The world needs a new approach to environmental crises threatening the health of people and the planet by adopting policies to jointly tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and pollution, according to a U.N. report released Tuesday.
Those issues are inextricably linked and require solutions that include increased spending and financial incentives to transition away from fossil fuels, encourage sustainable agricultural practices, curb pollution and limit waste, the authors of the U.N. Environment Programme’s quadrennial Global Environment Outlook said.
“You can’t think of climate change without thinking of biodiversity, land degradation and pollution,” said Bob Watson, one of the lead authors and a former top NASA and British climate scientist. “You can’t think of biodiversity loss without thinking about the implications of climate change and pollution.”
They’re “all undermining our economy,” worsening health and poverty and threatening food and water security and even national security, Watson said.
Almost 300 scientists from 83 countries contributed to this year’s report — called the most comprehensive global environment assessment ever undertaken — which was released during the U.N. Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya.
Experts have warned that the world is nearing a tipping point on climate change, species and land loss and other harms. But efforts to address those problems largely have been pursued through individual agreements that haven’t made nearly enough progress, they said.
Instead, they advocate an approach that involves every area of government, the financial sector, industry and citizens and a circular economy that recognizes that natural resources are limited.
“What we’re saying is we can become much more sustainable, but it will take unprecedented change to transform these systems,” Watson said. “It has to be done rapidly now because we’re running out of time.”
The report lays out a dire future if the world continues on its current path.
Emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases — primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil — reached a new high in 2024, despite decades of negotiations between countries to curb emissions.
Ten years ago, almost 200 nations signed the Paris Agreement with the goal of limiting future warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times to avoid or lessen the most catastrophic effects of climate change. But on the current trajectory, the climate could warm by 2.4 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, Watson said.
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