Climate Change and Sustainable Development

“We do not have time to lose, and urgent climate action is absolutely critical and necessary. What benefits the most vulnerable will benefit us all.”

Climate change is the most significant challenge to achieving sustainable development, and it threatens to drag millions of people into grinding poverty. 

At the same time, we have never had better know-how and solutions available to avert the crisis and create opportunities for a better life for people all over the world.

Climate change is not just a long-term issue. It is happening today, and it entails uncertainties for policymakers trying to shape the future.

Climate change has been rising on the political agenda. Knowledge and awareness about some of the most alarming trends have been enhanced by several assessments released recently. For example, that if we continue to do business as usual, global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to grow by over 50% by 2050 which will cause world temperatures to rise between 1.7o and 2.4o Celsius above pre-industrial levels in 2050, and more than 4-6 degrees Celsius over the very long-term. We will see more heatwaves, droughts, storms and floods, severely damaging key infrastructure and crops, and threatening the lives of millions.

Developing countries will suffer most from the effects of climate change. Their economies are more dependent on natural resources, such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and they often lack the infrastructure, the financing and capacity to adapt to a changing climate.

Climate change and sustainable development have been addressed in largely separate circles in both research and policy. Nevertheless, there are strong linkages between the two in both realms.

Links between climate change and sustainable development fall into three areas that are related to the three major components of how we measure sustainability. These correspond to Social, Economic, and Environmental management.

A key feature of social sustainability is that it seeks to reduce the vulnerability of human communities and to maintain the health of social and cultural systems. Having a greater capacity to adapt to change is important as it enhances the opportunities that the community will have to secure positive benefits from any forced changes, and to reduce their level of vulnerability to adversely changing circumstances. 

Economic sustainability seeks to strike a balance between maximising the income generated by a stock of assets without damaging the stock of assets that help to generate this income. Shocks to this balance interfere with the efficient allocation of the resources of production and trade, with a resulting weakening of sustainability of the system. Finally, damage to the natural environment – such as the accelerated loss of topsoil, reduction in biodiversity, or increased desertification – has local, regional, national, and frequently international impacts, and is frequently linked to negative impacts on social and economic sustainability. 

It is increasingly recognised that issues of poverty and social equity are intimately related to an integrated perspective of sustainable development. In order to try to understand, and if possible to better manage, sustainable development a large number of indicators have been proposed by an almost equally large number of individuals, organisations, and groups. 

Saving lives and livelihoods requires urgent action to address both the pandemic and the climate emergency. The Paris Agreement adopted in 2015, aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The agreement also aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change, through appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity-building framework.

COVID-19 response

As countries move toward rebuilding their economies after COVID-19, recovery plans can shape the 21st-century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, safe and more resilient. The current crisis is an opportunity for a profound, systematic shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both; people and the planet.

The UN Secretary-General has proposed six climates positive actions for governments to take once they go about building back their economies and societies:

1. Green transition: Investments must accelerate the decarbonization of all aspects of our economy.
2. Green jobs and sustainable and inclusive growth
3. Green economy: making societies and people more resilient through a transition that is fair to all and leaves no one behind.
4. Invest in sustainable solutions: fossil fuel subsidies must end and polluters must pay for their pollution.
5. Confront all climate risks
6. Cooperation – no country can succeed alone.

To address the climate emergency, post-pandemic recovery plans need to trigger long term systemic shifts that will change the trajectory of CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

Governments around the world have spent considerable time and effort in recent years to develop plans to chart a safer and more sustainable future for their citizens. Taking these on board now as part of recovery planning can help the world build back better from the current crisis.