The Pivotal 3 COPs in 2024

Three crucial United Nations (UN) summits are scheduled to take place in quick succession between October and December in Colombia, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.

The UN Conference of Parties (COPs) on Biodiversity, Climate and Land, follow the recently concluded UN Summit of the Future in September, making 2024 a landmark year for humanity,

The 1992 Rio Earth Summit spawned the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

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The Secretariates of these three global treaties collaborate and coordinate action by exchanging knowledge on overlapping issues, coordinate the efforts of scientists, facilitate stakeholder engagement and support government negotiators across the three Conventions. However, a lot hinges on urgency of action in a world where uncertainty prevails.

At the Summit of the Future, world leaders adopted a Pact for the Future that includes a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations. The three upcoming COPs will provide an unprecedented opportunity for collaborative action, increased ambition, and urgent investments to protect our planet and respond to the growing challenges from climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, water scarcity and health insecurities.

The first-ever Planetary Health Check published recently found that six of nine planetary boundaries are not only transgressed, but sinking further and risking the habitability of our planet. A seventh boundary, ocean acidification, is on the verge of transgression, which will have disastrous consequences on marine life, and dependent economies of coastal regions all over the world.

The pressures on planetary systems are only expected to worsen with the world’s population projected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Already almost 40% of land worldwide is degraded and losing its ability to support life, crops and natural ecosystems, and cycle water. The world is entering a dangerous new era and the planet’s life support systems are at risk of permanent damage.

Opportunities of convergent action include ecosystem restoration, agrifood systems and renewable energies which will advance all three Rio Conventions and make societies and economies more resilient. The recognition of the need to prioritize nature-based solutions and integrate indigenous knowledge systems will once again find centerstage during these negotiations.

Restoring degraded ecosystems will revitalize forest with biodiversity and bring back pollinators, while also improving soil fertility, supporting the production of clean water, storing carbon and protecting communities from devastating droughts and floods. Similarly, planned deployment of renewable energies is crucial to preserving native vegetation, together with its biodiversity, climate and livelihood benefits.

Prevalent food production systems are undermining the food security of future generations and a root cause of many environmental challenges. Agrifood systems are the single biggest driver of deforestation, biodiversity loss and water use, accounting for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food systems transformations through sustainable land and water management, regenerative agriculture is another area of convergence of action for the global community.

We are at the crossroads of climate action and have just over six years to limit warming to 1.5 C above the preindustrial levels. By the year 2030, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by at least 43% compared to 2019 levels to keep the 1.5 C goal envisaged by the Paris Agreement.

By 2030, the world must also achieve the 30X30 target to conserve 30% of land, waters and seas. Finally, the commitment to restore 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030 must also be realized.

Humans face an existential risk from the transgression of planetary boundaries and climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation are manifestations of the unsustainable exploitation of nature.

The upcoming COPs must address the urgency for policy and funding coordination between countries by leveraging the convergence between the three Rio conventions. Despite a lackluster year so far, the final quarter of 2024 may yet emerge as the landmark period for huma resilience.

Rituraj Phukan is a Climate Activist connected with many local and International Organisations and Climate Editor, Mahabahu

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