#13 – Climate Action

Climate change is a growing threat to our entire civilization. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives and livelihoods, especially for the most vulnerable.

The world witnessed the warmest decade (2010-2019) with an average +1.2 °C increase in decadal temperature anomalies (Source: NASA GISS) and the second warmest year on record, 2019. Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and other greenhouse gases also rose to new records in 2020. With the existing climate model, global temperatures are expected to rise as much as 3.2 °C by the end of the century.

In December 2015, 196 nations adopted the Paris Agreement, in which all countries committed to take action to address climate change. The main target was to keep the global average temperature rise to +1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst-case climate scenario.

Many businesses and investors have also aligned their values and capital to lower their emissions, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes economic and business sense as well. According to the Climate Policy Initiative, climate finance flows have been steadily increasing, from $360 billion in 2012 to an estimated $608-622 billion in 2019. However, flows remain far below the levels of investment needed — estimated at $1.6-3.8 trillion — to limit global warming within the Paris Agreement agreed level.

Intending to fend off one of the world's biggest threats, SDG 13: Climate Action invites all stakeholders to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.