State of Global Environmental Governance 2024
Environmental negotiations in 2024 faced major challenges against a backdrop of accelerating climate-fueled impacts, expanding conflicts, and political turnover across many democracies.
Key Messages
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Mounting frustration with the climate negotiations-and with other multilateral environmental processes-that have been slow to address the world's pressing challenges have led to the growing prominence of courts.
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Last year, we proclaimed 2024 to be a big year for chemicals and waste governance. Sadly, countries failed to realize any of those expected landmarks.
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Overall, the year sent mixed messages on states' collective commitment to upholding the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Biodiversity and desertification enshrined rights and participation in new institutions, while climate change talks saw efforts to roll back agreed language.
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The role of governments and international organizations is important-vital even-for implementing multilateral environmental agreements, but communities, Indigenous Peoples, scientists, and others all play a role.
While several hard fought wins emerged, the year's talks again raised the question if the Conferences of the Parties and multilateral decision-making architecture are "fit for purpose" to address linked environmental, social, and economic crises. Finance is always a key issue in negotiations, but had special milestones or setbacks acros climate, biodiversity, land, and chemicals talks. Outside of negotiating rooms, activists across the world increasingly turned to courts to make countries act on their environmental commitments.
Join the globetrotting Earth Negotiations Bulletin team as they review 2024's environment and development negotiations, considering where progress was made and lost, what lessons should be applied across the multilateral ecosystem, the evolving geopolitical context, and what to expect in 2025.
Foreword by Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Chair, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
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