Climate change is the defining issue of our time, and while the world needs to move fast, the solutions must be fair. The world’s most vulnerable people are suffering the worst effects of climate change, such as more intense storms, dangerous heat waves, more frequent and longer-lasting droughts, rising seas, while contributing least to the problem.
The interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include the standalone SDG 13 on Climate Action, provide the best framework for tackling the climate emergency in ways that help everyone, in particular, women, children, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities and those living in small island developing states.
Facing the increasing urgency to limit global temperature rise to 1.5° Celsius, global experts and leaders on climate change and sustainable development will come together at UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 1-3 April 2019 to consider how to accelerate climate action in a fair way that benefits all people.
Participants at the Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (informally the Climate and SDGs Synergy Conference), will strengthen the link between the climate agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, identifying key areas to mobilize action, resources and investment to better serve the implementation of both frameworks.
The meeting is being organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate.
The Climate and SDGs Synergy Conference is a critical part of the UN’s comprehensive review of climate action in 2019. The conference will serve also as a preparatory Expert Group Meeting for SDG 13, which is one of the goals to be examined in-depth at this year’s High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), happening at UN Headquarters in New York in July.
This thematic review in Copenhagen of SDG 13 implementation will provide valuable context for the HLPF’s deliberations. The HLPF outcome itself will inform the debate at two other major UN events, the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit and the SDG Summit, to be held on consecutive days during the General Assembly high-level week in September.
Follow live and join the conversation on social media
The entire three-day conference, including a press conference, will be livestreamed online here: https://streaming.uncity.dk/uncity
You can join the discussion on social media using the hashtags #GlobalGoals and #ClimateAction. Follow these accounts to stay updated about what is happening at the conference:
On Twitter, follow: @SustDev, @UNDESA, @UNFCCC, @UNCityCPH, @UNEPDTU
On Facebook, follow:
- https://www.facebook.com/SustDev/
- https://www.facebook.com/joinundesa/
- https://www.facebook.com/UNclimatechange/
- https://www.facebook.com/UNCityCPH/
A press conference will be held on Tuesday, 2 April, at 10:15-10:45 a.m. Central European Time (GMT+1). The speakers will be: Mr. Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Mr. Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; Mr. Kristian Jensen, Minister of Finance, Denmark; Mr. Luis Alfonso de Alba, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Action Summit; and Ms. Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Further information:
- The Conference programme and further details can be found here.
- See background information about the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Learn more about the Paris Agreement.
- See more information about the 23 September 2019 Climate Action Summit.
Media contacts:
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Ms. Ariel Alexovich, T: +1 212 963-5897| E: alexovich@un.org
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: Ms. Mariana Castano Cano, T: +49 162 209 38 77 | E: mcastanocano@unfccc.int
