Environmental negotiations in 2024 faced major challenges against a backdrop of accelerating climate change, expanding conflicts, and political turnover across many democracies, a report says.
Dr Jennifer Allan of Cardiff University's School of Law and Politics edited the report, State of Global Environmental Governance 2024, published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
The report cites mounting frustration with the climate negotiations and with other multilateral environmental processes that have been slow to address the world's pressing challenges.
Dr Allan, whose research focuses on global environmental politics, said: "Last year, the political pendulum in many countries swung to the right, with leaders, many with populist agendas, emerging victorious. This turn of events caused fresh worries about a rollback of environmental legislation. At times, the environment seemed lost among competing priorities."
Geopolitical tensions are undermining environmental cooperation. Trust among countries is low, and tensions are high. None of this bodes well for realising global outcomes to save the planet. All the while, warfare is a new pressure on ecosystems on which livelihoods depend. All of these crises are reinforcing one another.
This is the fifth year Dr Allan has co-authored and edited the report. In compiling this report, the effect of geopolitical tensions was stark, she observed. "It feels like a grim routine, starkly contrasting the urgency we should feel when we see the damage, even from space."
The report builds on the insights from IISD's Earth Negotiations Bulletin, a public record of global negotiations for environmental issues. Its work brings experts from around the world to observer and report from these negotiations in an effort to shine a light on the complex, sometimes obscure world of interstate talks.
The report notes that since 1970, there has been a 73% decline in wildlife populations. The first ever overview of migratory species reported that 20% are at risk of extinction. Air pollution continues to worsen in South Asia, affecting health throughout the region. A global study of "forever chemical" pollution found our drinking water regularly exceeds regulatory thresholds, and the true extent of this pollution is underestimated.
Dr Allan continued: "We heard about the 'aridity crisis'- our blue planet is turning brown. Much of this aridity is permanent due to climate change and already costs $307bn per year globally. Last year became the (new) warmest year on record and the first to reach 1.5°C, the Paris Agreement's lower boundary for temperature rise. We've heard from top climate scientists and social scientists who feel 'desperate' and 'terrified.'
"But 2024 also showed restoration is possible. Shrinking emissions in advanced economies, especially the EU, provide a glimpse of hope that strong economies can also be green. The hole in the ozone layer continues to shrink, showing our planet's ability to heal. Thanks to the world's largest land restoration project, the Sahel is turning green. The Great Barrier Reef Foundation reported positive signs of rebirth from its "coral IVF" project. The Iberian Lynx stepped back from the brink of extinction.
"Let's hope 2025 sees our curiosity and innovative natures finding our way through this polycrisis."
View the full report here.
