UNEP to join COP27 calls for mobilizing financing for climate action

01 / 08 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) will join Member States, UN agencies, the private sector and civil society in calling for enhanced ambition and finance to mitigate and adapt to climate change during the UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt this November (COP27).

In a statement, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said “We must rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by transiting to clean and efficient energy, transforming our economies to place healthy nature at the heart of decision-making, and so much more. But the sad truth is that we have already altered our climate. Even if we do meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, it will take decades for temperatures to drop. We need a new ‘Fire Ready Formula’ backed by public spending to minimize the risk of extreme wildfires.”

“Such a formula demands that we invest more in risk reduction instead of reactive management. That we work with local communities and indigenous peoples to protect their lands and harness their knowledge. That we strengthen global commitments to slow and adapt to climate change. That we recognize the role of high-quality ecosystem restoration in minimizing the risk of wildfires,” she added.

These intense wildfires are only going to worsen the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste – just as they are in large part caused by it.

But now is not a ‘told-you-so’ moment. It is a moment to act to stop fires getting worse, faster. On humanity’s current course, global warming and land-use change are projected to increase extreme fires by up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 per cent by the end of the century.

The UNEP continues to provide the science, tools and assessments to guide evidence-based policy that manages and reduces the impacts of wildfires.

The UNEP urges Member States to take the necessary measures to extinguish the ongoing fires, prevent further ones, and protect and restore ecosystems.