A conceptual exposition of the analytical approach makes up the study's methodology. Based on secondary data obtained from numerous published sources, this study is solely a qualitative conceptual analysis. The UN, INGO, YCM, UNDP, and UNICEF were among the organisations that the researcher specifically chose because they are well-known and well-liked around the world. A number of insightful inferences and conclusions have been made from this study's analysis, interpretation, and discussion of the secondary data that the researcher obtained.
Climate Change and its Effects
Climate change is one of the most significant issues of the existing time and the most prominent, urgent, challenging issue confronted at the global level. The earth's temperature has already increased by 1.7 °F since the 1880s which is getting intense in the present scenario leading to a warmer atmosphere, fierce storms and longer periods of droughts (Harvey. B., 2019). The whole climate change is a man-made consequence. Human activities from environmental damage to population drive up the earth's temperature and essentially change the world (Heywood, 2011).
Throughout the atmosphere, greenhouse effect gasses (GHGs) including water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide as well as chlorofluorocarbons enable the light from the sun to gain entry by maintaining a few of the earth's warmth reflecting the space that makes it viable. The natural greenhouse effect is essential for the planet, however as the concentration of these gasses rises, more heat gets stuck, reinforcing the greenhouse effect and raising the temperature on the earth. The rapid rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases has warmed the planet at an alarming rate (NASA, 2019).
Rise in Temperature
Climate change has consequences for oceans, the weather, food and health, ice sheet melting, and rising sea level. The warmer temperature as well tends to make the weather quite extreme, meaning not just major intense storms, floods and heavy snowfall and also prolonged and frequent droughts. These weather changes pose problems in growing crops, areas where the live movements of plants and animals are decreased, and water sources are reduced. Also, it impacts human physical health conditions because the warmer climate produces an environment in urban areas that traps and increases the amount of smog, this is because smog includes ozone pollutants which rise rapidly at higher temperatures. Higher smog exposure can cause health problems such as asthma, heart disease and lung cancer
(Denchak, 2017)
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According to the predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if intensive use of fossil fuels is not limited, a temperature increase of 2.5 to 10 °F is likely to occur by 2099 (NOAA, 2020) (NASA, 2019) (WWF, 2020).
According to National Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA) research Global warming from 1880-2020 conveys that 2019 was the second warmest while 2016 was the warmest and the last five years were the hottest of the past 140 years (NASA, 2022). According to the Paris Agreement (2015), the temperature should be below 2 Celsius by 2100. If the temperature increase by that amount, then sea levels will increase by 1.6 feet causing flood worldwide on a large scale in coastal areas, Africa, parts of India and sub-tropical regions would lose one-third of their freshwater, heatwaves would intensify and tropical regions would experience it up to three months which affect the agriculture.
Impact on Polar Regions
Polar regions are the most vulnerable regions to climate change, the earth's north and south are in a crucial condition which has global consequences. In Artic, the average temperature has increased by 5 degrees Celsius in the past hundred years. The thickness of the sea ice has reduced. Similarly, Antarctica is known to be one of the coldest places on earth which contain about 90 per cent of the freshwater supply. Ice plays an important role in the world's climate and in controlling global temperature. The peninsula is the fastest-warming place in the world because of which the Antarctic large ice sheets are melting. Greenland and Antarctica are losing billions of tons of ice per year at the same time.
Climate Change in the Forest
Forests soak up carbon dioxide and help regulate the climate around the world. These are homes to many plants and animals. Forests are largely affected by climate change, and the impact varies from forest to forest. The subtropical forest is affected the most due to temperature rise along with tropical forests such as Amazon, which has a rich biodiversity. A small effect on these areas will cause high extinction. The shift in the ecosystem is forcing wildlife to adapt to new changing habitats, and many species have become extinct due to the same. Stabilising forests would protect biodiversity and help in regulating climate change.
The world learned in the 1980s that the amazon was in danger, and that was essential to save it as each-fifth of the oxygen, twenty per cent of the freshwater, and half of the species on this planet come from these forest areas. It is an ecosystem that the entire world requires for its survival. The destruction accelerated by the 1990s and in 2019 deforestation of the amazon forest hit the highest rate in the decade. Recent data by Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) of Brazil released that the fires in the forest have increased by 30.5 per cent and deforestation rose 85 per cent Amazon Forest is known as the 'Lungs of Earth' as its trees take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, Amazon plays an important role in dragging the warm greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere to benefit the planet's conservation. Logging (Klesty, 2020) (AFP, 2019).
The bushfires in Australia in 2020, which was uncontrollable with an evident number of deaths of humans as well as animals. More than 11 million hectares of land have been burned, killing thirty-three people and an estimated 1.5 billion animals. It affected a larger part of the country as the air quality became poor and hazardous. Thus human-caused global warming will continue by increasing the frequency of blazes. Many countries donated to the wildfire funds raised by the concerned countries. 2019 saw large demonstrations by climate protesters pressuring the government and stakeholders to take proper action (United Nations, 2019) (Ashraf, 2019).
INGOs and Youth Movements
The INGOs are non-profit organizations working in various topic areas of world politics to support and secure a common good for the betterment of the future. These organisations increase sensitivity towards society and try to bring change in the relationship with the government. Their composition varies from organizations that are structured, including pressure groups, professional associations or humanitarian associations, as well as social movements. They make effects attitude change which brings citizens of different states close to each other with possible consequences for the state politics like autonomy and economic development. They increase and manipulate interaction among government and other bodies such as trade, monetary, and foreign policy through control or alliance. The non-state actors introduce international diplomatic agendas and raise awareness and consciousness among citizens regarding global and regional issues which changes the pattern of international politics (Young & Dhanda, 2013).
Emergence of INGOs
INGOs became the major actors in world politics by the 19th century with great influence and explosive growth in numbers. They were divided into three components: organizational characteristics, policies and objectives as well as their relationship with other social institutions. These voluntary organisations connect across national borders and act on international issues usually known as transnational social movements. NGOs are independent of government and private entities and do not represent profit maximisation as their aim (Giorgetti, 1998).
The number of INGOs is expanding worldwide since the post-war period of rapid globalisation and have a considerable part in the decision-making process due to their advocacy role. In 1940 around 841 Active conventional INGOs grew to more than 3000 in 1972 with a total of 27,000 in 2005 (Union of International Associations, 1948). The growth of INGOs in the last decade has been exponential. Some Organisations such as the International Red Cross Committee, CARE, World Vision and Oxfam were the result of middle-class initiatives which responded to the destructive war and have a status in the United Nations. Legal liability regimes, economic regulation and environmental impact assessment were envisaged as international regulatory instruments for the protection of the environment in the Stockholm Conference of 1972 and Agenda- 21 of 1992 which had a serious role of NGOs in their making (Manzo, 2010).
Role of INGOS in Climate Change
The INGO have an indispensable role in the scientifically understanding climate system and acts as a mediator benefitting people to acquire, comprehend, value and acknowledge climate information in decision-making. The condition of Earth is deteriorating since the pre-industrial era and human activities are largely responsible for climate change affecting nature, health and many other sectors. These INGOs support the resilience of society and engage in activities that are collaborated across the system (Giorgetti, 1998).
Most INGOs aim at protecting the environment by reducing risk through adaptation and mitigation. These cover global social development, economic development, sustainable development of the community and sustainable composition. INGOs are included in Intergovernmental (IGO) panels and United Nations (UN) conferences which help them in developing networks and setting up agendas in the Rio conference of 1992, almost 1,400 NGOs registered and contributed to the process of making agendas on sustainable development. They are broadly classified into three categories functioning as campaigners from eminent groups for climate change and think tanks consisting of scientists, analysts and policymakers who negotiate with the stakeholders by representing different perspectives. For example, NGOs are largely concerned about climate change, such as the Climate Action Network (CAN), which consists of over 1,300 NGOs in more than 130 countries pushing governments and citizens to take action to sustain the ecology (Climate Action Network, 2019).
INGO and United Nations
Article 71 of the UN charter gave a consultative status to NGOs with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1946 which unlocked a suitable path for consultation with NGOs. It is necessary to recognize that NGOs were largely involved during the process of the creation of the UN and around 1,200 organisations were present at the establishing conference of the UN in San Francisco. After the accomplishment of article 71, a list of NGOs with consultative status was established by ECOSOC. The status is categorised into three: first is ‘general consultative status’ which is the highest level that mainly covers the working and issues of agendas in the council, secondly ‘special consultative status’, the organisation that deals with or which has special efficiency in few areas of board’s activities and the last is ‘roster consultative status’, the council enables organisations to generate occasional and beneficial inputs (Willetts, 2000) (United Nations, 2019).
It was only in 1968, environmental concerns got attention from the organs of the UN. Afterwards, certain conferences and conventions brought these concerns to the limelight. In 1972, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was established as a consequence of the Stockholm Conference on the human environment which analysed environmental issues at the global level. Environmental issues became a focus in world politics during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development which is also known as Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 which created Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) (UNEP, 2018) (Bharucha, 2004).
In 1995 a working of Security Council was formed Organisations such as Global Policy Forum, Amnesty International, Nuclear Policy, Earth Action and World Federalist Movement were convened to cooperate and conduct meetings with representatives to discuss activities in Security Council. There is a growing importance of NGOs in International negotiations, especially since they can gain a legal role in International Environmental law, for example, Agenda 21, a comprehensive agreement that emphasises the development and environmental objectives along with the cooperation of NGOs in international law. Civil Society and the UN have an active and broadened relationship as the UN provides information to NGOs which mobilise the response that would reflect the will and needs of the people (United Nations, 2019) (UNESCO, 2017).
Youth Movements and Challenging Future
Climate Change activism has been existing for a long time but the role of youth movements is new today in global politics. Youth all over the world began to fight back largely. In 2018, Greta Thunberg, a fifteen-year-old Sweden student began school student activism globally which demanded the government fight climate change and take proper action. Presently there are millions of youths on the streets marching and demonstrating their support through their skills of speaking for climate action through education, science, technology and laws (UNICEF, 2020).
Juliana versus the United States was named after Kelsey Juliana with other twenty plaintiffs who were below the age of 25. In their lawsuit, they argue that the government has violated the civil rights of a person, liberty and property of future generations. They project on the affirmative actions of a government that caused climate shifts and how they have failed to protect essential public resources. The Juliana complainants had been prevented from going to court till February 2019 when more than thirty thousand people in eleven days, mostly students signed on to support the plaintiff’s right to be heard which was initiated by a youth-led climate action group called ‘Zero Hour’. Other than them there are thousands of similar arguments filed in the U.S. and at least three hundred more around the world.
On March 15, 2019, millions of young people joined the movement on the very first Global. Climate Strike which is also known as Global Week for Future. These young activists staged their weekly strikes around the world and were called ‘Fridays for Future ‘because the school students would skip their classes on Fridays to protest. Over one million students in 125 countries were on strike on 15th March 2019 and the second event in May was also successful which coincided with the European Parliamentarian elections and another global climate strike. The youth climate movement (YCM) is growing around the world. The youth are using different and innovative techniques to spread awareness among the people such as two viral hashtags amplifying the climate movement (Epstein & Eilperin, 2019).
Youth from different countries have been coming up with lawsuits against their government because of dangerous pollution levels and deteriorating conditions of climate. Many youth-run movements and non-profit political organisations coordinate in a direct action aimed at lawmakers. One such movement is known as Sunrise Movement in the United States which is advocating climate change policies. They protested outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters demanding climate-only debate. In August 2019, the largest climate statement of that year was that the founder of the school climate strike movement Greta Thunberg chose to sail across the Atlantic on an emission-free yacht to attend the UN's first-ever Youth Climate Summit. Many other young activists spoke directly to the world leaders at the summit held in New York (Mercado, 2019) (Milman, 2019).
Youth Climate Summit was a historic event which was held at UN headquarters on September 21, 2019, in New York. It brought together many young leaders and activists from more than 140 countries to showcase and share their solutions for climate action at the UN. They were also involved with the decision-makers on present-time issues. This summit took place before the UN Secretary-Generals Climate Action summit. The programme gave space to young people who were activists, innovators, entrepreneurs and many other such committed champions who combatted climate change terming it to be an emergency. This summit looked up to the demands of youth for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases through action-oriented, intergenerational and inclusive and equal representation. Develop, Nominate and Commit are three major ways through which actions can take place. The theme of the climate change summit was ‘when the adults have failed, young people have taken action for themselves’. As the movement is young, it remains to be seen how much change these movements can drive and successful are they in international politics (United Nations, 2019) (UNICEF, 2020).
YCM resulted as a new method of activism and it hopes to sustain the momentum for a tangible political shift. It engaged more than thousands of young and diverse activists which was far more than the usual climate movements. They came up with innovative ideas and policies to adapt the future emergencies. Consequently, young people are trying to understand the multiple dimensions of the future that concern issues such as climate change, human rights and many more global cases of abuse. Though they were denied a path to power, they take the world to dynamic international politics if they maintain keeping the attitude of humanity (O'Brien, Selboe, & Hayward, 2018).
Environmental Concern: Coordination and Policy Implementation
The NGOs themselves appear as the country's greatest environmental actors arising from their claim to epitomize a broad body of public opinion that is not sufficiently reflected anywhere in the policy process. In recent eras, the expansion of national and international NGOs marked a dramatic restructuring of the global system. The emergence of numerous NGO groups have joined the climate change debate and discussed the different tactics to influence state and member state policymakers. It is widely accepted that the national and international NGOs have pledged “advance new ideas, advocate, protest, and mobilize public support, will be the voice to the unrepresented, legally, scientifically, technically, and through policy analysis by providing services and make an outline of the policies, implement, monitor, and also enforce those in the national and international commitments and at last change institutions and norms”.
A subsequent evaluation of policy reforms begins inside the detailed national NGOs, but it is also true that it lays them more often in this globalized world in interaction with international players. For example, influential research by NGOs on transnational advocacy networks and stress alliances between domestic and international NGOs (INGOs). INGOs thus suggest a close ally that domestic NGOs are supporting by pushing states to social change (Giorgetti, 1998) (Gough & Shackley, 2001).
Evolution of Environmental Issues on the International Agenda
In the initial years of its establishment, addressing the environmental problems, accompanied by climate change and its impacts, was not a big concern of the UN. All issues have been restricted to functioning activities, mainly through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It was not considered an important global issue till the beginning of the first 23 years. In 1949, whenever the UN Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Use of Various Resources acknowledged the degradation of these Natural Resources. However, the main focus was on how to mitigate and manage them for states' economic and social development, but it did not yet form a conservation perspective.
This was not before 1968 that perhaps the United Nations agencies received significant attention to an environmental problem. On 29 May 1969, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) included these issues as a particular item on its agenda and later agreed to support it by the General Assembly itself in holding the first United Nations Conference on Human Environment. This landmark meeting was held from 5th to 16th June 1972 in Stockholm. The Scientific Conference, also known as the First Earth Summit, accepted a declaration setting out different principles for the protection and enhancement of the human environment, and also a plan of action containing approval of international environmental intervention to both the planet (ECOSOC, 2020) (Alger, 2002).
For the very first time, the Declaration addressed climate change concerns and cautioned the various governments to be vigilant about indoctrination and further increase pollution practices that could contribute to climate change and determine the risk and extent of climate impacts. In 1979, the UNEP Governing Council asked its Executive Director to review and assess long-range air pollutant transport in the Earth Watch programme. The application earlier also started and accepted the international climate instrument on the Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention. Furthermore, UNEP went over the top in the 1980s, as the Governing Council expressed serious concern about the ozone layer damage and further recommended other alternatives in chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) production and use. It also found that there is a subsequent percentage of CFCs within household appliances. It targeted a 30 per cent reduction in sulphur emissions. In Europe and North America, climate changes due to air pollution and its effects in different ways were beginning to feel worldwide in the form of acid rain (UNFCCC, 2007).
This makes the UN and other international organisations consider the seriousness of the issue, once agriculture itself is affected due to the acid rains in the purported advanced countries in the world. It has also caused UNEP and WMO to keep it in check in various programs and to try to balance between them, and a large fund has also been kept aside for research on this topic on what can be done to mitigate this. Global warming and the loss of the ozone layer became a significant and widespread debate subject in numerous national and international forums in the year 1988. A new forum was launched in the name of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in order to create a continuous and objective beginning of global warming and climate change (Szporluk, 2009).
The Gradual Rise of NGOs in Policy Making
In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held, the other milestone of the INGOs that are expanding as NGO actors in international law. UNCED is a perfect platform that demonstrates how NGOs can take part in the negotiating system and also provide expert knowledge and much more scientifically mitigate issues. As with the OSP AR Marine Environment Convention, about 1,500 NGOs were ascribed to attend formal meetings and some informal meetings at the UNCED.
During the 1992 Earth Summit (Rio Conference)153 states and the European Union entered into the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Conventions (FCCC). And that was a legally binding international treaty designed to stabilize greenhouse gas production and slow climate change due to different human activities. This acted as an impetus for their participation in potential UN as well as other INGO conventions. The report also launched a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and by the end of 1992, approximately 158 countries were a member of it (Frank, 2016).
Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which was espoused in 1997 by the UNFCC and became a vital element and most effective of climate change actions. When the Earth became more vulnerable to GHGs which affected the climatic pattern of the world, an international agreement was aimed at limiting the emission of carbon dioxide (Co2) and other GHGs especially the industrialised countries by five per cent. It was contracted in March 1998 and came into force as an international law on 16th February 2005. It worked effectively in many countries including European Union (UN) more than 160 countries negotiated it (Gulbrandsen & Andresen, 2004).
Paris Agreement to Other Developments
Kyoto Protocol ended by the year 2012, all the parties in this agreement met at Doha and adopted an amendment to the original agreement which came to be known as the ‘Doha Amendment’. It added a period of commitment from 2012- 2020 to reduce the emission of gasses but sustained for only a small period. At the 2015 Paris Sustainable Development Summit, all UNFCCC members signed another agreement to the Paris Climate Agreement which could replace the Kyoto Protocol efficiently. The agreement seeks to significantly minimize global greenhouse gas emissions, so that it can be limited to a global temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels in this century while pursuing measures to restrict the increase to 1.5 degrees. The main objective of the protocol was to make a compulsory obligation to the signatory countries to reduce climate-changing emissions and strengthen the commitments on the environmental collectives over time. Nearly 197 nations have already accepted the Paris Agreement to date, with the last signatory being war-torn Syria, with a wider goal of protecting the environment and youth participation in the implementation of policy (Denchak, 2017).
The Paris Agreement reveals the climate sceptics of America and their control over all such policies. Instead of the Paris Agreement, there were many climate change actions locally and internationally by many countries as well as INGOs and NGOs. All these, measures will be added with the support of the policymakers to assure that we together can mitigate this climate change issue. Earlier in 2015, leaders from around the world's 193 countries gathered to access and mitigate the problem. The UN Development Program (UNDP) worked relentlessly to achieve the objective of reaching the Sustainable Development Objective (SDG) by 2030 (UNDP, 2020).
INGOs and YCM interacted with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
The 13th SDG is taking urgent action to combat climate change. Every country on the planet is experiencing and impacted by dramatic climate change and few countries are more affected than they are triggered by emissions. This understanding makes all the countries share a collective goal in this. As a humanitarian ground and on the collective responsibility it is seen that many developed nations and the UN were helping the countries which are affected by natural calamities. With the technical know-how and well-planned policy strategies of a company with the world nations, the mean temperature rise can be limited to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial rates and thereby minimize the climate change worries after the results. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the current treaties offer a forum for the numerous Member States to achieve this endeavour (UNDP, 2020).
The world bank has also adopted the SDGs and the states borrowing the assistance have been obliged to follow the climate-mitigating structures of SDGs. All these agreements were made to strengthen the country’s fight towards climate change with the support of technological know-how, financial assistance, and various projects. 2019 was the second warmest year recorded last year and recorded the warmest decade. The sea level rising, and the flooding caused due to this damage to the livelihood of the people living nearby. The weather patterns got a complete change, in some areas excess rain and some areas, there is very low rainfall and the weather is not changing according to the calendar that our parents followed. A country like India fully depends on the weather conditions and less irrigation is affected more, there are similar conditions in many countries as well.
As per the IPCC report released in October 2018, by 2030 forty-five per cent of carbon pollution should be brought down and by 2050 it should reach zero. As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is expected that between 2030-2050 there would two million deaths due to climate change and according to an analysis by HSBC Global Research India, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Middle East and North Africa are the few most exposed countries to various physical effects of climate change with Canada, Finland, Russia, Sweden being some of the least vulnerable countries. World Meteorological Organisation of UN mentioned in its report 2019 that the past three years were the hottest 2017 was the costliest year due to climate change disasters while 2018 extended harmful weather such as water shortage and increasing temperatures (IPCC, 2020).
Talanoa Dialogue was established in the year 2018. The Dialogue is an allocated mechanism that has called on treaty members to take stock of joint initiatives that can minimize pollution and create greater bouncy, in line with the Paris Agreement's long-term goals, and to plan revised and improved NDCs by 2020. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, they introduced a 25-year environmental plan which is having the aim to protect and augment the environment in England for the coming generations. They developed a plan which touches on plastic recycling, biodiversity, climate change, various pollutions, mainly air pollution and many more. During that time, the UN General Assembly, which took place on May 10, 2018, adopted a resolution on a global environmental pact. In light of the text of the resolution, the Assembly agreed to launch an ad hoc open-ended committee to consider the technical and evidence-based study identifying and evaluating possible deficiencies in international environmental law and environmental devices to improve their implementation (Wolfe, Procter, & Kreienkamp, 2016).
The proposed report was submitted in the 73rd session in 2018 and made a global platform for discussing the possible solution for addressing the gaps and mitigating a possible solution. This may include a need to convene an intergovernmental symposium to allow them to implement an international instrument that will be feasible for all countries to mitigate climate change.
The United Nations has shown its leadership role in taking issues necessitating global action to international attention. However, its efforts all over the years to make the issue of climate change a central focus of the international agenda continue, even as contrasting sides of the debate try to make their case. The UN has observed that there is serious ignorance of climate change and environmental crises even after long and loud policies are made in this regard and this sounds alarming to the world countries. It was also understood that the present crisis should be seen as an opportunity for world leaders to make public policies which are more sustainable for the people as well as the planet earth.
Climate Positive Goals
The UN Secretary-General wishes that governments take six climate-positive goals once they develop their economies and societies back:
- Green transition: In this regard, we need to accelerate the decarbonisation of all aspects of our economic investments.
- Green jobs, sustainable growth as well as inclusiveness across all sectors.
- Green economy: make communities and people more resilient through an evolution that is equal to everybody and does not leave anybody behind in the process of growth.
- Invest in sustainable solutions: Introduction of more sustainable ways to substitute the use of fossil fuel and also the subsidies given to fossil fuels to end and make fines for the person who is using them.
- Antagonize all climate risks
- Cooperation with all the countries as this is not confined to a particular area.
Whilst also greenhouse gas emissions are expected to decline by about 6 per cent in 2020 due to travel bans and the COVID-19 pandemic resulting from the economic slowdown, this change is only temporary. Global warming is not in a stalemate. When the world economy starts to recover from the pandemic, emissions are projected to rise to elevated amounts (United Nations, 2020).