Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*

Despite setbacks from COVID-19, preliminary data show global greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2020. The past six years, 2015–2020, are likely to be the six warmest on record. Climate change puts the achievement of many SDGs at risk. In order to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels as called for in the Paris Agreement, global efforts would need to reach net zero CO2 emissions globally around 2050.

As of April 2020, 118 countries and territories have reported the development and adoption of national and/or local disaster risk reduction strategies, increasing from 48 countries and territories during the Sendai Framework’s nascent period in 2015.

As of 31 December 2020, 190 Parties (189 countries plus the EU) had communicated their first NDC, of which 44 are LDCs and 40 are SIDS. A further 48 countries (of which one is an LDC and five are SIDS) have also communicated a second or updated NDC. Thirty-nine of 48 NDCs included adaptation information in their new or updated NDC. The NDCs illustrate that countries are articulating more quantified targets and indicators for adaptation, and identifying links between adaptation, SDGs, and other frameworks.

As of 31 March 2021, 125 of 154 developing countries are undertaking measures for national adaptation plans (NAPs) and are prioritizing formulation and implementation of NAPs in their adaptation efforts. Six LDCs (including three SIDS) and additional four SIDS have completed a NAP. More LDCs have a draft NAP and are on track to complete and submit these in line with the vision of all LDCs having their NAPs by 2021.

In order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, scientists recommend that by 2030 global emissions should be cut by 45% compared to 2010 levels. Compared to 2010, emissions from developed countries fell by approximately 6.2% in 2019, while emissions from developing countries (comprising 70 countries) rose by 14.4% in 2014.

Climate-specific financial support reported by Annex I Parties continues to increase, reaching an annual average of $48.7 billion in 2017-2018. This represents an increase of 10% over the previous 2015–2016 period on a comparable basis. While over half of all climate-specific financial support in the period 2017-2018 was targeted to mitigation actions, the share of adaptation support is growing, and many countries are prioritizing adaptation in their provision of financial support.

Source: Advance unedited copy of 2021 report of the Secretary-General on Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals

The year 2019 was the second warmest on record and the end of the warmest decade, 2010 to 2019. In addition, with a global average temperature of 1.1°C above estimated pre-industrial levels, the global community is far off track to meet either the 1.5 or 2°C targets called for in the Paris Agreement. Although greenhouse gas emissions are projected to drop by 6 per cent in 2020, and air quality has improved as a result of travel bans and the economic slowdown resulting from the pandemic, the improvement is only temporary. Governments and businesses should utilize the lessons learned to accelerate the transitions needed to achieve the Paris Agreement, redefine the relationship with the environment and make systemic shifts and transformational changes to lower greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient economies and societies.

A total of 85 countries have reported having a national disaster risk reduction strategy aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030  to some extent since its adoption in 2015. In 2018, 55 countries reported that at least some of their local governments had a local disaster risk reduction strategy aimed at contributing to sustainable development and strengthening socioeconomic health and environmental resilience by focusing on poverty eradication, urban resilience and climate change adaptation.

As at 31 March 2020, 186 parties (185 countries plus the European Union) had communicated their first nationally determined contribution, and several parties had communicated their second or updated nationally determined contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Parties have been requested to update existing nationally determined contributions or communicate new ones by 2020, providing a valuable opportunity for parties to increase their level of ambition in climate action.

In 2019, at least 120 of 153 developing countries had undertaken activities to formulate and implement national adaptation plans, an increase of 29 countries, compared with 2018. The plans will help countries achieve the global goal on adaptation under the Paris Agreement.

With regard to global climate finance, there was an increase of $584 billion, or 17 per cent, from 2013 to 2014 and of $681 billion from 2015 to 2016. High levels of new private investment in renewable energy account for the spurt in growth and represent the largest segment of the global total. While these financial flows are considerable, they are relatively small in relation to the scale of annual investment needed for a low-carbon, climate-resilient transition. Moreover, investments in climate activities tracked across sectors were still surpassed by those related to fossil fuels in the energy sector alone ($781 billion in 2016).

Source: Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, Report of the Secretary-General, https://undocs.org/en/E/2020/57

With rising greenhouse gas emissions, climate change is occurring at rates much faster than anticipated and its effects are clearly felt worldwide. While there are positive steps in terms of the climate finance flows and the development of nationally determined contributions, far more ambitious plans and accelerated action are needed on mitigation and adaptation. Access to finance and strengthened capacities need to be scaled up at a much faster rate, particularly for least developed countries and small island developing States.

• Increasing greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change. In 2017, greenhouse gas concentrations reached new highs, with globally averaged mole fractions of CO2 at 405.5 parts per million (ppm), up from 400.1 ppm in 2015, and at 146 per cent of pre-industrial levels. Moving towards 2030 emission objectives compatible with the 2°C and 1.5°C pathways requires a peak to be achieved as soon as possible, followed by rapid reductions.
• As indicated under Sustainable Development Goal 1 (see para. 22 above), during the period 1998–2017, direct economic losses from disasters were estimated at almost $3 trillion. Climate-related and geophysical disasters claimed an estimated 1.3 million lives.
• As of April 2019, 185 parties had ratified the Paris Agreement. Parties to the Paris Agreement are expected to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions, and 183 parties had communicated their first nationally determined contributions to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, while 1 party had communicated its second. Under the Agreement, all parties are required to submit new nationally determined contributions, containing revised and much more ambitious targets, by 2020.
• Global climate finance flows increased by 17 per cent in the period 2015–2016 compared with the period 2013–2014.
• As at 20 May 2019, 28 countries had accessed Green Climate Fund grant financing for the formulation of national adaptation plans and other adaptation planning processes, with a value of $75 million. Of these, 67 per cent were for least developed countries, small island developing States and African States. Proposals from an additional seven countries, with a value of $17 million, are in the final stage of approval. In total, 75 countries are seeking support from the Green Climate Fund for national adaptation plans and other adaptation planning processes, with a combined value of $191 million.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, Special edition: progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals

The year 2017 was one of the three warmest on record and was 1.1 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial period. An analysis by the World Meteorological Organization shows that the five-year average global temperature from 2013 to 2017 was also the highest on record. The world continues to experience rising sea levels, extreme weather conditions (the North Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest ever recorded) and increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases. This calls for urgent and accelerated action by countries as they implement their commitments to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

• As of 9 April 2018, 175 Parties had ratified the Paris Agreement and 168 Parties (167 countries plus the European Commission) had communicated their first nationally determined contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat.
• In addition, as of 9 April 2018, 10 developing countries had successfully completed and submitted the first iteration of their national adaptation plans for responding to climate change.
• Developed country Parties continue to make progress towards the goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion annually by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018

Planetary warming continued in 2016, setting a new record of about 1.1 degrees Centigrade above the preindustrial period, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2016. Drought conditions predominated across much of the globe, aggravated by the El Niño phenomenon In the Statement, WMO also noted that the extent of global sea ice fell to a minimum of 4.14 million km2 in 2016, the second lowest extent on record. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels also reached a record high of 400 parts per million that year. Mitigating climate change and its impacts will require building on the momentum achieved by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which entered into force on 4 November 2016. Stronger efforts are needed to build resilience and limit climate-related hazards and natural disasters.

• Parties to the Paris Agreement are expected to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions. The nationally determined contributions reflect official country responses to climate change and contributions to global climate action. As of 20 April 2017, 143 parties ratified the Paris Agreement, of which 137 parties (136 countries and the European Commission) communicated their first nationally determined contributions to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• As of 20 April 2017, seven developing countries successfully completed and submitted the first iteration of their national adaptation plans, in response to climate change.
• Developed countries have committed to jointly mobilizing $100 billion per year by 2020 to address the climate-related needs of developing countries and to continue that level of support through 2025. Initial efforts to mobilize resources for the Green Climate Fund raised $10.3 billion and developed - country parties are strongly urged to scale up their financial support.
• The number of deaths attributed to natural disasters continues to rise, despite progress in implementing disaster risk reduction strategies. From 1990 to 2015, more than 1.6 million people died in internationally reported natural disasters.
• Many countries have begun implementing national and local disaster risk reduction strategies. In 2014-2015, most reporting countries indicated that environmental impact assessments, legislation on protected areas, climate change adaptation projects and programmes, and integrated planning played a major role in reducing underlying risk factors.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, "Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals", E/2017/66

• Climate change presents the single biggest threat to development, and its widespread, unprecedented impacts disproportionately burden the poorest and most vulnerable. Urgent action to combat climate change and minimize its disruptions is integral to the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The global nature of climate change calls for broad international cooperation in building resilience and adaptive capacity to its adverse effects, developing sustainable low-carbon pathways to the future, and accelerating the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions. On 22 April 2016, 175 Member States signed the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The new agreement aims to reduce the pace of climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low-carbon future.
• Climate change often exacerbates disasters. Between 1990 and 2013, more than 1.6 million people died in internationally reported disasters, with annual deaths trending upwards. As a result, more countries are acting on the imperative to implement national and local disaster risk reduction strategies. In 2015, 83 countries had legislative and/or regulatory provisions in place for managing disaster risk.
• Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are responsible for providing a range of national reports on their efforts to implement the agreement. As of 4 April 2016, 161 intended nationally determined contributions, from 189 of the 197 Parties to the Framework Convention (the European Commission submitted one joint intended determined contribution) had been recorded by the secretariat of the Framework Convention, providing insights into the efforts many countries are taking to integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. Among those countries, 137 parties included an adaptation component in their intended nationally determined contributions. Some countries stressed that adaptation was their main climate change priority, with strong linkages to other aspects of national development, sustainability and security. In order to help countries move forward on climate action, a global stocktaking was established, in the context of the Paris Agreement, to assess collective progress every five years. The process will begin in 2018, with a facilitative dialogue to review the efforts of parties towards emissions reductions and to inform the preparation of final nationally determined contributions.
• As parties scale up climate change action, enhanced cooperation, capacity-building and access to financial and technical support will be needed to help many countries realize their priorities, including those identified in intended nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans. Developed countries have committed to mobilizing, by 2020, $100 billion a year in climate financing from a wide variety of sources to help address the needs of developing countries. By 2025, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will set a new collective goal of at least $100 billion per year. The Green Climate Fund, a mechanism within the Framework Convention created to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices, is an important delivery vehicle for this financing. As of May 2016, the Green Climate Fund had mobilized $10.3 billion.
• Climate change is already affecting the most vulnerable countries and populations, in particular the least developed countries and the small island developing States. The preparation of national adaptation programmes of action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is helping the least developed countries address urgent and immediate needs, with support from the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Least Developed Countries Expert Group. In addition, the implementation of national adaptation programmes of action will help the least developed countries prepare and seek funding for comprehensive national adaptation plans, thereby reducing their risk of being left behind.

Source: Report of the Secretary-General, "Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals", E/2016/75