Climate 2020

'The defining threat of our time'

The period from now until 2020 is critical to the success of the Paris Agreement on climate change. UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls it “the defining threat of our time”, and we should see no end to the urgency and action needed to address it. While carbon emissions continue to rise globally, and each year seemingly sets a new record for global temperatures, a significant gap remains in achieving success on this critical, existential issue.

For UNDP, UN partners and the wider international community, the mission is clear: to push for countries, communities and the private sector to scale up ambition. By 2020, we want to see stronger action on climate targets – the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – of the Paris Agreement.

Key to this are a series of events addressing the roadblocks and challenges to bolder climate action, while offering clarity and incentives to scale up ambition. This is the road to 2020, and it requires support from all people, in all countries. We must be All in for climate action. 

 

 

Road to 2020


Taking place from 12 to 14 September 2018 in San Francisco, the Global Climate Action Summit is focused on sub-national and urban climate action, showcasing measures being taken by municipalities and private sector actors in the hope of galvanizing governments to elevate their climate commitments (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.

 

Summit website >>


The 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) is an opportunity for countries and governments to maximize progress on the global dialogue and to unite around a strong set of implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement – in order to facilitate, standardize and accelerate progress.

 

COP24 website >>

 

UNDP events at COP24 >>

 


The UN Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Summit will be one of the biggest gatherings of world leaders around the climate challenge since COP21 in Paris in 2015.  It will present the biggest political opportunity to raise global ambition by 2020 by tackling critical transformative areas that can help the world stay within the temperature limits of the Paris Agreement.

 

UN website>>


COP25 will be the deadline for countries to update their first NDC, providing an opportunity to raise ambition ahead of implementation in 2020.  This stands as a critical moment for countries to commit to bending the curve on emissions and enhancing resilience at the scale needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

 

UNFCCC website >>

 

 

Leading on climate action

UNDP is already a major supporter of climate action in more than 140 countries. We are currently engaged in over 700 climate change mitigation and adaptation projects globally, with a total portfolio of over US$3 billion in grant finance, directly contributing to meeting countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets. We are providing targeted and direct support to 31 countries on developing and implementing their NDCs, and integration of NDCs into national development planning and budgeting, which will be scaled up in the coming year.

This extensive experience, and UNDP’s global network of development experts, makes us well placed to convene the range of relevant actors and stakeholders, from public and private sectors, in order to galvanize stakeholders to work together and meet the Paris goals. 

The multi-faceted nature of climate change, and the myriad impacts it has, means many of UNDP’s work streams are supporting climate action, whether it is safeguarding our forests and other natural landscapes that act as carbon sinks, or helping vulnerable communities build resilient livelihoods, we are paving the way towards a carbon-neutral future.