Introduction
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main drivers of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas), which produces heat-trapping gasses. International cooperation also encompasses all professional activities aimed at supporting people in need and promoting economic, social, and cultural development around the globe. International cooperation covers humanitarian aid, development cooperation, peace promotion and climate change mitigation.
Climate change around the globe has, in recent years, caused frequent and intense drought, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and warming oceans, which directly harm animals, destroy their habitats, and wreak havoc in people’s livelihoods and communities.
Ways International cooperation can partner to help fight climate change
Climate change can be mitigated in many ways by the partnership between entities to work toward shared objectives through mutually agreed terms and conditions. All these solutions are to curb global warming, promote the sustainable use of resources, adoption and mitigation of climate-related risks and disasters as challenges facing the world.
International treaties like Paris Agreement 2016, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol are all used to bind countries. For example, Australia is holding its increase in global temperature below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and limiting her temperature increase by 1.5°C and also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels and net zero by 2050 (Nationally Determined Contribution of Australia by 2030).
Adaptation of planning and rapid implementation through urgent climate risk assessment for national security, investing time and resources to strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience, supporting private investment in natural capital and nature-based solutions to adaptation and addressing biodiversity loss and protecting the environment.
Strengthen climate finance by increasing funding for climate change and disaster resilience, partner support, and unlocking green trade, net zero and investment opportunities to preserve climate.
Strengthening bilateral initiatives by regular climate change discussions with other countries, sharing information, developing best practices and building joint forces and efforts to fight climate change.
There should be robust action on biodiversity through action on a broad range of biodiversity issues and providing a guiding framework which informs domestic biodiversity conservation priorities. Action on plastics should also be an initiative to combat marine plastic pollution, creating a circular plastic waste economy, such as recycling and reusing.
Forests should be protected and sustainably managed to address biodiversity loss and achieve sustainable development. There should be strong partnerships between oceans and their ecosystems to protect and conserve aquatic ecosystems and build the health and resilience of oceans in the face of climate change.
International cooperation should ideally be bent towards reducing and avoiding emissions of fast-acting pollutants like methane, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon. Roll out of solar energy should also be encouraged in countries with high solar resources and underdeveloped electricity grid.
Finally, cooperation between international entities can help them to work toward shared objectives through a mutually agreed division of labour in conservation, sustainability, management and mitigation of climate change around the global scope.
