2022 Year in Review

2022 Year in Review: Amid global turmoil, UN doggedly
pursues international climate agreements

pursues international climate agreeme
2022 Year in Review: Amid global turmoil, UN
doggedly pursues international climate agreement
Despite strong evidence that human activity played a role in

catastrophic weather events, and the emergence of a fuel crisis
sparked by the war in Ukraine, greenhouse gas emissions continued
to rise. Nevertheless, the UN kept the climate emergency high on
the international agenda, reaching major agreements on financing
and biodiversity.
At the end of 2021, when the UN climate conference (COP26)
wrapped up in Glasgow, none of those present could have
suspected that a war in Ukraine would throw the global economy
into turmoil, convincing many nations to suspend their
commitments to a low carbon economy, as they scrambled to
reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies, and
secure fossil fuel supplies elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a host of studies pointed to the continued warming of

the Earth, and the failure of humanity to lower carbon emissions,
and get to grips with the existential threat of the climate
emergency.
Nevertheless, the UN continued to lead on the slow, painstaking,

but essential task of achieving international climate agreements,
whilst putting sustained pressure on major economies to make
greater efforts to cut their fossil fuel use, and support developing
countries, whose citizens are bearing the brunt of the droughts,
floods and extreme weather resulting from man-made climate
change.
© Unsplash/Patrick Perkins
Wildfires raging across parts of the western USA turned the sky
over San Francisco orange.
Record heatwaves, drought, and floods

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a litany of
stark reports throughout the year. A January study, announcing that
2021 had joined the top seven warmest years on record, set the
tone for the year.
In Summer, when record heatwaves were recorded in several

European countries, the agency warned that we should get used to
more to come over the next few years, whilst Africa can expect a
worsening food crisis, centred on the Horn of Africa, displacing
millions of people: four out of five countries on the continent are
unlikely to have sustainably managed water resources by 2030.
Whilst some regions suffered from a lack of water, others were hit
by catastrophic floods. In Pakistan, a national emergency
was declared in August, following heavy flooding and landslides
caused by monsoon rains which, at the height of the crisis, saw
around a third of the country underwater. Tens of millions were
displaced.
Unprecedented floods in Chad affected more than 340,000 people

in August and, in October, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) declared
that some 3.4 million people in west and central Africa needed aid,
amid the worst floods in a decade.
© Unsplash/Ella Ivanescu
Fossil fuel power plants are one of the largest emitters of
greenhouse gases
A ‘delusional’ addiction to fossil fuels

In its October Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, WMO detailed record levels
of the three main gases – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and
methane, which saw the biggest year-on-year jump in
concentrations in 40 years, identifying human activity as a principal
factor in the changing climate.
Yet, despite all the evidence that a shift to a low-carbon economy is

urgently needed, the world’s major economies responded to the
energy crisis precipitated by the war in Ukraine by reopening old
power plants and searching for new oil and gas suppliers.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres decried their reaction,

calling it delusional, at an Austrian climate summit in June, and
arguing that if they had invested in renewable energy in the past,
these countries would have avoided the price instability of the fossil
fuel markets.
At an energy event held in Washington DC the same month, Mr.

Guterres compared the behaviour of the fossil fuel industry to the
activities of major tobacco companies in the mid-twentieth century:
“like tobacco interests, fossil fuel interests and their financial
accomplices must not escape responsibility”, he said “The
argument of putting climate action aside to deal with domestic
problems also rings hollow”.
UN Bhutan
Young women from highlands of Bhutan
Clean, healthy environment a universal

human right
The July decision by the UN General Assembly to declare that
access to a clean and healthy environment is a universal human
right was hailed as an important milestone, building on a similar
text adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2021.
Mr. Guterres said in statement that the landmark development

would help to reduce environmental injustices, close protection
gaps and empower people, especially those that are in vulnerable
situations, including environmental human rights defenders,
children, youth, women and indigenous peoples.
The importance of this move was underscored in October by Ian
Fry, the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Human
Rights in the context of Climate Change. Mr. Fry told UN News that
the resolution is already starting to have an effect, with the
European Union discussing how to incorporate it within national
legislation and constitutions.
© Ocean Image Bank/Matt Curnock

Coral reefs provide a valuable habitat for fish and other animals.
Breakthrough agreements reached at UN

climate conferences
The year was punctuated by three important climate-related UN
summits – the Ocean Conference in June, the COP27 Climate
Conference in November, and the much-delayed COP15 Biodiversity
Conference in December – which demonstrated that the
organization achieves far more than simply stating the dire climate
situation, and calling for change.
At each event progress was made on advancing international

commitments to protect the environment, and reducing the harm
and destruction caused by human activity.
The Ocean Conference saw critical issues discussed, and new

ideas generated. World leaders admitted to deep alarm at the global
emergency facing the Ocean, and renewed their commitment to
take urgent action, cooperate at all levels, and fully achieve targets
as soon as possible.
More than 6,000 participants, including 24 Heads of State and

Government, and over 2,000 representatives of civil society
attended the Conference, advocating for urgent and concrete
actions to tackle the ocean crisis.
They stressed that science-based and innovative actions, along

with international cooperation, are essential to provide the
necessary solutions.
Soundcloud
‘Loss and damage’ funding agreed, in win for

developing countries
COP27, the UN Climate Conference, which was held in Egypt in
November, seemed destined to end without any agreement, as talks
dragged on way beyond the official end of the summit.
Nevertheless, negotiators somehow managed to not only agree on

the wording of an outcome document, but also establish a funding
mechanism to compensate vulnerable nations for the loss and
damage caused by climate-induced disasters.
These nations have spent decades arguing for such a provision, so

the inclusion was hailed as a major advance. Details on how the
mechanism will work, and who will benefit, will now be worked out
in the coming months.
However, little headway was made on other key issues, particularly

on the phasing out of fossil fuels, and tightened language on the
need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Enhanced biodiversity protection promised in

Montreal
After two years of delays and postponements resulting from
the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifteenth UN biodiversity conference,
COP15, finally took place in Montreal this
December, concluding with an agreement to protect 30 per cent of
the planet’s lands, coastal areas, and inland waters by the end of
the decade. Inger Andersen, the head of the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP), described the outcome as a “first step in
resetting our relationship with the natural world”.
The world’s biodiversity is in a perilous state, with around one

million species facing extinction. UN experts agree that the crisis
will grow, with catastrophic results for humanity, unless we interact
with nature in a more sustainable way.
The deal, officially the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity

Framework, includes impressive commitments, but these now need
to be turned into action. This has been a major sticking point at
previous biodiversity conferences, but it is hoped that a platform,
launched at COP15, to help countries ramp up implementation, will
help to turn the blueprint into reality.

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2022 Year in Review: Amid global turmoil, UN doggedly

pursues international climate agreements

Despite strong evidence that human activity played a role in

Meanwhile, a host of studies pointed to the continued warming of

Nevertheless, the UN continued to lead on the slow, painstaking,

Record heatwaves, drought, and floods

In Summer, when record heatwaves were recorded in several

Unprecedented floods in Chad affected more than 340,000 people

A ‘delusional’ addiction to fossil fuels

Yet, despite all the evidence that a shift to a low-carbon economy is

UN Secretary-General António Guterres decried their reaction,

At an energy event held in Washington DC the same month, Mr.

Clean, healthy environment a universal

Mr. Guterres said in statement that the landmark development

© Ocean Image Bank/Matt Curnock

Breakthrough agreements reached at UN

At each event progress was made on advancing international

The Ocean Conference saw critical issues discussed, and new

More than 6,000 participants, including 24 Heads of State and

They stressed that science-based and innovative actions, along

‘Loss and damage’ funding agreed, in win for

Nevertheless, negotiators somehow managed to not only agree on

These nations have spent decades arguing for such a provision, so

However, little headway was made on other key issues, particularly

Enhanced biodiversity protection promised in

The world’s biodiversity is in a perilous state, with around one

The deal, officially the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity

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