Climate Solutions

COVID-19 exposed the consequences of the failure to make sufficient progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and in implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change. We would have been in a better place if we had.

We must change course, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, or we risk missing the point where we can avoid the “disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us.”

As we continue to tackle the pandemic, the enormity of the climate emergency can be daunting. What can one person or even one nation do on their own to reverse this challenge? Good news is that solutions do exist!

Climate Solutions
A smokestack industry is shown, with a lot of smoke going from the chimneys to the sky.

Country action plans fall short of Paris goals

The latest synthesis of national climate action plans finds some progress, but overall plans are falling short in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing temperature rise.

Firefighters in Queensland, Australia, tackle a blaze in January 2020

A call for bold action in Australia

In Australia, the UN climate action chief urged backing long-term net-zero commitments with ambitious 2030 targets and plans. This will help protect the country’s high standard of living by averting disasters, creating new jobs and improving health. 

Houses and buildings flooded

Early warnings save lives

A new report shows a fivefold rise in climate-related disasters over the last 50 years. Economic costs have skyrocketed. But better disaster management has significantly reduced the loss of life. Read more.

Abdus and his grandson stand on a raft made from banana trees in front of their submerged house in Char Bara Dhul, northern Bangladesh. The family sleep on a boat as they wait for the water to subside.

Humans in the climate crisis

Time is running out for millions of people losing their lives, homes and livelihoods to climate change. A powerful new exhibit tells their stories, showing why rich countries must realize the promise to finance climate adaptation in poorer countries. Read more

greenhouse gas emissions from human activities such as burning fossil fuels

IPCC: We can act on climate change but time is running out

Climate changes are occurring in every region and globally, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. The report defines changes that are unprecedented in thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years. It emphasizes that there is still time to act, but it must happen immediately. Press release. Secretary-General’s statement.

Patricia Espinosa

Climate chief welcomes national plans

In line with the Paris Agreement, countries presented 110 new or updated climate action plans. But these make up only 58 per cent of the total, a shortfall that comes amid escalating impacts from the climate crisis. Read more.

ActNow campaign

3 million signs of momentum

People globally have logged over 3 million actions on ActNow, a UN climate campaign. With under 100 days before global climate talks, it's a strong sign of public commitment to climate solutions. Read more.

Emergency workers rescue an elderly person in Xuchang, in China's Henan Province.

Climate change worsens water hazards

Droughts, storms and other disasters related to water and climate change have taken the biggest human and economic tolls in the last 50 years. A new analysis finds costs of over a million lives and billions of dollars. Read more.

A new report tracks how some of the world’s largest economies continue to heavily subsidize fossil fuels, the major source of the emissions that cause climate change.

Fuel subsidies undercut Paris goals

A new report tracks how some of the world’s largest economies continue to heavily subsidize fossil fuels, the major source of the emissions that cause climate change. The Climate Policy Factbook focuses on the Group of 20 countries and steps towards a low-carbon economy. Read more.

cities

Science-based emissions targets heighten corporate ambition

The global Science Based Targets initiative has launched a new strategy to increase ambition in targets that corporations set to combat climate change. Science-based target setting now covers 20 per cent of the global economy, driving corporate decarbonization.

At G20 meet, Guterres urges global solidarity backed by action and finance

At G20 meet, Guterres urges global solidarity backed by action and finance

UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed G20 finance ministers and central bank governors with a call to deliver on COVID-19 vaccines, economic recovery and climate finance. He reminded developed economies that solidarity depends in part on fulfilling the longstanding commitment to provide $100 billion in public climate finance annually to developing countries, with half pegged to measures to safeguard people from climate impacts. Read more.

Bangladesh is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change.

UN chief calls for solidarity and trust

The UN Secretary-General spoke to a gathering of countries most vulnerable to climate change, lauding their leadership on climate action, and calling on wealthier countries to rebuild trust by delivering on climate finance commitments. Read more.

The Economic Case for Nature : A Global Earth-Economy Model to Assess Development Policy Pathways

Protect nature, save money

A new World Bank report lays out a clear economic case for protecting natural ecosystems. Not doing so could result in a global loss of $2.7 trillion a year by 2030. Read more.

People across Asia and the Pacific are convening virtually this week to take the pulse of climate action, explore possibilities for action and showcase ambitious solutions.

It’s Climate Week for Asia and the Pacific

Join people across the region to find out what’s happening to keep a livable planet. Check our page on the week for a quick glance at ideas, actions, science and ambitious plans to move forward.

renewable energy

Energy transition is good for jobs

Accelerating energy transitions in line with a livable climate could double energy jobs, up to 122 million by 2050 according to a new report. It also finds a substantial boost to the global economy. Read more.