-treaty-talks-in-ottawa/ http://www.no-burn.org/resources/plastics-treaty-climate-imperative http://eta.lbl.gov/publications/climate-impact-primary-plastic   http://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2024/04/21/march-to-end-the-plastic-era-inc4/ http://wwf.panda.org/act/plastic_pollution_treaty http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2024/04/04/navigating-the-un-plastics-agreement-pews-recommendations-for-a-global-solution http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/preventing-ocean-plastics http://www.facing-finance.org/2024/04/beneath-the-surface-do-esg-ratings-capture-the-risks-and-impacts-of-plastics/   http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/18/un-plastics-treaty-should-mandate-protection-human-rights-and-health http://plasticovershoot.earth http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/24/survey-finds-that-60-firms-are-responsible-for-half-of-worlds-plastic-pollution http://www.ciel.org/issues/plastic http://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/bioplastics-as-toxic-as-regular-plastics-both-need-regulation-say-researchers/ http://ikhapp.org/material/fact-sheet-bioplastics-biobased-plastics-and-plastics-with-biodegradable-properties-101/   Sep. 2023   Researchers in Japan have discovered microplastics in clouds, raising the specter of super-contaminating "plastic rainfall" and potential impacts to the Earth's climate.   Analyzing cloud water samples from high-altitude mountains in Japan including Mt. Fuji, researchers from Waseda University in Tokyo found nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber in the airborne microplastics (AMPs) they detected.   "Research shows that large amounts of microplastics are ingested or inhaled by humans and animals alike and have been detected in multiple organs such as lung, heart, blood, placenta, and feces," notes the summary of the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Chemistry Letters.   "These findings confirm that AMPs play a key role in rapid cloud formation, which may eventually affect the overall climate," they added.   Accumulation of AMPs in the atmosphere could also upset the planet's ecological balance, with devastating effects on biodiversity.   "AMPs are degraded much faster in the upper atmosphere than on the ground due to strong ultraviolet radiation, and this degradation releases greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming," Waseda University professor Hiroshi Okochi, who led the study, said in a statement. "As a result, the findings of this study can be used to account for the effects of AMPs in future global warming projections."   "If the issue of 'plastic air pollution' is not addressed proactively, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future," Okochi added.   "Ten million tons of these plastic bits end up in the ocean, released with the ocean spray, and find their way into the atmosphere," the summary continues. "This implies that microplastics may have become an essential component of clouds, contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink via 'plastic rainfall.'"   http://www.waseda.jp/top/en/news/78501 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-023-01626-x http://plastichealthcouncil.com/global-plastics-treaty http://plastichealthcouncil.com/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/18032024/fossil-fuels-toxic-chemicals-deadly-diseases/ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13197-023-05720-4 http://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/microplastics-are-everywhere-what-are-they-doing-to-our-health http://unece.org/media/news/388691   June 2023   UN experts warn of “toxic tidal wave” as plastic pollutes environment and threatens human rights. (OHCHR)   The world must beat the toxic tidal wave of plastic pollution that threatens human rights, UN experts said today, urging States and other stakeholders to put rights at the centre of the international treaty on plastic pollution currently under negotiation. Ahead of World Environment Day, they issued the following joint statement:   “Plastic production has increased exponentially over recent decades and today the world is generating 400 million tonnes of plastic waste yearly.   All stages of the plastics cycle have adverse impacts on human rights. We are in the middle of an overwhelming toxic tidal wave as plastic pollutes our environment and negatively impacts human rights in a myriad of ways over its life cycle.   For example, plastic production releases hazardous substances and almost exclusively relies on fossil fuels, while plastic itself contains toxic chemicals, posing serious risks and harms to human health, human rights and the environment. At the end of its life as a consumer good, plastic waste pollutes our planet, with 85% of single use plastics sent to landfills or dumped in the environment. False and misleading solutions, such as incineration or recycling of toxics-laden plastics, aggravate the plastic threat.   Plastic, microplastic and the hazardous substances they contain can be found in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.   While everyone is affected by the negative human rights impacts of plastic, the level of exposure to plastic-related pollution and waste affects marginalised communities the most. We are particularly concerned about groups suffering from environmental injustices due to heightened exposure to plastic pollution, many of them living in 'sacrifice zones'.   The contribution of plastic pollution to climate change is alarming, yet often overlooked. For instance, plastic particles found in oceans limit the ability of marine ecosystems to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.   It is shocking to witness how the omnipresence of plastics impacts human rights in many different ways, including the rights to a healthy environment, life, health, food, water and an adequate standard of living.   States and businesses have specific human rights obligations which apply in the context of the fight against plastics pollution.   Over the last two years, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly adopted landmark resolutions recognising the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, which includes non-toxic environments where people can live, work, study and play. This should prompt and guide initiatives addressing plastic pollution.   There is an urgent need to prioritise reduction in production and use of plastic, detoxification and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.   We note the discussions taking place by member States towards a comprehensive and internationally binding instrument on plastic pollution and urge its completion by the end of 2024. It is essential that States and other stakeholders employ a human rights-based approach to beat plastic pollution.”   *The experts: David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; Marcos Orellana, UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/un-experts-warn-toxic-tidal-wave-plastic-pollutes-environment-and-threatens http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/10/plastic-pandemic-time-running-out-prevent-human-rights-tragedy-un-expert http://tinyurl.com/3f5mh3dv http://ipen.org/news/latest-science-shows-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-plastics-pesticides-and-other-sources-pose http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/63663/un-inc3-ends-in-frustration-as-governments-allow-low-ambition-countries-to-derail-global-plastics-treaty/ http://www.greenpeace.org/international/global-plastics-treaty/ http://www.minderoo.org/plastic-waste-makers-index/#key-findings http://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/63630/global-plastics-treaty-a-lifeline-for-africa/ http://www.ciel.org/news/fossil-fuel-and-chemical-industries-at-inc-3/ http://www.ipcp.ch/activities/ipcp-policy-brief-conflicts-of-interest-in-the-assessment-of-plastics http://ikhapp.org/material/letter-to-intergovernmental-negotiation-committee-inc-from-independent-scientists/   Dec. 2022   Key human rights considerations for the negotiations to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. (OHCHR)   Our planet is polluted by plastics which contain chemicals that are seriously harmful to people and the environment. Plastics are accumulating in food chains, contaminating water, soil, and air, and releasing hazardous substances into the environment. Most plastics originate as fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases from cradle to grave. Recent scientific studies have found microplastics in human blood, lungs, and placenta, as well as in livestock feed and milk and meat products.   Exposure to toxic chemicals often found in plastics can also affect future generations, impacting fertility, shortening gestation periods, and lowering birth weights.   Yet, there is still no globally binding agreement to comprehensively address plastic pollution. The plastics cycle has become a global threat to all human rights, including the rights to a healthy environment, life, health, food, water and sanitation, equality and non-discrimination, and housing.   The true cost of plastic production and use is foisted on everyone; however, the plastic crisis has disproportionate impacts on persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations such as children, women, Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities, people living in extreme poverty, surrounding communities affected by plastic production facilities, and workers at heightened risk of occupational exposure, including waste-pickers.   These same communities often lack the means for recourse to adequate access to health care, information, and opportunities to protect themselves from exposure to the impacts of the plastics cycle and access to remedy. Yet, the cost of production and use of plastics being imposed on us all has been largely unremarked.   On 2 March 2022, at the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), Resolution 5/14 titled “End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument” was adopted, calling for the development of a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, with the ambition to complete the negotiations by the end of 2024.   This is a unique opportunity for the international community to stop the contribution of plastics to the triple planetary crisis by establishing a binding framework to protect human rights, including the rights to health and a healthy environment, from plastic pollution.   http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/climatechange/2022-12-01/OHCHR-inputs-INC1.pdf http://undocs.org/A/76/207 http://tinyurl.com/28zsddy7 http://wwf.panda.org/act/plastic_pollution_treaty/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/05/role-fossil-fuels-absent-plastics-treaty-negotiations http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405665023000318 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7068600/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389421028302   Greenpeace International, 174 civil society groups and independent scientists   Plastic pollution has flooded our planet, harming people’s health, accelerating social injustice, destroying biodiversity and fuelling the climate crisis. Indeed scientists at the Stockholm Institute recently alerted the public that plastic pollution had already ‘exceeded safe planetary boundaries,’ threatening the very stability of the earth’s system.   Despite this, the production of virgin plastics - 99% of which are made from oil and gas - is increasing year on year. And with giant fossil fuel and petrochemical companies investing heavily in building yet more production capacity and petrochemical facilities, this growth is set to continue. Indeed, according to industry estimates, plastic production could double within the next 10-15 years, and triple by 2050.   Scientists and civil society groups from around the world agree that it is essential that the UN Plastics Treaty agrees a roadmap for dramatically reducing plastic production, a view already supported by several governments.   It is clear that the fossil fuel lobby is actively working to prevent the Plastics Treaty from containing essential controls on plastic production. It is not just the signatories of this letter who hold this view. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recently said “There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the plastics industry and businesses deeply implicated throughout its supply chain and the human rights and policy interests of people affected by the plastics crisis. The plastic industry has disproportionate power and influence over policy relative to the general public.”   Given the industry's power and influence - both within the UN and over national and regional governments - there is a strong risk that, unless measures to inhibit their influence are put in place, it will be impossible to negotiate the Global Plastics Treaty that people and the planet need. To avoid their vested, private economic interests being placed before those of the planet and human health, the power of fossil fuel and petrochemical companies needs to be acknowledged and addressed.   The Global Plastics Treaty offers an historic opportunity to address plastic pollution for all. Its success depends on Member States being able to negotiate in good faith, prioritizing input from those most affected and based on the best available, independent science. To achieve these shared goals, UNEP must implement the measures to prevent the undue influence of the fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, which have a vested interest in perpetuating the plastic pollution crisis.   http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/60137/global-plastics-treaty-inc2-reduce-plastic-production/ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/24/recycled-plastic-more-toxic-no-fix-pollution-greenpeace-warns http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/forever-toxic/ http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaign/toolkit-plastic-free-future/learn-about-plastic-pollution/ http://tinyurl.com/2t9z2nv6 http://ikhapp.org/global-plastic-treaty-negotiations/   http://www.ciel.org/news/second-session-of-plastics-treaty-negotiations-delivers-zero-draft-mandate-intercessional-roadmap/ http://www.ciel.org/issue/plastic-global-law-policy/ http://e360.yale.edu/features/advanced-plastics-recycling-pyrolysis http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/05/22/global-push-to-end-plastic-pollution-must-take-a-comprehensive-approach http://news.climate.columbia.edu/2023/05/04/a-plastics-treaty-will-be-grand-but-this-recycling-innovator-in-indonesia-isnt-waiting/ http://www.france24.com/en/environment/20230530-tackling-plastic-pollution-we-can-t-recycle-our-way-out-of-this http://www.dw.com/en/nations-meet-to-strike-plastic-pollution-treaty/a-65749803   http://www.minderoo.org/no-plastic-waste/ http://www.minderoo.org/plastic-waste-makers-index/news/revealed-businesses-and-banks-behind-global-plastic-waste-crisis/ http://cdn.minderoo.org/content/uploads/2023/02/04205527/Plastic-Waste-Makers-Index-2023.pdf http://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/12/23/nows-the-time-for-lawmakers-to-care-about-microplastics/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/15/plastics-treaty-phase-out-fossil-fuels-end-pollution http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/23/plastics-and-human-rights-questions-and-answers http://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-n-parties-are-worlds-apart-on-plastics-treaty-solutions/ http://news.mongabay.com/?s=plastics http://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_summary.pdf http://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution
	The adverse impact of climate change on the full realization of the right to food by UN News, UNFCC, OHCHR, agencies   July 2023   The adverse impact of climate change on the full realization of the right to food, statement by Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.   We know that our environment is burning. It's melting. It's flooding. It's depleting. It's drying. It's dying. The predictable, regular swing of the seasons is wildly off course.   Cyclones of unprecedented proportions whip up lethal storm surges. A heatwave pulsates across the ocean, threatening marine life, fisheries and coral. And inland seas and lakes, which have nourished generation upon generation of farmers and fishers, are turning into dust bowls. I saw that earlier this year near the Aral Sea when I visited Uzbekistan.   Yet still we are not acting with the urgency and determination that is required. Leaders perform the choreography of deciding to act and promising to act and then... get stuck in the short term.   On our current course, the average temperature increase by the end of this century is predicted to be 3° Celsius, and our ecosystems – our air, our food, our water, and human life itself – would be unrecognisable.   Vast territories would disappear under rising oceans, or become effectively uninhabitable, due to heat and lack of water. Last August, the temperature in Basrah, in southern Iraq, rose to 52.6°C. I will be travelling to Iraq later this year, in part to highlight the risks of this dystopian future.   Our topic for discussion is the right to food, and clearly this is comprehensively threatened by climate change.   Extreme weather events, and both sudden and gradual disasters caused by climate change, wipe out crops, herds, fisheries and entire ecosystems. Their repetition makes it impossible for communities to rebuild and support themselves.   Globally, there has been a 134% increase in climate-fueled, flood-related disasters between 2000-2023.   More than 828 million people faced hunger in 2021. And climate change is projected to place at least 80 million more people at risk of hunger by the middle of this century – creating a truly terrifying scale of desperation and need.   Already, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, weather extremes related to climate change have damaged the productivity of all agricultural and fishery sectors, with negative consequences for people’s food security and livelihoods. Currently, this impact is worst for small-scale farmers, and for people in Africa below the Sahara; across Asia, in small island States, and in Central and South America.   As global heating accelerates, these repercussions will grow more widespread and more intense. No country will be spared. The worst hit will be people in countries where there is already food insecurity, and where protection systems are not sufficiently robust to respond effectively to climate shocks.   Often, these are countries that benefitted little from industrial development, and contributed next to nothing to the industrial processes which are killing our environment and violating rights.   If this is not a human rights issue, what is? We must not deliver this future of hunger and suffering to our children, and their children. And we don't have to.   We, the generation with the most powerful technological tools in history, have the capacity to change it. If we put an end to senseless subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, and start phasing out of fossil fuels.   If courts around the world that are engaged in climate litigation cases hold businesses and Governments to account. If we shun the greenwashers and those who cast doubt on evidence and facts, out of their own greed.   If we rise above the forces of polarisation, and unify around the imperative of doing the utmost to address climate change, and as a result fulfil human rights.   We must not leave this for our children to fix – no matter how inspiring their activism. The people who must act – who have the responsibility to act – are our leaders, today. Addressing climate change is a human rights issue. And the world demands action, now.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/07/addressing-climate-change-now   15 June 2023   Following is the transcript of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ press conference, in New York today:   "I am very worried about where the world stands on climate. Countries are far off track in meeting climate promises and commitments. I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility.   The climate agenda is being undermined. At a time when we should be accelerating action, there is backtracking. At a time when we should be filling gaps, those gaps are growing.   Meanwhile, the human rights of climate activists are being trampled. The most vulnerable are suffering the most. Current policies are taking the world to a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century.   That spells catastrophe. Yet the collective response remains pitiful. We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open — with far too many willing to bet it all on wishful thinking, unproven technologies and silver bullet solutions.   It’s time to wake up and step up. It’s time to rebuild trust based on climate justice. It’s time to accelerate the just transition to a green economy. Limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C is still possible. We must consider this as a moment of hope. But it will require carbon emissions to be cut by 45 per cent by 2030.   To help get us there, I have proposed a Climate Solidarity Pact in which all big emitters would make extra efforts to cut emissions and wealthier countries support emerging economies to do so.   And I have put forward an Acceleration Agenda to supercharge these efforts. I urge Governments to make it happen by hitting fast forward on their net zero deadlines so that developed countries commit to reaching net-zero as close as possible to 2040 and emerging economies as close as possible to 2050.   Developed countries must abide by their commitments on finance, adaptation, and loss and damage. They must also push Multilateral Development Banks to adapt their business models, skill sets, and approaches to risk in order to leverage far more private finance at reasonable cost to developing countries to allow for a massive increase in investment in renewables. That investment is the only way to achieve global energy security independent of the present unpredictable market fluctuations.   And in every country, without exception, civil society voices must be heard. They must be at the table helping to shape policy and on the ground helping to deliver change.   All of this action must be global. It must be immediate. And it must start with the polluted heart of the climate crisis: the fossil fuel industry. Let’s face facts. The problem is not simply fossil fuel emissions. It’s fossil fuels — period.   The solution is clear: the world must phase out fossil fuels in a just and equitable way — moving to leave oil, coal and gas in the ground where they belong and massively boosting renewable investment in a just transition.   Fossil fuel industry transition plans must be transformation plans that chart a company’s move to clean energy and away from a product incompatible with human survival. Otherwise, they are just proposals to become more efficient planet-wreckers.   Of course, we must recognize that transformations don’t happen overnight. Transition plans are precisely to provide a road map for a managed, orderly process that guarantees affordability, access and energy security.   How do we get there? Our Acceleration Agenda calls on Governments to: commit to no new coal; complete phasing out coal by 2030 in OECD countries and 2040 elsewhere; end all international coal funding — both public and private.   End licensing or funding of new oil and gas; stop the expansion of existing oil and gas reserves and support the just transition of the impacted developing countries; ensure net zero electricity generation by 2035 in developed countries and 2040 everywhere else.   Shift subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables and to a just energy transition; put a price on carbon; and establish a progressive global phase-out of existing oil and gas production compatible with global net zero emissions by 2050.   But the fossil fuel industry and its enablers have a special responsibility. Last year, the oil and gas industry reaped a record $4 trillion windfall in net income. Yet for every dollar it spends on oil and gas drilling and exploration, only 4 cents went to clean energy and carbon capture… combined.   Trading the future for thirty pieces of silver is immoral. The world needs the industry to apply its massive resources to drive, not obstruct, the global move from fossil fuels to renewables and reap the benefits in they themselves lead the transition.   Yet right now, the industry is not even reaching the very low operational emissions reductions targets it has set for itself. Many are running late, and most rely on dubious offsets. I call on all fossil fuel companies to present credible, comprehensive and detailed new transition plans — fully in line with all the recommendations of my High-level Expert Group on net zero pledges.   These plans must cover all activities — up and down the value chain. That must include reducing emissions from production, processing, transmission, refining, distribution and use. And they must establish clear, near-term targets that chart the business’ transition to clean energy.   Fossil fuel companies must also cease and desist influence peddling and legal threats designed to knee-cap progress. I am thinking particularly of recent attempts to subvert net zero alliances, invoking anti-trust legislation.   Governments are pivotal in setting the record straight. They must help by providing clear reassurance: collective climate action does not violate anti-trust — it upholds the public trust.   At the same time, financial institutions must encourage this transformation of the fossil fuel industry. I urge all financial institutions to present public, credible and detailed plans to transition their funding from fossil fuels to clean energy.   Again, we know that this transition will not occur overnight. These plans should contain clear targets for 2025 and 2030. They should include an explicit strategy to progressively strip out fossil fuel assets from their portfolios to ensure they become credibly net-zero aligned.   They must show how capital expenditure, research and development, and investments are aligned with net-zero targets. And they must disclose all lobbying and policy engagement activities. Financial institutions everywhere must end lending, underwriting, and investments in coal anywhere — including new coal infrastructure, power plants, and mines.   And they must commit to end financing and investment in exploration for new oil and gas fields, and expansion of oil and gas reserves — investing instead in the just transition in the developing world.   To those finance institutions already shifting from fossil fuels to renewables, I have a special message of hope and encouragement: do not relent in the face of attacks on progress. You are doing the right thing. Keep going.   As my discussion with civil society leaders today made clear, there is simply too much at stake for us to be silent. There is too much at risk for us to sit on the side-lines. Now must be the time for ambition and action. The world is watching — and the planet can’t wait".   http://www.un.org/en/climatechange/speeches   June 2023   The world is at a “tipping point” in the climate crisis that requires all countries to put aside their national interests to fight for the common good, the UN’s top climate official has warned.   Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, pointed to recent findings from scientists that temperatures were likely to exceed the threshold of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels within the next five years.   “Climate change is accelerating, and we are lagging behind in our actions to stem it,” he warned. “Remember the best available science, which doesn’t arbitrate on who needs to do what or who is responsible for what. The science tells us where we are and highlights the scale of response which is required.”   Stiell was addressing representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Bonn, the UN’s climate headquarters, to discuss how to forge a “course correction” that would put the world on track to meet the aspirations of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and limit global heating to 1.5C.   The world needs to phase out fossil fuels if it wants to curb devastating global warming. The phase-out of heat-trapping fossil fuels “is something that must be at the top of every discussion taking place”, Simon Stiell said.   Stiell said he could not promise ending the use of coal, oil, and natural gas would get a spot on the agenda in climate talks, called COP28, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, later this year.   That agenda decision is up to the president of the negotiations – Sultan Al Jaber, head of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company – Stiell said.   The decision by the host nation UAE to make Al Jaber the head of the climate conference has drawn fierce opposition from lawmakers in Europe and the United States, as well as environmental advocates.   Last year at climate talks, a proposal by India to phase out all fossil fuels, supported by the US and many European nations, never got on the agenda. What gets discussed is decided by the COP president, who last year was the foreign minister of Egypt, a natural gas exporting nation.   About 94 percent of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide that human industrial activity put in the air last year was from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, according to the scientists who monitor emissions at Global Carbon Project.   The issue of a coal, oil and natural gas phase-out is central to the fight against climate change, but the real issue is getting something done, Stiell said.   In public appearances, Al Jaber has emphasised being “laser-focused on phasing out fossil fuel emissions,” not necessarily the fuels themselves, by promoting carbon capture and removal of the pollutant from the air.   Stiell dismissed the idea that carbon removal can be a short-term solution.   “Right now, in this critical decade of action to achieve those deep reductions, the science tells us it can only be achieved through the reduced use, significantly reduced use, of all fossil fuels,” he said.   The United Arab Emirates’ approach to the Cop28 climate summit it will preside over in November is “very dangerous” and a “direct threat to the survival of vulnerable nations”, according to the UN’s former climate chief.   Christiana Figueres, who was pivotal to the delivery of the landmark Paris climate agreement in 2015, also said the country holding the presidency of the UN summit could not put forward its own position and had to be neutral.   The UAE is a big oil and gas producer, and the designated president of the Cop28 summit is Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the head of the UAE’s national oil and gas company, Adnoc.   Figueres was responding to a speech by Al Jaber in which he said: “We must be laser focused on phasing out fossil fuel emissions, while phasing up viable, affordable zero carbon alternatives.”   That was widely interpreted to mean using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to capture CO2 emissions, and not completely phasing out fossil fuels themselves. “The fact that ‘emissions’ is in that sentence is very worrisome,” said Figueres.   “So he is trying to dance on two dancefloors at the same time. He is trying to say: ‘Look, those of us who are producers of fossil fuels will be responsible for our emissions through enhanced carbon capture and storage. And we, or the Cop presidency, will also support the zero carbon alternatives.’”   “The fact that he thinks the [fossil fuel] energy used today will continue to be part of the global energy mix for the ‘foreseeable future’, I can see that from a UAE perspective,” Figueres said, adding that foreseeable is a “long time”.   “But from a Cop president perspective, it’s very dangerous. I just don’t see most countries, and certainly not the vulnerable countries, being willing to support the Cop president on this because it is a direct threat to their survival.”   “When you are the president of the Cop, you cannot put forward the position of the country that you’re coming from. You have to be able to be neutral.”   The world must slash CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 to have a chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C. Figueres said: “We do not have CCS commercially available and viable. It’s just not going to happen.”   Madeleine Diouf Sarr, the chair of the least developed countries grouping at the UN negotiations, urged all nations to act in the interests of the most vulnerable.   “We have to lay the foundations for a Cop28 decision that leads to the curbing of global emissions in line with the 1.5C target and increased funds provided to our countries so we can address the impacts of climate change,” she said.   In a bid to stop heat waves getting hotter and coastal floods stronger, world leaders promised in 2015 to try to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures by the end of the century. But their current policies are set to nearly double that temperature increase.   To meet their targets, scientists have said, world leaders must immediately burn less coal, oil and gas — and make deep and rapid cuts to emissions in all sectors.   http://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231102-climate-experts-warn-of-fossil-fuel-tactics-at-cop28 Visit the related web page
	View more stories