CLIMATE CHANGE
For effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, climate law-making is essential. UN Environment supports the review and reform of existing laws to enable countries to consider climate change proactively and address climate risks. We help ensure that this work involves all stakeholders, as all sectors of the economy and society are at risk from climate change.
Caribbean parliamentarians take action on climate change and disaster risk reduction
In March 2018, UN Environment and the Inter-Parliamentary Union partnered to enhance the capacity of lawmakers and parliamentarians on matters relating to climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. In November 2018 in the Caribbean region, a similar meeting was held to coordinate efforts to address climate change by adopting the Paramaribo Declaration on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction which recognized the negative impact of climate change on the coastal areas of the region, and urging parliaments to take a more active role in working with executives on climate action. Read More...
Four years after having started his career in civil, banking and tax litigation, Abuzar discovered environmental and climate change litigation in a colloquium co-organized by UN Environment in Lahore, in Pakistan. The experience inspired him to take on environmental cases. Here he shares his journey from tax lawyer to environmental advocate. Read more...
A fight for our future: youth, climate justice and environmentally displaced people
The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants states that “migration should be a choice, not a necessity”. According to a study co-funded by the University of Oxford, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Governments of Norway and Switzerland, between 50 and 200 million people are expected to be displaced due to climate change by 2050. We talked to Kibiriti Majuto, a 20-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo based in the United States. He is the main author of the Zero Hour Platform, a movement that advocates for the need for climate justice and for nations to welcome more environmentally displaced people. Read more...
Countries in Africa and Asia strengthen local cooperation to prevent illegal trade of ozone depleting substances
At recent meetings held in Benin and Thailand in October 2018, countries in the Francophone African Network, South Asia and Southeast Asia, recommitted to strengthening cooperation at national level between UN Environment’s National Ozone Office and customs and enforcement agencies, for robust implementation and enforcement of the national license and quota systems for ozone depleting substances and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); and to strengthen the cooperation between countries at the regional level to prevent illegal trade of ozone depleting substances. Read more...
Legal readiness for climate finance
Only about 10 per cent of banks and finance institutions view climate change as an issue that can have either a positive or negative impact on their balance sheets. In January 2019 in London, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority organized a climate risk forum to coordinate climate change action and share best practices. UN Environment took part in the forum and offered legal best practice guidance on climate change mitigation. Read more...
