COP26 saw a surge in commitments to reach net zero – but governments will only achieve their targets if they take systematic, co-ordinated policy action to close the gap between long-term commitments and near-term actions, both domestically and internationally.
For this, climate change needs to be addressed systemically, as a core economic challenge.
It also needs to be addressed inclusively, by engaging all stakeholders in global climate action.
Our common goal? To build a green, circular and resource-efficient economy.
Investment in renewable technologies and batteries is growing around the globe, driven by the need to decarbonise our economies and increasingly competitive prices.
But these technologies do not come at zero cost for the environment: they require vast amounts of minerals that are not always easy to obtain.
As mineral mining has intensified, easy-to-reach deposits are becoming rarer. This is forcing extractors to go deeper, offshore, and into ever more sensitive zones to find deposits.
Since 2010, the quantity of minerals required to generate power has increased by 50%, and a net-zero scenario would quadruple that amount.
By way of example, a typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car.
This poses a series of critical questions:
Will there be enough mineral resources to meet renewable energy demand?
How can the global economy protect itself against price shocks?
How can extraction be scaled up without worsening the existing problems linked to environmental integrity, health, safety, and corruption?
Experts are looking at potential solutions, including more sustainable supply chains, the implementation of safety nets to stabilise prices, and strengthened energy efficiency policy.
While young people today are knowledgeable about the climate, they don’t feel empowered to make a difference.
The link between advocacy and a career in engineering is not necessarily obvious: PISA findings show that secondary school students do not see engineering as a particularly green career. And yet most green jobs are in occupations that also cover non-green jobs.
Schools and training programmes can do a lot more to help young people connect the dots between science pathways and labour market choices, and empower them to push the boundaries beyond existing gender norms and employment assumptions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the inter-relationships between health and the environment, and those between public health and a well-functioning economy and society.
Outdoor air pollution is estimated to cause between 6 and 9 million premature deaths a year worldwide by 2060 (discover our air quality data).
22 million tonnes of plastic leaked into rivers, lakes and the ocean in 2019 alone, leading to human consumption of microplastics via seafood and drinking water (read more on plastics pollution).
Thousands of chemicals are found in drinking water and the food chain, stemming from the use, and inadequate management and disposal of industrial, agricultural and pharmaceutical products.
Governments can tackle climate change, environmental degradation and public health challenges simultaneously by phasing out fossil fuels, improving waste management, greening cities, and reducing individual car use.
A shift towards more plant-based diets, and walking and cycling, would also address emissions while reducing risk of cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer (read more about health risk factors).
The new OECD Green Recovery Database update (April 2022) shows that the budget allocated to positive environmental measures from pandemic stimulus packages increased from USD 677 billion to USD 1 090 billion.
But this still only represents a mere 33% of overall COVID-19 recovery packages and is unevenly distributed.
While energy and surface transport received most attention, opportunities in agriculture, forestry, waste management and innovation are still being missed.
Also, G20 and emerging economies are continuing to heavily support fossil-fuel producers and consumers, spending over USD 680 billion annually around the world.
This undermines energy security and the very efforts needed to transition towards more sustainable growth paths and healthier lives.
Industry, electricity, agriculture, transport and buildings represent nearly 90% of emissions.
Focusing on these 5 sectors will enable us to address emissions at source, disentangle our world from fossil fuels, and make the transition to clean energy as affordable, fair and smooth as possible. Much of this work happens at the sub-national level and within cities.
As one of the seven warmest years on record and the third costliest for weather-related disasters, 2021 put climate challenges under intense scrutiny – with the COVID-19 pandemic underlining the vital importance of preparedness.
Governments must better anticipate changing climate conditions - designing, building and operating to protect lives, infrastructures and food production.
As climate change begins to pose new challenges for agriculture, for example, innovative policies can help build the resilience capacity of farmers through a mix of science- and nature-based solutions, strengthened networks between public and private stakeholders, and aligned policy incentives.
Improved data on water supplies and increased stakeholder engagement are informing water management and investment decisions.
Flexible disaster risk governance, innovative on-farm solutions, and rapid disaster response are helping build resilience to typhoons and heavy rains.
Support from industry groups, farmers’ responsibility for disaster risk reduction and preparedness, and an emphasis on wellbeing to resilience to floods.
Science-based information, nature-based solutions and stakeholder networks are helping build agricultural resilience to extreme floods.
It is critically important to better track outcomes achieved, and not just commitments made. Because in the end, transparent reporting of climate data and climate policy performance using comparable data in different countries will help to improve impact and performance.
The preliminary IPAC Dashboard help track progress towards climate objectives for each country.