This text is taken from the Courrier de la Planète of January 10, 2023. To subscribe, click here.
Between the already very real effects of the climate crisis and the challenges of protecting biodiversity, the year 2023 will be rich in subjects to watch in the world. The duty offers you here five files to follow during the year which begins.
The fight against global warming
Despite the visible consequences of the climate crisis, the signatory countries of the Paris Agreement failed to agree in 2022 to raise global ambition in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Result: according to a United Nations assessment, global emissions are expected to increase by 10% by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. Yet climate science argues for a reduction of at least 45% by 2030, in order to limit the rise in temperature to +1.5°C.
In short, time is running out more than ever and States will have to step up the pace this year. It will therefore be necessary to monitor what commitments will be made before the next UN climate conference, COP28, which is scheduled for the end of the year in the United Arab Emirates. Rich countries that have promised to set up a fund to support those who are already suffering the effects of global warming will also have to specify how they intend to achieve this.
The new global biodiversity protection framework
Barely a few days before the end of the most recent UN conference on biodiversity (COP15), many observers doubted the possibility of concluding an agreement to halt the decline of global biodiversity. But the 196 parties gathered in Montreal defied the forecasts and the objectives, on paper, are ambitious.
The international community is formally committed to protecting 30% of natural land and sea environments by 2030. Reducing the “risks” represented by “all sources” of pollution is also included in the agreement, as is the idea to turn to agriculture, forestry and fisheries that integrate practices favorable to biodiversity.
But the hardest part is yet to come: the implementation of the “Kunming-Montreal agreement”. And, to achieve this, the financing promised by the rich countries to the developing countries will have to be there, including 20 billion dollars this year.
Mineral exploration in the marine environment
The case is relatively unknown, but it is nonetheless very real. Currently, around 30 exploration permits have already been granted worldwide by the International Seabed Authority (AIFM), a UN organization. They are owned by 22 companies or states and represent an area of seabed in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans that totals several hundred thousand square kilometres.
Before being able to launch projects for the exploitation of resources which would be intended in particular for the manufacture of cell phones, computers and electric vehicles, the 168 member countries of the AIFM must however agree on a regulatory framework, which could clarify this year. This prospect worries environmental groups and many scientists. Canada, for its part, refuses to close the door to any exploitation of the international seabed, while pleading for this industry to develop within a strict regulatory framework.
Deforestation in the Amazon
Brazil’s change of government in early January was greeted with a sigh of relief by Amazon advocates. It must be said that 60% of the most important tropical forest on the planet is found in Brazilian territory. And under the far-right presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, average annual deforestation jumped 75.5% from the previous decade. In December 2022 alone, it was up 150% compared to December 2021. Satellite images have revealed that 218.4 km2 of forests have been razed.
These destructions of the forest are essentially the work of farmers, who want to increase their land for crops and livestock, activities encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro. But Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised to relaunch the environmental protection and monitoring programs largely dismantled under his predecessor. The international community expects strong gestures from the new president, who has appointed ecology icon Marina Silva Minister of the Environment.
Protecting the North Atlantic Right Whale
The North Atlantic right whale population has been in steep decline since 2017. The situation stems from a combination of factors, including low births, entanglements in fishing gear and collisions with vessels. It must be said that this species, whose population today amounts to less than 340 individuals, has the misfortune to live near the American and Canadian coasts, which exposes it to the repercussions of human activity.
The species has also deserted certain historical summer areas, such as the Bay of Fundy, to frequent the Gulf of St. Lawrence more assiduously. The protection of the species therefore depends on cooperation between the United States and Canada. In our southern neighbours, fishermen fear stricter measures to reduce entanglements, and offshore wind projects could pose a new threat. Here, the protection of the species requires unprecedented monitoring measures. It remains to be seen whether protection will be strengthened to prevent the disappearance of this whale, once exterminated by commercial whaling.