Climate change and sustainable development
Within DESA, climate change is addressed as an environmental, economic and social issue; a global challenge with broad implications for all facets of sustainable development. Climate change activities in the Department are therefore linked to a broad agenda inclusive of poverty reduction and many other internationally-agreed development goals in sectors such as energy, transport agriculture and health.
Dialogue
DESA facilitates negotiations between Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint courses of action to address climate change. The Department promotes an integrated approach when addressing climate change challenges. DESA serves the Commission on Sustainable Development which is the main United Nations forum for bringing countries together to consider ways to integrate the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development.
- UN Climate Change Conference, Cancun, Mexico, 29 November - 10 December 2010
- UN Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen, 7-18 December 2009
- High-level Conference on Climate Change: Technology Development and Transfer, New Delhi, 22-23 October 2009
- 2009 Summit on Climate Change, New York, 22 September 2009
- UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
- UN Worldwide Campaign on Climate Change
- WomenWatch Special Feature on Women, Gender Equality and Climate Change
- UN Commission on Sustainable Development
- Report of the programme reviewer on climate change and official statistics
- Conference on Climate Change, Development and Official Statistics in the Asia-Pacific Region, Seoul, 11-12 December 2008
- Beijing High-Level Conference on Climate Change: Technology Development and Technology Transfer, Beijing, 7-8 November 2008
- World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002
- United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992
Research
Many DESA publications, reports and research activities address climate change. These are available to all Member States for their consideration as well as to other interested stakeholders. A key Departmental goal is that the release of outputs deepen understanding of the sustainable development options that can be incorporated into the climate change discourse.
- Technical Note: A Global Green New Deal for Climate, Energy, and Development
- Background Paper for Delhi High Level Conference, October 2009
- Climate Change: Technology Development and Technology Transfer
- World Economic and Social Survey 2009: Promoting Development, Saving the Planet
- Climate Change and the Energy Challenge
- Stronger industrial policies needed to face the climate and development challenges
- Climate Justice: Sharing the Burden
- Multidimensional Climate Threats Require New Approaches and More Resources for Adaptation Challenge
- Technology Transfer and Climate Change: Beyond TRIPS
- Climate Change and Technology Transfer: The Need for a Regional Perspective
- Reaching a Climate Deal in Copenhagen
- Forests: the Green and REDD of Climate Change
- Finance for Forests and Climate Change
- Climate Policy Integration. Towards Operationalization
- Achieving sustainable development in an age of climate change
- The TRIPS Agreement and Transfer of Climate-Change-Related Technologies to Developing Countries, October 2008
- Forces of nature? The Climatic Threat to Economic Security
- Climate change and official statistics
- The international development agenda and the climate change challenge
- Climate change and sustainable development
- Policy options and possible actions on climate change
Action
DESA has a major role in assisting governments with the capacity building that underlies the design and implementation of national sustainable development strategies addressing climate change. Through technical assistance, the Department helps Member States put in place mechanisms to develop their economies while curbing greenhouse gas emissions and adjusting to climate change. It advises interested governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into sustainable development programmes at the country level.
