Abstract

It is no longer feasible to treat climate change and sustainable development separately, with over 80 per cent of SDG targets directly linked to climate. But there is a way, by tackling these two critical agendas together, that we can multiply impacts and bridge investment gaps worth trillions of dollars. We must break down fragmentation and silos, and act on the climate emergency and sustainable development together, or we risk catastrophe on both fronts.

Deep transformative changes are needed, and are possible, now. We know the issues that need to be addressed. We have solutions that are inclusive and equitable. Focusing on synergies between climate action and sustainable development is vital to overcoming the challenges, providing win-win solutions, and minimizing trade-offs. And there are many inspiring examples of how this can be done.

This report is primarily focused on what needs to be done to enhance synergistic actions, and more importantly how to translate synergies from theory to practice. The primary objective of this report is to continue the process of exploring some initial practical recommendations to facilitate and implement synergistic actions globally. Although the scope of this report is global, it also delves into synergistic actions within the context of overcoming barriers from localized to globalized scales, and highlights enablers and opportunities across four broad-based themes: frameworks for policy action; knowledge and data; finance; and cities. Importantly, these themes are not mutually exclusive and cannot be considered in isolation – they are intrinsically interwoven.

This report offers a roadmap for breaking down fragmentation and achieving the deep transformative changes required. Focusing on synergies between climate action and sustainable development is vital to overcoming challenges, providing win-win solutions, and minimizing trade-offs. 

Affiliated Organizations

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (198 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

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