The Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy has issued four thematic reports on how action to tackle climate change and advance the SDGs can be accelerated by addressing both crises together in the areas of policy frameworks, financial systems, cities, and knowledge and data. The reports are published under the umbrella title of ‘Seeking Synergy Solutions.’
Building on the 2023 Global Report on Climate and SDG Synergy, the four thematic reports will feed into the 2024 Global Report on Climate and SDG Synergy, which will be launched during the 2024 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July. Together, these reports will support discussions during the Fifth Global Climate and SDG Synergy Conference, scheduled from 5-6 September 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
According to the report on ‘Policies that Support Both Climate and SDG Action,’ the 2023 stocktaking of progress on climate action and the SDGs revealed that the world is far off track from achieving its goals. As countries prepare to submit their enhanced nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2025, the report urges them to better integrate the SDGs and their national priorities for accelerated impact.
The report reveals that while synergies could be leveraged between climate action and 80% of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, only about 10% of the current NDCs explicitly reference the SDGs. The report offers recommendations for governments to break down silos and improve coordination across institutions.
Acknowledging the shortfall in excess of USD 4 trillion in annual financial flows by 2030 to keep global warming to 1.5°C, the report on ‘A New Financial System to Enable Both Climate and SDG Action,’ highlights research showing that aligning climate and SDG actions could deliver USD 43 trillion in economic output by 2070.
The report calls on countries to develop integrated national investment plans that maximize synergies by aligning finance with domestic priorities. An increase in financial flows, a rethinking of the criteria for development assistance to support synergistic action, and assistance for countries in debt distress to create reinsurance schemes are also among the report’s recommendations.
The report on ‘How Cities Can Act on Both Climate and the SDGs’ identifies the promotion of solutions that reduce consumer demand for carbon-intensive goods and services as a key entry point for synergistic action in cities. It recommends that city governments adopt reforms in four sectors with significant potential for synergies – cooling, building energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and waste management.
Ways to overcome the fragmentation of siloed institutional structures, climate finance, and sectoral training are among the recommendations contained in the report on ‘Integrating Climate and SDG Knowledge and Data for Action.’ The report calls for making knowledge and data more accessible to policymakers to enable synergistic decision making and action. It also recommends establishing a global platform for knowledge and data to promote synergies between climate and sustainable development actions by including data on vulnerability, assessing investment risks and returns, and promoting ambitious NDCs and policies based on synergies, among other actions.
The four reports were launched during the Bonn Climate Change Conference on 11 June. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the UNFCCC co-hosted the launch event in their capacity as co-conveners of the Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy. [Publication: Policies that Support Both Climate and SDG Action] [Publication: A New Financial System to Enable Both Climate and SDG Action] [Publication: How Cities Can Act on Both Climate and the SDGs] [Publication: Integrating Climate and SDG Knowledge and Data for Action] [Seeking Synergy Solutions Landing Page]