28 September 2015: The UN Sustainable Development Summit, which met from 25-27 September 2015, in New York, US, adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. The event brought together 136 Heads of State and Government, ministers, business leaders, and members of civil society, with many leaders highlighting the importance of reaching a strong, global climate agreement at the upcoming 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Many leaders, ministers and heads of organizations, including those from Kiribati, Austria, Gabon and Montenegro, called for a legally binding agreement in Paris, with some stressing the importance of a strong Paris agreement in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. Some underscored the linkages among the SDGs, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and the Paris climate change agreement. Others said that efforts to address climate change should be central to the 2030 Agenda, given its crosscutting nature.

Some specific commitments were also announced in terms of emission reductions and financing, including: Panama committed to restore 50% of its deforested areas over the next 20 years; Palau aimed for 20% of its energy use to be from renewable sources by 2020, and to be carbon-neutral by 2050; Montenegro pledged to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels; the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reiterated its commitment to double its climate financing by 2020, from US$3 billion to US$6 billion; Australia increased its contribution to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to US$200 million; and Germany announced the doubling of its climate finance by 2020.

Speakers also called for, inter alia: a special mechanism to fast track urgent action for those on the front lines of climate change (Kirabati); climate justice, and respecting the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) in the Paris agreement (India); including climate change as a permanent agenda item under the Security Council (Tuvalu); access to financial resources and appropriate technology (many developing countries); including loss and damage as a stand-alone element of the Paris agreement (Papua New Guinea); considering climate finance as additional to ODA (South Africa); increased access to sustainable energy (Tonga); a UN center for protecting forests for sustainable development and combating climate change (the Russian Federation); and not only limiting carbon emissions but also pursuing a reforestation policy (Poland).

During an interactive dialogue on ‘Protecting our planet and combating climate change,’ many speakers outlined initiatives undertaken at the national level to mitigate or adapt to climate change, such as: the use of solar energy and methods for energy conservation in Tajikistan; a Green Act to decarbonize the economy in Italy; and introducing climate agriculture in Grenada.

Speakers also called for: a “clear and robust” accountability mechanism (Italy); strong, universal and binding rules to ensure transparency (Germany); mechanisms to adjust intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) (Germany); operational mechanisms to follow-up and evaluate progress in implementing the climate agreement (Senegal); ensuring loss and damage compensation (Seychelles); scaled up, adequate terms for climate change finance (Senegal); financial mechanisms that include public-private partnerships (Novozymes); an international conference on the climate change impacts on coastal countries (Least Developed Countries (LDCs)); an evaluation of the security challenges presented by climate change (Tonga); enhancing infrastructure and technological capacity to ensure more countries have the necessary information to take informed decisions on mitigation and adaptation (WMO); governments to internalize climate risk in all sectors (Climate Action Network International); capacity building and/or financial and technical resources for addressing climate change and the SDGs (Barbados, Saint Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda); and coherence among the climate change agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), the SDGs and international human rights (Indigenous Peoples Major Group). [IISD RS Coverage of the UN Sustainable Development Summit]