Launch of Three Thematic Reports at HLPF 2025 Highlights Nature, Insurance, and Urban Health as Keys to Accelerated Action

Read the nature report here | Read the finance report here | Read the health in cities report here

Three reports are being launched on 22 July by experts convened by the UN, showing how greater impact can be achieved by breaking down silos and tackling the climate change and sustainable development crises together. The reports focus on three potential solutions: bolstering insurance coverage for climate-related disasters, which often set back development progress; pursuing nature-based solutions that can deliver climate and biodiversity benefits while supporting inclusive development; and adopting urban climate policies that also improve health by promoting cleaner air, active mobility and smart planning.

As part of a series entitled Synergy Solutions 2025, the thematic reports, spearheaded by the Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy, are being launched at a special event at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the United Nations in New York.

The Expert Group is co-convened by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), which are co-hosting the launch event.

The recommendations come at a crucial time, as both climate targets under the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals under the 2030 agenda are far off track. In launching the latest SDG Progress Report on 14 July, the UN Secretary-General declared that "we are in a global development emergency", and that the SDGs are still within reach, but only if we act with urgency. The SDG Report indicates that only 35% of targets are either on track or showing moderate progress, while 18% have regressed.

Closing Insurance Gaps

Looking at how synergies can provide solutions, the expert report on Closing the Climate and Disaster Protection Gap notes that, even as climate-related disasters intensify and undermine development, currently 62% of global economic losses from natural catastrophes are uninsured. Even a 1% increase in insurance coverage would move countries 5.8% closer to achieving the SDGs, the report concludes, recommending that disaster risk financing be integrated into national development plans and noting that a sustained, coordinated effort by a broad range of stakeholders is needed to close the climate and disaster insurance gap.

Nature Conservation Can Advance Both SDG and Climate Action

Recognizing that biodiversity loss, land degradation and climate change are deeply interlinked, the expert report entitled How Nature Conservation Can Advance SDG and Climate Action notes that Nature-based solutions —including conservation, restoration, and ecosystem management—can deliver up to 37% of cost-effective CO₂ mitigation by 2030. It also points out that ecosystem services like water supply, pollination and climate regulation are vital for achieving the SDGs. Financing is a major issue: although over 50% of global GDP depends on nature, harmful subsidies ($7 trillion/year) and externalities ($10–$25 trillion/year) far exceed conservation funding. Integrated policies are urgently needed to align biodiversity and climate goals with financing: there is an annual shortfall of $700 billion for biodiversity and up to $359 billion for climate adaptation.

Climate Action in Cities Can Enhance Public Health

With the majority of the global population residing in cities, which also account for the majority of GHG emissions, there is great potential to improve public health through climate action with high-impact co-benefits, according to the expert report on Linking Climate and Health Action in Cities. Reducing air pollution by replacing fossil fuels with clean energy could prevent up to 1.2 million premature deaths annually by 2040, with up to 4.7 million additional lives saved if measures against black carbon and methane are adopted. A shift to plant-based diets could prevent 10–11 million premature deaths yearly. Infrastructure promoting walking and cycling can cut emissions, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce mortality, and increasing urban tree cover to 30% could prevent over 2,600 heat-related deaths each summer in Europe alone. Financial and technical support at the national and international levels is vital to enables cities—especially in the Global South—to implement such synergistic strategies.

The reports being released build on the growing body of evidence brought together in the series of annual thematic and global reports by the expert group since 2023, as well as at discussions at annual conferences held since 2019 in Brazil, Denmark and Japan. The upcoming 2025 Global Report on Climate and SDG Synergy, to be launched in September at the United Nations in New York, will advance efforts to quantify the co-benefits of synergistic action.