SDG 13. Climate action

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Presentation - State of affairs

Agenda 2030 makes climate a focus of development. The world’s surface temperature has already risen 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, and must not surpass 2°C and if possible 1.5°C to comply with the Paris Agreement, which entered into force less than a year after it was adopted at the COP21. Negative consequences, particularly for development, are well known: islands, coastlines and coastal cities are in danger of disappearing, while agricultural production is already experiencing considerable losses that are a threat to food security.

Decades of past and future efforts could all be undone, and the costs of addressing the consequences would become unsustainable. The Paris Agreement and SDG 13 set the course for developing resilient and low-emission development models.