22 November 2013: Several side events held in conjunction with the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) made linkages between climate change and the UN’s post-2015 development agenda.

At a high-level event organized by the UN on 19 November, Marcin Korolec, COP President, highlighted the UN system as a catalyst in mobilizing sustainable development, outlining linkages between the post-2015 development agenda process and negotiations under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), such as work to done at the Conference towards an ambitious global agreement on climate that does not undercut sustainable development. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the upcoming meeting of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) on accelerating progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and addressing climate change through 2015.

At an event on gender and climate change presented by the UNFCCC Secretariat, also on 19 November, Tarja Halonen, Former President of Finland, expressed her hope for a world without wars and violence between nations, in nations, or in families. She called for willingness to build a bridge between the present and future, for example through the post-2015 development agenda.

At an event titled ‘Local Government Climate Roadmap 2013-2015,’ presented by ICLEI on 21 November, Ronan Dantec, Councilor, Nantes, France, pointed to city networks and horizontal learning among cities across national borders, stressing the link between sustainable development and climate change, specifically the influence of the post-2015 development agenda process on COP 21, which will take place in Paris, France in 2015.

A full-day event on transport organized by the Bridging the Gap initiative (BtG) and the Joint Convener Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) on 17 November resulted in the adoption of the Warsaw Statement on Low Carbon Transport and Sustainable Development. The Statement called to, inter alia: strengthen developed countries’ pre-2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation commitments for the land transport sector; improve vehicle efficiency; reduce emissions from international aviation and shipping; and develop post-2015 development goals supporting sustainable low carbon transport strategies. [IISD RS Coverage of UN System Event] [IISD RS Coverage of UNFCCC Secretariat Event] [IISD RS Coverage of ICLEI Event] [IISD RS Coverage of Transport Day] [Transport Day Website] [All IISD RS Coverage in Warsaw]