In News: The United Nations Adaptation Gap Report, 2020 was recently released by the UNEP.
About United Nations Adaptation Gap Report, 2020
- UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has managed the production of UN Environment’s Adaptation Gap Report series since its first edition in 2014.
- The aim of the reports is to inform national and international efforts to advance climate change adaptation.
- The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2020 finds that while nations have advanced in planning, huge gaps remain in finance for developing countries and bringing adaptation projects to the stage where they bring real protection against climate impacts such as droughts, floods and sea-level rise.
- Public and private finance for adaptation must be stepped up urgently, along with faster implementation.
- Nature-based solutions – locally appropriate actions that address societal challenges, such as climate change, and provide human well-being and biodiversity benefits by protecting, sustainably managing and restoring natural or modified ecosystems – must also become a priority.
Highlights of the 2020 report
- The annual cost of adaptation to the effects of climate change for developing countries is estimated to at least quadruple by 2050, according to the United Nations Adaptation Gap Report, 2020.
- The current cost for developing countries is in the range of $70 billion (Rs 5.1 lakh crore) and may rise to $140-300 billion in 2030 and $280-500 billion in 2050.
About UNEP
- It assists developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices.
- It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 1972.
- It has overall responsibility for environmental problems among United Nations agencies.
- Addressing climate change or combating desertification, are overseen by other UN organizations, like the UNFCCC and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
- UNEP’s activities cover a wide range of issues regarding the atmosphere, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, environmental governance and green economy.
- The World Meteorological Organization and UN Environment established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.
- UN Environment is also one of several Implementing Agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.
- It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.
- UNEP has registered several successes, such as the 1987 Montreal Protocol, and the 2012 Minamata Convention, a treaty to limit toxic mercury.
- UNEP has sponsored the development of solar loan programmes.
- The solar loan programme sponsored by UN Environment helped finance solar power systems in India.
- UNEP is an agency of the United Nations.
- It coordinates the UN’s environmental activities.
Source: The Hindu and unep.org
