Global Environmental Summits Face Criticism Over Lack of Progress

Recent UN-led conferences on climate change, biodiversity, and pollution have been criticized for failing to address urgent environmental crises effectively.

• Four major United Nations environmental summits in 2024, covering climate change, biodiversity, plastic pollution, and desertification, have ended with limited or no significant agreements.
• Experts blame a cumbersome consensus process, geopolitical fragmentation, and the influence of the fossil fuel industry for the lack of meaningful progress.
• Developing nations expressed frustration over insufficient financial aid commitments at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, despite achieving its stated goal of increasing funding.
• Some stakeholders are advocating for alternative approaches, such as climate-focused legal actions and smaller coalitions like 'climate clubs,' to bypass the slow-moving global system.
• While critics describe the current system as 'broken,' others argue that multilateralism remains vital for giving smaller and poorer nations a voice in global negotiations.

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