IS the world failing to control global warming? This question is gaining traction. The year is coming to an end; it will go down as the hottest on record, bringing more floods, droughts, and wildfires and a spike in GHG emissions at a time when the world is gripped by war, conflict, and inflation. But, 2024 was also a year that saw environmental diplomacy move into high gear. Summits and high-level conferences were convened on a range of environmental issues, offering solutions, strengthening collaboration and keeping the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss, and pollution near the top of the global agenda.

Early in the year, the UN Environment Assembly furnished policy guidance on several critical issues at its sixth session. Recognising the urgency for a more synergistic approach, it convened, for the first time, a special sitting of the secretariats of multilateral environmental agreements.

Midway through 2024, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development reviewed SDG progress. The SDGs are linked by several threads to a raft of environmental subjects. The UN General Assembly’s Summit of the Future in September adopted the Pact for the Future, containing recommendations on sustainable........

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