Why Multilateral Environmentalism Is Struggling
More than 20 experts interviewed by the Associated Press describe the U.N.'s multilateral process as "broken." The reasons include:
- Cumbersome Consensus Process:
- U.N. agreements require consensus, allowing any single nation to slow or block progress.
- Fossil fuel industry lobbying and geopolitical divisions often hinder bold action.
- Massive Scale of Problems:
- Environmental crises like climate change, species loss, and desertification require transformative solutions that are difficult to achieve collectively.
- Geopolitical Shifts:
- Unlike the 1980s, when two superpowers could drive agreements, today's fractured global landscape complicates negotiations.
- Fossil Fuel Influence:
- For decades, climate agreements avoided explicitly mentioning fossil fuels as the primary driver of global warming. Only recently has this changed.
Recent U.N. Environmental Summits
Four major summits in 2024 highlighted the system's limitations:
- Biodiversity COP (Cali, Colombia): Ended without significant agreements.
- Climate Change COP (Baku, Azerbaijan): Achieved modest funding commitments for poorer nations but left many dissatisfied.
- Plastics Pollution Meeting (Busan, South Korea): Produced no tangible progress despite widespread calls for action.
- Desertification Conference (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia): Failed to address drought effectively.
Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, summed it up: "We are still failing."
Searching for Alternatives
As frustration with multilateralism grows, alternative approaches are gaining traction:
- Climate Clubs: Smaller groups of countries cooperating outside U.N. frameworks.
- Legal Action: Over 140 climate-related lawsuits have been filed globally.
- Revisiting Decision Rules: Some advocate moving from consensus to supermajority voting at U.N. climate summits, though past efforts have failed.
Despite its flaws, U.N. Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen defends the system as the "only way" smaller nations can negotiate alongside powerful ones.
Signs of Progress
Amid the setbacks, there have been achievements:
- Paris Agreement Legacy: The 2015 accord created a global framework for limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
- Transition from Fossil Fuels: Recent summits have begun explicitly calling for a shift away from fossil fuels.
- Domestic Actions: Many countries and businesses are advancing climate initiatives independently of U.N. talks.
Jonathan Pershing, former U.S. negotiator, points to "the long arc" of progress, noting that without U.N.-led cooperation, the planet could be on track for up to 5°C of warming—a "death sentence for most of humanity."
The Path Forward
While experts acknowledge the challenges, many remain hopeful. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore warns, however, that the current system must evolve: "We can't keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
Whether through reforming U.N. processes or embracing alternative strategies, the urgency to address the planet's crises has never been greater. As Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, put it, "The U.N. system is the worst system except for all the others."