Climate Solutions

COVID-19 exposed the consequences of the failure to make sufficient progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and in implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change. We would have been in a better place if we had.

We must change course, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, or we risk missing the point where we can avoid the “disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us.”

As we continue to tackle the pandemic, the enormity of the climate emergency can be daunting. What can one person or even one nation do on their own to reverse this challenge? Good news is that solutions do exist!

Climate Solutions

India’s rural energy pioneers

Women salt farmers in the Indian state of Gujarat learn to work as solar panel and pump technicians, in pursuit of a more sustainable and better paid career in the renewable energy industry. Read more

Women Scientists on the Forefront of Climate Action

The world’s understanding of climate change has improved exponentially thanks to science, technology and the dedication of some of the world’s top climate scientists. Get to know some of the female climate scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and their unique contributions to the understanding of the state of our planet and the solutions to the climate crisis.   

Photocomposition: Inger Andersen smiling

Inger Andersen: Justice is an essential part of the environmental discussion

As the UN Environment Programme marks fifty years of environmental diplomacy, Executive Director Inger Andersen talks about the importance of climate justice and the urgent shifts the world needs to make to realize a climate-resilient and low-emissions future.   

Causes and Effects of Climate Change

Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions. Read more

Q&A with IPCC Scientist Christopher Trisos

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability warns that human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. 

IPCC Video: Our Climate is our Future

All life on earth, from ecosystems to human civilization, is vulnerable to a changing climate. Unprecedented changes have already affected all forms of life in every part of the world. Read more.

IPCC report ‘a damning indictment of failed global leadership on climate’

UN scientists deliver a stark warning, saying that ecosystem collapse, species extinction, deadly heatwaves and floods are among the "unavoidable multiple climate hazards” the world will face over the next two decades due to global warming. Read more.

Nations agree to end plastic pollution

Heads of State, Ministers of environment and other UN Member States’ representatives endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024, addressing the full lifecycle of plastic, including production, design and disposal.Read more.

Fossil fuels are a dead end, warns UN chief

In his statement on the latest IPCC report, Secretary-General António Guterres called for an urgent transition to renewable energy as well as vastly scaled up investments in adapting and building resilience to the worsening climate impacts. Read more

IPCC WGII Report

On 28 February 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a major report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - packed with scientific information on the state of the planet, its ecosystems and habitats as well as an overview of the challenges and solutions associated with the growing climate risks seen around the world. Read more.

Action for nature

Follow the UN Environment Assembly, the world’s highest environmental decision-making body, addressing the world’s most pressing environmental challenges -- from climate change, to plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, chemical waste and more.

5 million climate actions

People everywhere are taking steps to be part of the solution to the climate crisis. More than 5 million actions have been logged through the ActNow campaign. Learn moreLog your actions through the mobile app

Frontiers 2022: Noise, Blazes and Mismatches

The UN Environment Programme’s latest Frontiers Report warns of intensifying environmental issues, including wildfires, urban noise pollution and phenological mismatches, that require greater attention. Read more

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Norah Magero, a renewable energy expert from Kenya, explains why “women-led actions need to be sufficiently and equitably funded to achieve a just, green transition.” Read moreLearn more about the International Day.

Photocomposition: the photo of Vanessa Nakate, in black and white, in front of a red background. The African continent map is highlighted in her right side.

Vanessa Nakate: Climate change is about the people

Vanessa Nakate started her journey as a climate activist in 2018. The climate crisis has been one of the greatest threats affecting the lives of many Ugandans - and she became increasingly aware and concerned about communities particularly vulnerable to the crippling impacts of a warming planet.