United Nations: The world needs ‘an avalanche’ of climate action in 2022

The world needs ‘an avalanche’ of climate action in 2022

As the international community looks to build on the momentum from COP26 and take forward pledges for decisive action agreed in the Glasgow Climate Pact, the New Year began with two stark reminders about the consequences of the progressive warming of our planet.

On 7 January, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) revealed that 2021 marked the 25th consecutive year in which the key Greenland ice sheet lost more mass during the melting season than it gained during winter.

Twelve days later, the UN weather agency also confirmed that last year joined the list of the seven warmest years on record.

Since the 1980s, each succeeding decade has been warmer than the previous one, a trend scientists expect to continue.

Calling for action, the UN Secretary-General declared that countries have no choice but to go into “emergency mode” to tackle the climate crisis.

“Global emissions must be reduced by 45 per cent by the end of the decade to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century, which requires an avalanche of action in 2022”, António Guterres said during a press conference outlining his priorities for the year.

Meanwhile, intense rainfall from two separate tropical storms pummelled Madagascar in January, sparking multiple crises across a country which already suffers from a looming famine.

As extreme weather events keep getting more intense, the calls for more ambitious climate action are growing. In fact, countries are already getting ready for the UN Climate Conference COP27 which will kick off preparations with a Middle East and North Africa Climate Week.

As we did last year, we will continue to keep you up to date with all the latest developments related to climate action, as well as let you know the scientific updates on this UN News Climate Newsletter.

Today, we will give you a deeper look into the thawing of permafrost, the planet’s frozen land, and explain how it impacts our global climate goal.

We also tell you why 2022 will be another big year for climate action, and much more.

Even worse, the melting permafrost could potentially send massive amounts of carbon dioxide and methane into our atmosphere, further risking the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

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