The multi-stakeholder conference, announced during COP 24, will aim to deliver a set of concrete recommendations for strengthening the interlinkages between the SDGs and climate action.
The conference will convene in Copenhagen, Denmark, in March 2019, and will serve as the expert group meeting in preparation for the in-depth review of SDG 13 at the HLPF in July 2019.
DESA is also promoting synergies between the SDGs and climate action through its COP 24 SDG Pavilion, underway in Katowice, Poland.
5 December 2018: The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the UNFCCC have announced the first global conference on synergies between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change. The conference – convening in Copenhagen, Denmark, in March 2019 – will be one of several events on climate and sustainable development taking place in 2019.
DESA announced the 2019 multi-stakeholder conference at the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC, which is underway in Katowice, Poland, from 2-14 December 2018. The conference will aim to deliver a set of concrete recommendations for strengthening the interlinkages between the SDGs and climate action, and focus on promoting action around both agendas.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa reflected that “climate change and the SDGs are really one integral agenda.” By working together, she said, DESA and the UNFCCC “are setting an example of the way the different entities can join forces.”
Climate change and the SDGs are really one integral agenda.
Liu Zhenmin, head of DESA, underscored the importance of promoting “synergies between the SDGs and climate change to advance win-win solutions.” As an illustration, he said sustainable food production under SDG 2 (zero hunger) and changing patterns of consumption and production under SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) can help to lower emissions in support of SDG 13 (climate action) while also creating new jobs in line with SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and alleviating poverty under SDG 1 (no poverty). He stressed the recognition of such synergies as critical in achieving enhanced outcomes for both the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
In another effort to promote synergies between the SDGs and climate action, DESA is co-hosting an SDG Pavilion at COP 24, along with the Chinese NGO Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO). The SDG Pavilion’s 11-day programme highlights all 17 SDGs and is bringing together stakeholders to discuss how to advance both the SDGs and climate action in ways that leave no one behind and maximize benefits for everyone.
The synergies conference will convene in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 4-6 March 2019. It will serve as the expert group meeting (EGM) on SDG 13 (climate action) ahead of that Goal’s in-depth review at the July 2019 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
On 28 March, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) will convene a high-level meeting on ‘Climate Protection for All,’ following a mandate agreed in 2017. The UNGA meeting is intended to “provide a bridge” between the Katowice Climate Change Conference in December 2018, the HLPF in-depth review of SDG 13 in July 2019, and the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, which will take place on 23 September 2019. [DESA News Story] [DESA SDG Pavilion] [Video Announcing Conference] [IISD RS Coverage of Katowice Climate Change Conference]