Background
In April 2019, the first Climate and SDGs Synergy Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, emphasized that taking climate and SDG development action simultaneously and in an integrated way is not a theoretical concept, but a practical guideline for all forms of decision making. The success and impact of the conference led to a decision to make this an annual event.
During this period, the COVID-19 pandemic began causing devastating impacts on economic and social systems around the world, creating the urgency for policy makers to pursue synergistic approaches in order to recover better and faster from COVID-19, while at the same time accelerating enhanced climate action and transitioning to sustainable development.
Long before COVID-19 struck, the year 2020 was meant to be a landmark year for climate action and the SDGs. Following the SDG Summit in 2019, the United Nations launched a ‘Decade of Action and Delivery’ to accelerate progress towards the SDGs, while governments prepared to submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), enhancing their climate ambitions under the Paris Agreement.
Addressing the urgency for action, UN DESA, UNFCCC and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) co-convened a series of three webinars and launched an e-learning course on the theme of ‘Harnessing Climate and SDGs Synergies’. These events pointed to a variety of options for synergistic policy interventions in different sectors using an integrated nexus approach.
Building on the outcomes of the first Climate and SDGs Synergy Conference in 2019 and the virtual consultations in 2020/2021, the third global conference on synergies provides a unique opportunity to take stock of practical measures that are being implemented to advance climate and SDG synergies in regional, national and subnational efforts, including through COVID recovery plans and the NDCs.
UN Conference Presses for Integrated Solutions to Scale Up Action on Climate Crisis and Sustainable Development Set-backs
More than 2,000 participants at the UN Climate and SDG Synergies Conference, held in Tokyo and virtually on 20-21 July, generated an impressive range of potential solutions and proposals for how to better integrate efforts to tackle these interlinked global crises and accelerate action to address the climate emergency and recent reversals in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Featuring over 100 speakers from around the world, including more than 30 government Ministers and other high-level officials, the Third Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as it is formally titled, was co-convened by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and hosted by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, in partnership with the United Nations University (UNU) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).
Visit: Third Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development official website.
Programme
Concept Note
Conference Background Note
Technical Briefs
Logistics Note
Summaries
Relevant Materials
- 2019 Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Maximizing Co-Benefits by Linking Implementation across SDGs and Climate Action
- Synthesis Report: Climate and SDGs Synergies Learning Series Raising Ambition in the Era of Paris+5 and Pandemic Recovery
- Summary Report: Consultations on Climate and SDG Synergies for a Better and Stronger Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic
- E-Learning Course: Harnessing Climate & SDGs Synergies
- Outreach Event: Youth Inclusive Action on Integrating SDG's, Climate Change and Biodiversity
- HLPF 2022 Side Event: Climate Action and the SDGs – Closing Gaps and Strengthening Synergies
- Press Release (19 July) [English] [Japanese]
- Media Advisory (13 July) [English] [Japanese]
- Fact Sheet [English] [Japanese]
Watch the Recorded Conference
| 20 July 2022 | U tant | ||
| 10:00-11:30 Multistakeholder dialogue | Watch | ||
| 13:00-13:45 Scene-setting conversation | Watch | ||
| 17:30-17:45 Fireside Chat | Watch | ||
| 19:00-19:50 Welcome ceremony and special events | Watch | ||
| 20:00-22:00 Conference High-level Opening Segment | Watch | ||
| 21 July 2022 | U tant | Elizabeth | Annex |
| 13:15-13:30 Fireside Chat | Watch | ||
| 13:30-15:00 Parallel Sessions 1 | Watch | Watch | Watch |
| 15:15-16:45 Parallel Sessions 2 | Watch | Watch | Watch |
| 17:00-18:00 The Way Forward | Watch |
Video Statements
Photo Album
