This position note were put online in September 2019 to coincide with the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The world is facing a grave climate emergency. Climate change is progressing even faster than the world’s top scientists have predicted and is outpacing our efforts to address it. Bold action and far greater ambition are needed to address climate change and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. With global temperatures rising and emissions increasing, all countries need to scale up their efforts to achieve zero-net emissions by 2050.
What is the UN Environment Programme bringing to the summit?
UNEP has been working on various initiatives that are expected to be unveiled at the Climate Action Summit, as part of the organization’s contribution to the outcome of the negotiations. Among them are:
- More than 150 proposals for nature-based solutions to the climate crisis
- The official launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking, a framework for a sustainable banking system
- A 10-year review of the Emissions Gap Report, UNEP’s flagship publication on progress towards reducing our greenhouse gas emissions
- An advance chapter of the 2019 Emissions Gap Report about bridging the gap and accelerating the ambition and action of G20 countries
- Member States’ commitment to developing national cooling action plans as part of the Cool Coalition, linked to enhanced nationally determined contributions in 23 countries
- Launch of the Global Alliance to Significantly Reduce Methane Emissions in the Oil and Gas Sector by 2030
- Support to the launch of the Global Commission on Adaptation’s flagship report
Way forward
Investment in nature is long overdue, and this summit marks a radical shift in recognizing that. Nature represents 30 per cent of the solution to our climate crisis, yet just 3 per cent of the investment. The Climate Action Summit heralds the start of a significant change in that equation. Sixty per cent of the Summit’s events focus on nature, and nature has been fundamentally repositioned as the source of our brightest and most urgent super solutions to climate change. UNEP is strongly positioned to drive forward the mitigation, adaptation and resilience potential of nature across its portfolio of climate actions.
For more information contact: Niklas Hagelberg
