There were cheers as they adopted the package, which is to be rubber-stamped by ministers in September.
“This is the People’s Agenda, a plan of action for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere, and leaving no one behind,” said UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
Goal number 13 is to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”.
While the text recognises the UN’s climate body takes a lead on such issues, it notes that global warming risks undermining gains in tackling poverty.
“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and its adverse impacts undermine the ability of all countries to achieve sustainable development,” says the declaration.
Under the deal, countries agreed to boost resilience to climate-related hazards like flooding and drought. They reaffirmed a commitment to mobilise US$100 billion of finance a year by 2020 to help the world’s poor green their economies and adapt to climate impacts.
And the parties “note with grave concern” the “significant gap” between projected greenhouse gas emissions and the pathway to hold warming to 2C or 1.5C.
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South Asia’s vulnerability to climate change and associated fragility risks calls for a regional approach to climate services. Different actors need to cooperate to share actionable climate information—the security architecture in the region would benefit.
With cities continuously more threatened by climate change-induced disasters, urban planning’s reflex response is to protect cities against nature. But what if the solution lies in working with nature instead against it? Architect Kongjiang Yu invites readers to imagine what cities could look like if they took into account ancient wisdom on spatial planning.
During the past two weeks, Antigua & Barbuda, Nicaragua and Panama ratified the Escazú Agreement, giving a major boost to the unprecedented and innovative Latin American pact that seeks to reduce social conflicts and protect frontline communities in the world’s deadliest region for environmental defenders.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres outlined priorities for the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 26) during a briefing at UN Headquarters. The briefing was hosted by the UK, which will be assuming the COP 26 presidency in partnership with Italy. COP 26 is scheduled to convene from 9-20 November 2020, in Glasgow, UK.