Three reports were launched on 22 July by experts convened by the UN, showing how greater impact can be achieved by breaking down silos and tackling the climate change and sustainable development crises together. Recognizing that biodiversity loss, land degradation and climate change are deeply interlinked, the expert report entitled How Nature Conservation Can Advance SDG and Climate Action notes that Nature-based solutions —including conservation, restoration, and ecosystem management—can deliver up to 37% of cost-effective CO? mitigation by 2030. It also points out that ecosystem services like water supply, pollination and climate regulation are vital for achieving the SDGs. Financing is a major issue: although over 50% of global GDP depends on nature, harmful subsidies ($7 trillion/year) and externalities ($10–$25 trillion/year) far exceed conservation funding. Integrated policies are urgently needed to align biodiversity and climate goals with financing: there is an annual shortfall of $700 billion for biodiversity and up to $359 billion for climate adaptation.

Three reports were launched on 22 July by experts convened by the UN, showing how greater impact can be achieved by breaking down silos and tackling the climate change and sustainable development crises together. With the majority of the global population residing in cities, which also account for the majority of GHG emissions, there is great potential to improve public health through climate action with high-impact co-benefits, according to the expert report on Linking Climate and Health Action in Cities. Reducing air pollution by replacing fossil fuels with clean energy could prevent up to 1.2 million premature deaths annually by 2040, with up to 4.7 million additional lives saved if measures against black carbon and methane are adopted. A shift to plant-based diets could prevent 10–11 million premature deaths yearly. Infrastructure promoting walking and cycling can cut emissions, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce mortality, and increasing urban tree cover to 30% could prevent over 2,600 heat-related deaths each summer in Europe alone. Financial and technical support at the national and international levels is vital to enables cities—especially in the Global South—to implement such synergistic strategies.

Three reports were launched on 22 July by experts convened by the UN, showing how greater impact can be achieved by breaking down silos and tackling the climate change and sustainable development crises together. Looking at how synergies can provide solutions, the expert report on Closing the Climate and Disaster Protection Gap notes that, even as climate-related disasters intensify and undermine development, currently 62% of global economic losses from natural catastrophes are uninsured. Even a 1% increase in insurance coverage would move countries 5.8% closer to achieving the SDGs, the report concludes, recommending that disaster risk financing be integrated into national development plans and noting that a sustained, coordinated effort by a broad range of stakeholders is needed to close the climate and disaster insurance gap.

In May 2023, UNDESA and UNFCCC Secretariat co-convened the Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy. The Group consists of 14 renowned experts from diverse thematic and geographic backgrounds who were given the task of developing the First Global Report on Climate and SDG Synergies. This report demonstrates that aggressively acting on climate and development in an integrated and synergistic way is an important opportunity to achieve the course correction the UN Secretary- General has called for. The report is designed to provide a broad overview of available data and evidence, insights from experts on the frontlines, and recommendations for enhancing synergistic action across the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. This first edition will form the basis for future iterations, which will entail a wider scope of sectors, and thematic areas and deep dives on specific issues pertaining to strengthening and operationalizing synergic climate and SDG actions at all levels.

The world faces a deepening planetary emergency – and is on a reckless path toward catastrophic climate change – having already over-stepped six of nine scientifically-identified planetary boundaries. A system-wide approach to solving the climate crisis is now required to ensure reliable climate and planetary boundary governance for the Earth as a whole. In its report Governing Our Planetary Emergency, the Climate Governance Commission has recommended bold and concrete steps to catalyze a shift in global governance for the benefit of all, with proposed pathways to address the planetary emergency. The Climate Governance Commission is formed by its Commissioners and Contributing Experts, a group of diverse and high-level experts, who advise on and contribute to proposals regarding global climate governance, planet boundary governance and related global ecological challenges. CGC aims to address this crucial gap by developing, proposing, and building partnerships that promote feasible, high-impact global governance solutions for urgent and effective climate action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C or less.

In May 2022, at the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development, SIPRI’s Environment of Peace initiative launched a major report for policymakers: Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk. The Environment of Peace initiative was established in May 2020 to assemble the latest research on how climate change and environmental degradation impact international peace and security. The research team consisted of over 30 people from around the world and was guided by an international expert panel and a panel of youth experts. The research carried out by the initiative shows that the environmental crisis is increasing risks to security and peace worldwide, notably in countries that are already fragile. The Environment of Peace reports survey the evolving risk landscape and document a number of developments that indicate entry points for integrated responses to the crises—in international law and policy, in peacekeeping operations and among non-governmental organizations.

September 2, 2020 - UN-Habitat published the COVID-19 Wuhan Guidance Papers (hereinafter referred to as the Wuhan Guidance Papers). The Wuhan Guidance Papers provide strategies for community management, selection and construction of makeshift care centre, using QR apps and big data in tracking and mapping, and establish a normalized prevention and control mechanism for the pandemic, etc.. The presented Guidance Papers summarize specific measures for infection prevention and control of the disease from Wuhan experience. The Wuhan Guidance Papers provide evidence-based strategies that could be replicated in other countries. The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) participated in the completion of the Wuhan Guidance Papers. We encourage you to make use of this papers, learn from the experiences so that together we can fight and control the health and economic crisis and, in the end, improve our urban environment, our health and well-being through the realization New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, so that we can build back better and leave no one and no place behind.