Looking to 2024: Climate change – dire warnings, but also renewed hope for progress, collaboration and innovation

Looking to 2024: Climate change - dire warnings, but also renewed hope for progress, collaboration and innovation

The downbeat news on climate change developments seemed only to gather pace in 2023, with the UN's World Meteorological Office reporting that last year was the hottest observed in 175 years of record-keeping. The agency also reported that global mean sea level reached a record high, and extreme weather and climate events were generating increased impact on all continents. In turn, this is expected to exacerbate future challenges in food security, population displacements and impacts on vulnerable populations.

Such a cascade of news makes for a sobering read, but there are also significant positive developments that demonstrate the increasing global efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change, as well as a growing resolve to tackle these challenges collectively and in concord. These include: the historic High Seas Treaty, which was signed by 76 nations last year, establishing marine protected areas on the high seas, a milestone step to conserve or protect at least 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030; global renewable energy capacity in energy systems growing by 50% in 2023; climate finance flows almost doubling to US$1.3 trillion in 2021/22, as compared to 2019/20; and finally, the International Energy Agency's (IEA) 2023 report suggesting that global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy use and industry could've peaked last year.

In the final instalment of the Looking to 2024 series, we share insights from academics from the Centre for Sustainable Medicineand the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, on the major developments in climate change research and mitigation, and how engagement at every level of society is crucial if we are to make headway against one of the most profound challenges overshadowing our collective future.

Transitioning healthcare to a low-carbon future and developing new capabilities with government and industry

Professor Nick Watts, the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Medicine, believes the healthcare sector needs to step up its engagement with climate change initiatives, including educating and exposing new generations of healthcare professionals on low-carbon healthcare, and developing new capabilities in a changing environment.

"The last few decades have been characterised by efforts to better understand the impact of climate change on our lives and our health. They have focused on forecasts out to the mid-century, and long-term projections about heat, flood, storm, and the spread of infectious disease. The science here, could not be clearer. Every single one of the 10 warmest years on record all occurred in the last decade, and in 2023, temperatures were 1.35 C above pre-industrial levels.

The healthcare profession is poised to embrace and actively participate in addressing climate change now, and in the future. This transition needs support. It needs new educational opportunities for emerging leaders, from one-stop masterclasses through to in-depth PhD and Executive Fellowship programmes; it needs new, clinically relevant evidence to guide the transition to low-carbon healthcare; and it needs to develop new capacity, to support accelerated action in Government and industry. Launched in 2024, the new Centre for Sustainable Medicine exists to do exactly this, for Singapore and across the world."

Growing international frameworks demonstrate commitment, but much work remains to be done

Ms Melissa Low, Research Fellow at the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, suggests the growing framework of international agreements demonstrate a willingness among nations to tackle the many challenges of climate change, and strengthen efforts towards meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, much remains to be done in terms of integrating efforts, promoting accountability, and increasing capabilities.

The UAE Consensus adopted during the 2023 UN Climate Change Conferencein Dubai and its call for, inter alia, transitioning away from fossil fuels represents a win for multilateralism. This conclusion of the multi-year Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement reaffirms countries' collective resolve to keep the 1.5°C threshold within reach. Efforts to enhance capabilities, strengthen resilience, and monitor and assess progress include the UAE-Belem work programme and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The UN's 2030 Agenda represents a blueprint of humanity's highest aspirations to achieve sustainable development. Each one of the 17 SDGs is impacted by climate change. The SDG Report 2023 sounded the alarm that most of the SDGs targets are at peril of not being met, and that just 12 percent of the SDG targets are on track.

There have been calls by UN leaders to integrate and accelerate the two key agendas of climate change and sustainable development goals. To do this, renewed leadership and political commitment are needed to speed up action. The integration of just transitions in countries' national climate plans and development strategies will be crucial so as not to leave anyone behind. Strengthening capacities and accountability of all stakeholders to deliver progress towards Nationally Determined Contributions and UN SDGs such as through the Biennial Transparency Reports and Voluntary National Reviews respectively are important. Finally, countries must continue to leverage the full range of intergovernmental processes on SDGs and climate to enhance integrated approaches and synergistic action to achieve our common goals.