Climate justice must be a resolution for 2022 – Climate Weekly
While the globe is on the verge of experiencing catastrophic and unavoidable climate impacts if global temperatures continue to rise, progress in providing support to individuals on the front lines of the climate crisis has been gradual and incremental.
Warming temperatures now in place have already triggered permanent impacts such as sea level rise. People need money and policies to cope in an overheated society.
The year 2022 presents a unique opportunity to prioritize climate justice and solidarity in international initiatives.
The next UN climate negotiations will be held on the African continent, with the host country, Egypt, focusing on adaptation and resilience, which is a key priority for many African countries. The summit could be an opportunity to raise the voices of millions of Africans who have been silenced for far too long.
The Egyptian presidency will have enough of data to lead the Sharm el-Sheikh climate summit thanks to a major scientific assessment on consequences due in February from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Without significant progress on financing, including the long-overdue $100 billion pledge, a doubling of adaptation funding, and negotiations toward the next long-term target, no agreement is likely to fly.
Equity is a common thread running across this year’s major policy debates: net zero promises, debt relief, and the execution of global biodiversity targets.
The EU’s carbon border tax approach showed the first evidence of potential support for least developed countries to clean up their polluting businesses this week. But the proposal would only reach a small proportion of trading partners and has a long way to go before being adopted.
Meanwhile, the Omicron variant’s rapid dissemination serves as a sharp reminder of the persistent gap in access to Covid vaccinations between the privileged and the poor. In low-income countries, less than 1% of vaccinations delivered had gone into arms as of early January. In order to prevent illnesses and give developing countries the policy and fiscal flexibility they need to address climate change, vaccine sharing will be vital.
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