This edition focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 13 (climate change), as world leaders gather in Egypt for the UN Climate Change Conference. Taking place from 6 to 18 November, COP27 seeks solidarity and action on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency – from urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to building resilience, and delivering the necessary financing for developing countries.
“Every government, every business, every investor, every institution must step up with concrete climate actions for net zero,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, ahead of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “On every climate front, the only solution is decisive action in solidarity.”
Why care?
The temperature has already risen 1.1ºC above the pre-industrial level, with glaciers melting and the sea level rising. It affects us all. A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that 3.3 billion to 3.6 billion people live in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change. These hotspots are concentrated in small island developing States, the Arctic, Southern Asia, Central and South America, and much of sub-Saharan Africa. By 2030, an estimated 700 million people will be at risk of displacement by drought alone.
Achieving Goal 13 is therefore imperative to save lives and livelihoods, and is key to making the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the blueprint for a better future – a reality.