Why the world needs new generation of 'green' accords

THE environment will be centre-stage on Thursday's annual Earth Day commemorations, which will see US President Joe Biden hosting a major international climate summit. Yet, with the world still in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, it is clear that global processes to put the world onto a more sustainable pathway need a serious injection of postpandemic, political urgency.

The fact that greenhouse gas emissions are rising, deforestation is accelerating, and biodiversity is being lost at an alarming rate was addressed recently by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. Briefing on his "vision for a decade of action and recovering better from Covid-19", he acknowledged that our collective response to sustainability issues has been limited, and this must change.

What is badly needed now is a new generation of environmental agreements that are more robust, ambitious, inclusive and, ultimately, more effective. Governments have traditionally led the UN negotiations process, yet they cannot do it all by themselves given the monumental scale of the challenge, and other players from the public, private and third sectors must now enter the arena to ensure the level of ambition is delivered - for three key reasons.