Damaged homes lining the river in Chiva region of Valencia city in Spain in the aftermath of the catastrophic floods in October. — AFP
IN the pre-dawn hours of Oct 29, 2024, a massive, unprecedented deluge overwhelmed Valencia city in Spain.
Homes, businesses and public facilities were submerged within minutes as torrential floodwaters swept across the eastern outskirts of the metropolis.
The disaster claimed more than 200 lives, marking the deadliest natural calamity to hit the country in recent decades.
It was a stark reminder of the world’s vulnerability and lack of preparedness in the face of climate-driven extremes.
Year 2024 bore witness to a handful of environmental catastrophes as climate change and global warming continued to accelerate.
In August, Typhoon Yagi lashed South-East Asia, devastating multiple countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
Flood victims in Hanoi being rescued by boat after Typhoon Yagi lashed northern Vietnam. —Reuters
Hundreds died while thousands others were reportedly displaced.
The growing number of natural disasters and their intensity have left the countries’ governments scrambling to respond to mounting public frustration.
It was against this backdrop that the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, better known as COP29, convened in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The highly-anticipated summit resulted in a pledge of US$300bil (RM1.34 trillion) annually from developed nations to assist poorer countries decarbonise their economies and adapt to the climate crisis.
The financial commitment – to be disbursed in grants and loans – was meant to address inequities in the fight against climate change.
But it came under fire from critics who decried it as insufficient.
Many from the developing world argued that the sum pales in comparison to the scale of the challenge, and they accused wealthier countries of shirking their responsibility after having emitted the bulk of carbon currently floating in the atmosphere.
But the developed world cited budgetary constraints as counterpoint, a disagreement that further exposed the rift among nations in dealing with environmental concerns.
The deterioration of the global environment had affected wildlife too, placing the planet’s biodiversity under increased strain.
On Oct 10, World Wide Fund for Nature published the “Living Planet Report”, which contained an alarming statistic.
Since 1970, wildlife populations have plummeted by more than 70% – a figure drawn from observations of nearly 35,000 populations across 5,500 species.
This trend was also observed in Malaysia, where species like the Malayan tapir and Malayan tiger saw steep drops in population in the last decade.
Malayan tapirs dwindled to between 700 and 800, down from 1,100 and 1,500, while Malayan tigers number just 150, a stark decrease from between 250 and 340 a decade prior.
Meanwhile, geopolitical conflicts raging around the world have not left the environment untouched.
According to reports, Israel’s war on Gaza generated over 42 million tonnes of debris, devastating agricultural land and natural resources.
The UN Environment Programme estimated that half of Gaza’s green spaces, including tree cover and farmland, were destroyed.
Pollutants from destroyed buildings had reportedly infiltrated groundwater tables, while greenhouse gas emissions in the initial months of conflict exceeded the annual carbon footprint of 20 climate-vulnerable nations combined.
Residents walking past a destroyed residential building in Borodyanka, Ukraine. —AFP
In eastern Europe, the incursion of Ukraine inflicted severe environmental damage too as critical infrastructure came under military targets.
Water treatment plants and energy facilities were among those destroyed in the conflict, unleashing even more pollutants.
Alarmed at the pace of environmental decline, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during World Environment Day celebrations in New York on June 5, delivered a dire warning.
“The world is on red alert, and we are on the verge of the abyss. We must make sure the next step is in the right direction.”
