UN SDG 13 of 17: Climate Action

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

2019 was the?second warmest year on record ?and the end of the warmest decade (2010- 2019) ever recorded.??Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and other?greenhouse gases in the atmosphere ?rose to new records.?

Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, and weather events are becoming more extreme. Climate change is affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives.

Although greenhouse gas emissions were projected to drop about 6% in 2020 due to travel bans and economic slowdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, this improvement is only temporary.?Climate change is not on pause .?Once the global economy begins to recover from the pandemic, emissions are expected to return to higher levels.

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.

Thanks to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change we know:

• From 1880 to 2012, average global temperature increased by 0.85°C. To put this into perspective, for each 1 degree of temperature increase, grain yields decline by about 5%. Maize, wheat and other major crops have experienced significant yield reductions at the global level of 40 megatons per year between 1981 and 2002 due to a warmer climate.
• Oceans have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished and sea level has risen. From 1901 to 2010, the global average sea level rose by 19 cm as oceans expanded due to warming and ice melted. The Arctic’s sea ice extent has shrunk in every successive decade since 1979, with 1.07 million km2 of ice loss every decade
• Given current concentrations and on-going emissions of greenhouse gases, it is likely that by the end of this century, the increase in global temperature will exceed 1.5°C compared to 1850 to 1900 for all but one scenario. The world’s oceans will warm and ice melt will continue. Average sea level rise is predicted as 24 – 30cm by 2065 and 40-63cm by 2100. Most aspects of climate change will persist for many centuries even if emissions are stopped
• Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by almost 50% since 1990
• Emissions grew more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the three previous decades
• It is still possible, using a wide array of technological measures and changes in behavior, to limit the increase in global mean temperature to 2 deg. Celsius above pre-industrial levels
• Major institutional and technological change will give a better than even chance that global warming will not exceed this threshold

Why?

The climate crisis continues unabated as the global community shies?away from the full commitment required for its?reversal. 2010-2019 was?warmest decade ever?recorded, bringing with?it massive wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, floods, and other climate disasters across continents.

How are people being affected by climate change?

Climate change is affecting every country in the?world. It is disrupting?national economies and?affecting lives and livelihoods, especially for?the most vulnerable.?

Weather patterns are?changing, sea levels are rising, and weather events are?becoming more extreme, affecting more than 39 million people in 2018.

What happens if we don't take action?

If left unchecked, climate?change will cause average global temperatures?to increase beyond 3°C,?and will adversely affect?every ecosystem. Already,?we are seeing how climate?change can exacerbate?storms and disasters, and threats such as food and?water scarcity, which can lead to conflict.

Doing?nothing will end up costing us a lot more than if?we take action now. We?have an opportunity to?take actions that will lead?to more jobs, great prosperity, and better lives for?all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and?building climate resilience.

Can we solve this problem or is it too late to act?

To address climate?change, we have to vastly?increase our efforts. Much?is happening around the?world – investments in?renewable energy have?soared. But so much more?needs to be done. The?world must transform its?energy, industry, transport, food, agriculture and?forestry systems to ensure that we can limit global?temperature rise to well?below 2°C, maybe even 1.5°C. In December 2015,?the world took a significant first step by adopting?the Paris Agreement , in?which all countries committed to take action to?address climate change.?

Many businesses and?investors are also committing themselves to?lower their emissions, not just because it is the right?thing to do, but because?it makes economic and?business sense as well.

Are we investing enough?to tackle climate change?

Global climate-related?financial flows saw a 17% from 2013 to?2016, largely due to private?investment in renewable?energy, which represents?the largest segment in total?climate-related flows, to?the amount of $681 billion.?

However, investment in?fossil fuels continues to be?higher than in climate activities to the amount of $781?billion in 2016. To achieve a?low-carbon, climate-resilient transition, a much greater scale of annual?investment is required.

In 2019, at least 120 of the?153 developing countries?had undertaken activities?to formulate and implement National Adaptation?Plans to enhance climate?adaptation and resilience,?an increase of 29 countries over the previous?year. Furthermore, progress in meeting the 2020 disaster risk reduction?target has been slow.

Read more at https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change/

Small Actions Add Up

1. Compost food scraps. (As much as 20-50% of food ends up in landfills).
2. Drive less. Walk, cycle, take public transportation or carpool.
3. Take re-usable bags to the store.
4. Air dry. Let your hair and clothes dry naturally.
5. Avoid driving in peak-hour traffic, and unnecessary idling.
6. Maintain your vehicle.
7. Organize for your school or company to plant new trees every year.
8. Unplug or use controls to reduce vampire loads from electronics when not in use. Set up sleep timers on devices where available. Turn down the brightness on your screens.
9. Spread awareness. Only buy what you need.
10. Set back thermostats when unoccupied and turn off unnecessary lights.

To find out more about Goal #13 and other Sustainable Development Goals, visit: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/