One Planet Summit begins, Great Green Wall has funding, among other news

The fourth version of the One Planet Summit is held

This January 11, the fourth version of the One Planet summit began, in which around 50 countries committed to protect 30% of the land and the sea over the next decade by implementing environmental protection policies, mobilizing funds and with special emphasis on the action of governments, companies and citizens. This summit aims to protect biodiversity from economic and political impulses .

Although the location for the event was France, it was mostly held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The president of the host country, Emmanuel Macron, explained that now, during the crisis "we know even more clearly that all our vulnerabilities are interrelated. The pressure on nature exerted by human activities is increasing inequalities and threatening our health and our security […] We can change history if we decide to do so. "

The summit resulted, among other things, in a contribution of 4.04 billion dollars from the United Kingdom . In addition, the participating countries pledged to restore 100 million hectares of deforested land .

The Shell company could be obliged to accelerate the switch to cleaner fuels

In 2015, the climate group Urgenda sued the Dutch government to take measures to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Urgenda won the lawsuit, forcing, for the first time in history, a government to comply with reductions of its emissions . In 2019, the appeal was upheld by a court, and the Dutch government must reduce its production of these gases by 25% compared to 1990.

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Urgenda's new target is the Royal Dutch Shell company which, if it loses, must accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to cleaner fuels . If so, companies that contribute to climate pollution would be forced, more than ever, to reevaluate their environmental footprint.

The Great Green Wall receives more than 14,000 million dollars to regenerate the Sahel

On January 11, the Great Green Wall for the Sahel and the Sahara Initiative (GGW) received funding of US $ 14,326 million . This, in order to accelerate efforts to regenerate deforested lands, save biological species in the region and even create environmentally friendly jobs. This news was announced by President Emmanuel Macron at the One Planet summit.

"We welcome the announcement of the Great Green Wall Accelerator Initiative, which aims to release an initial contribution during the period 2021-2025, to give effect to the commitments of the financial partners in a coordinated framework," said Mohamed Cheikh El-Ghazouani , President of Mauritania and current President of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan-African Great Green Wall Agency.

Launch of the 2020 Adaptation Gap Report

On January 14, the UN Program for the Environment launched the fifth edition of the Report on the Adaptation Gap that "reviews the progress in planning, financing and implementing measures to adapt to climate change, with an emphasis on the nature-based solutions ". Some key points covered in the report are: the importance of increasing funding and scaling up solutions that help meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement; that 72% of countries have adopted at least one adaptation planning instrument at the national level, while another 9% are in the process of developing one; at present, annual adaptation costs in developing countries alone are estimated at $ 70 billion. This figure is expected to reach between US $ 140,000-300,000 million in 2030 and around US $ 280,000-500,000 million in 2050, among others.

The report draws attention to the importance of adaptation, as it "helps reduce the vulnerability to climate change of countries and communities by increasing their ability to absorb shocks and remain resilient.