By Kathy Calvin, president and CEO, the UN Foundation
It was a unique moment when world leaders adopted the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015. Every single government in the world – informed by input from millions of citizens, private sector leaders, and nonprofit experts – came together at the United Nations to agree to a collective, ambitious vision for a better future for everyone, at a time of considerable international tension in other domains. The vision outlined by the 17 SDGs includes the ambition to end poverty and hunger, ensure kids get quality education, empower girls and women as equal to men in all walks of life, and steward natural resources for the future health of all our societies.
In parallel, countries worked to craft what we now recognise as a landmark global deal on climate change, agreed in Paris at the end of 2015 and entering into force this November. While the two processes were separate, the SDGs and the Paris Agreement are indivisible in substance. Indeed, the SDGs include “urgent action to combat climate change” as Goal 13 – and are only achievable if the curve of climate change is bent. Left unchecked, rising sea levels and extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, will set back global efforts to eliminate poverty, alleviate hunger, and improve public health, even as rising temperatures disrupt ecosystems on land and in the seas. Climate action, in turn, depends on ambition and innovation in the systems addressed by the SDGs – like agriculture, energy, and infrastructure.
The speed and breadth of global consensus around climate action has been breathtaking: countries acted to adopt the Paris Agreement on climate change unprecedentedly fast. It was reached in December 2015 and signed in April 2016 – and by mid-November made national policy by 111 countries that together ensured it would enter into force in advance of this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP 22) in Marrakech.
The first major sectoral agreement to slow growth in carbon emissions – in civil aviation – was reached under UN auspices in October, and world leaders that same month agreed to phase out the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are powerful greenhouse gases.
Perhaps most importantly, there was widespread recognition and acceptance that the global development and climate agendas are one, and that country action on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – or national plans – as part of the Paris agreement is fully consistent with pursuit of the SDGs – and indeed, of national economic development strategies.
Less than a year after Paris, 195 countries took the next step by endorsing the Marrakech Action Proclamation for Our Climate and Sustainable Development, calling for “the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority”, noting: “This momentum is irreversible – it is being driven not only by governments, but by science, business and global action of all types at all levels.”
Agreements are important, but their promise is made real through action. Marrakech advanced on that front as well, with the announcement of numerous initiatives, including partnerships on energy efficiency, bioenergy, and African agriculture, and with a call by more than 365 companies and investors for the US to continue the leadership that has been widely heralded by business, citizens, and other stakeholders.
Indeed, the official COP itself was almost overshadowed by the dynamism on its margins: civil society’s “green zone” had the look and feel of a trade show for low-carbon solutions, side events were lasered on implementation and action. Rather than debate about negotiations and texts, delegates sought out success stories of clean energy technologies and carbon-capturing farming practices.
Marrakech showcased how countries can reverse climate change while growing their economies and increasing wealth. The US put forward a Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization (pdf) as did Mexico, Canada, and Germany – important long-term visions for reducing emissions by 80% by 2050, while maintaining robust economic growth. “Ambitious and sustained global action on climate change is not just an environmental priority, it is also a pro-growth economic strategy,” the report states.
The Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of 48 countries with 1 billion combined citizens, pledged to achieve 100% domestic renewable energy production as rapidly as possible and to prepare mid-century low-carbon development strategies before 2020, affirming that “climate action does not limit development – it strengthens it.”
This dynamism, enterprise and innovation is the true legacy of the Paris agreement and is the reason that US leadership – however desirable, and however much in its economic interests – is not required for further progress. We have moved decisively from envisaging climate action as a burden and have come to see it as an unprecedented opportunity in national self-interest. Governments forged their plans as enhancing economic growth, wealth-creation, and long-term competitiveness, and for that reason they will make good on their pledges and raise ambition as benefits start to accrue.
Increased demand for low-carbon technologies, supported by enabling policies in many places, has set off a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement and falling costs that can transform the way we all live for the better. And, in 2020, when nations gather to reaffirm and strengthen the commitments they made before Paris, they will do so with the winds of the market and popular support at their backs.
The steps they take to limit the rise in global average temperatures to “well below 2C” – the Paris target – will also deliver for the SDGs. Today, more than a billion people still have no access to electricity. Providing them with “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy” – as outlined in SDG seven – will spur economic opportunity and improved health, especially for women and girls now consigned to lifetimes of fuel gathering and of breathing toxic smoke as they cook over open fires.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon presided over 2015’s historic achievement of global agreements on sustainable development and climate change, and his persistent advocacy helped bring them both to the finish line. One year later, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation and every credible source, we are experiencing what is set to be the warmest year in recorded history for the third year running – underscoring the imperative of seizing the opportunity of these ambitious, interlocked plans. We have now started the shift toward a sustainable future for our children and generations to come. Together, we can make it decisive.