Climate change affects everyone
Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow.
People are experiencing the significant impacts of climate change, which include changing weather patterns, rising sea level, and more extreme weather events. The greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are driving climate change and continue to rise. They are now at their highest levels in history. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century and is likely to surpass 3 degrees Celsius this century—with some areas of the world expected to warm even more. The poorest and most vulnerable people are being affected the most.
Affordable, scalable solutions are now available to enable countries to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies. The pace of change is quickening as more people are turning to renewable energy and a range of other measures that will reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts.
But climate change is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. Emissions anywhere affect people everywhere. It is an issue that requires solutions that need to be coordinated at the international level and it requires international cooperation to help developing countries move toward a low-carbon economy.
To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015. The Agreement entered into force less than a year later. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and given the grave risks, to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Implementation of the Paris Agreement is essential for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and provides a roadmap for climate actions that will reduce emissions and build climate resilience.
The Paris Agreement on climate change
The UN continues to encourage all stakeholders to take action toward reducing the impacts of climate change.
What you can do
The first thing is: Demand that world leaders join the Paris Agreement! This is crucial to set the world on a path to lower its carbon emissions. You can write a letter to your representative or simply make your voice heard on social media.
Taking climate action is up to everybody. To make it easier, we have put together a list of things you can do. You can also visit the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to learn more about the Paris Agreement, and spread what you’ve learned and what you’re doing on your social networks with the hashtag #ParisAgreement.
Need some inspiration? Check out our Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World and our Year of Living Sustainably initiative.
Launch of Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change – 27 July
Building on the climate action momentum, the Secretary-General will launch his Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change on 27 July to amplify youth voices and to engage young people in an open and transparent dialogue as the UN gears up to raise ambition and accelerate action to address the climate crisis.
UN Chief Calls on Small Islands to Continue Pushing for Climate Action “Now is not the time for retreat”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres today addressed a forum of leaders from Small Island Developing State saying that even as the world remains focused on confronting the COVID-19 pandemic – the biggest test the world has faced since the Second World War, we must not lose focus on climate change.
ActNow Climate Campaign – Chef Grace Ramirez
Chef Grace Ramirez talks about sustainability and green hacks in support of the UN's ActNow climate campaign.
Angry Birds 2 PSA in support of the ActNow Climate Campaign
The Department of Global Communications is partnering with Sony Pictures Entertainment and the UN Foundation for a second time on an initiative to promote the Sustainable Development Goal 13 – take urgent action against climate change and its impacts.
Swiping for Trees – Mobile app tackles air pollution
A mobile payment app in China planted enough trees to cover an area equivalent to 130,000 soccer pitches. This video shows how they did that.
Clean Capital – Beijing’s bold moves to #BeatAirPollution
In only 5 years annual fine particle levels in Beijing's air fell by 35%. What were the key steps for this success?
Paris Agreement – Frequently Asked Questions
As of 28 September 2017, 166 countries have joined the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement is an ambitious, dynamic and universal agreement. It covers all countries and all emissions, and is designed to last. This is a monumental agreement. It solidifies international cooperation for climate change. It provides a way forward.
The Paris Agreement sends a powerful signal to markets that now is the time to invest in the low emission economy. It contains a transparency framework to build mutual trust and confidence.
It will serve as an important tool in mobilizing finance technological support and capacity building for developing countries. And it will also help to scale up global efforts to address and minimize loss and damage from climate change.
Paris is a beginning—we now have to implement the Agreement. But we have taken a giant step forward.
The agreement is ambitious and it provides all the tools we need to address climate change, for reducing emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The proof will be in the implementation, by governments, businesses and civil society.
Countries officially submitted their own nationally determined climate actions. They have an obligation to implement these plans, and if they do, it will bend the curve downward in the projected global temperature rise.
The agreement not only formalizes the process of developing national plans, but also it provides a binding requirement to assess and review progress on these plans. This mechanism will require countries to continuously upgrade their commitments and ensure that there will be no backtracking.
This agreement is a clarion call from governments that they are ready for implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
There is no benefit to flouting the Agreement. Any short-term time gain will be short-lived. It will undoubtedly be overshadowed by negative reactions, by other countries, financial markets, and most important, by their citizens.
We have an agreement and we have a chance now to reach our goal. We couldn’t say that without an agreement. The Paris Agreement will put us on a pathway to achieve the 2 degree goal or less. We did not expect to leave Paris with commitments to reach that goal, but rather, with a process that will get us there. And that is what the Agreement provides.
The Paris Conference featured thousands of climate action announcements that demonstrated how civil society and the private sector are moving forward to address climate change.
We can limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees if we take action now. We need all countries and all sectors of society to act now—it is in the interests of everyone.
It is doable. Taking climate action now makes good economic sense. The more we delay, the more we pay. We can promote economic growth, eradicate extreme poverty, and improve people’s health and well-being by acting today.
Paris Agreement – History
COP22 UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco
The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC took place in Marrakesh, Morocco. During COP 22, parties began preparations for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, and encouraged actions to implement the Agreement as soon as possible.
21 September 2016 High-Level Event Towards Entry into Force
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a special “High-Level Event on Entry into Force of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change” on 21 September at the UN Headquarters in New York for the deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The high-level event provided an opportunity to other countries to publicly commit to joining the Paris Agreement before the end of 2016.
The Paris Agreement will enter into force 30 days after the date on which at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 per cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Secretary-General.
Recap of the High-Level Event Towards Entry into Force
List of countries that ratified the Paris Agreement on 21 September 2016
22 April 2016 Paris Agreement Signing Ceremony
List of countries that signed the Pars Agreement on 22 April
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