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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In an increasingly urbanised world, global resilience cannot be achieved without cities. Separating a local from a national or international sustainability issue is increasingly difficult – be it climate change, migration, or economic development.
Climate diplomacy needs to release itself from the shackles of ‘systemic’ politics in order to achieve a climate agenda that is driven by human security interests, including equity and justice, and strengthen climate change initiatives at local, national and regional levels, in order to bridge the gap caused by the slow pace of progress at the international level.
Leaving No One Behind is the mantra of the 2019 UN-Water campaign. Foreign policy agendas of countries should apply the principle and integrate the voices of the most marginalised into the decision-making process, argues Dhanasree Jayaram.
With climate change increasingly being seen as a security issue, we ask what role the United Nations Security Council could and should play. To answer this question, we are joined on the Climate Diplomacy Podcast by UN expert and Chatham House Associate Fellow Oli Brown. In this podcast, Oli explains some of the challenges that the UN Security Council has had in tackling climate change and outlines the prospects for action in the future.