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UNFCCC input to the 2022 HLPF theme of “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced serious challenges for the international climate change process. Many formal and informal meetings were postponed, including the postponement of the major COP26 conference in Glasgow for a year, from November 2020 to November 2021. Under these conditions, the key priority of the UNFCCC secretariat was to ensure continuity in the negotiation process and implementation of action on climate change under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The following measures have been undertaken, for example:
- Expert meeting and meetings of constituted bodies under the UNFCCC were moved to a virtual format as possible;
- In 2020, the UNFCCC secretariat organized two series of online events (“June Momentum on Climate Change”, “UN Climate Change Dialogues”) conducted under the guidance of the chairs of the Subsidiary Bodies under the UNFCCC or by the incoming COP26 Presidency;
- From 31 May to 17 June 2021, sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies under the UNFCCC took place as a fully virtual conference, which allowed Parties to make progress on the high volume of work accumulated in the absence of formal sessions in 2020.
Finally, in close cooperation with the Government of the United Kingdom as an incoming COP26 Presidency, the COP26 conference of the governing bodies to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement was organized in Glasgow in October-November 2021. The conference was successful, representing a significant milestone in the international response to the global challenge of climate change. At the end of COP26, Parties adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact, aiming to turn the 2020s into a decade of climate action and support, so that the rise in the global average temperature could be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The full package of decisions taken in Glasgow includes strengthened efforts to build resilience to climate change, to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to provide the necessary finance for both. As part of the package of decisions, Parties also completed the Paris Agreement’s rulebook as it relates to cooperative action through market mechanisms and non-market approaches and to the transparent reporting of climate actions and support provided or received. More information on COP26 decisions is available on the UNFCCC website here.
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UNFCCC input regarding progress towards SDG implementation, with a focus on SDGs 4 on quality education, 5 on gender equality, 14 on life below water, 15 on life on land, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals
- Progress, experience, lessons learned, challenges and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of SDGs 4, 5, 14, 15 and 17 from the vantage point of your intergovernmental body, bearing in mind the three dimensions of sustainable development and the interlinkages across the SDGs and targets, including policy implications of their synergies and trade-offs
- Assessment of the situation regarding the principle of “leaving no one behind” against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, within the respective areas addressed by your intergovernmental body;
- Actions and policy recommendations in areas requiring urgent attention in relation to the implementation of the SDGs under review;
- Policy recommendations, commitments and cooperation measures for promoting a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery from the pandemic while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda;
- Key messages for inclusion into the Ministerial Declaration of the 2022 HLPF.
The nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted under the Paris Agreement provide valuable information on how climate action, in both adaptation and mitigation, relates to sustainable development frameworks. For example, the overall linkages and synergies between climate action and the efforts towards the SDGs are presented, and the importance and benefits of integrating implementation of climate action and SDG-related efforts is emphasized. Some Parties specified how adaptation in specific priority areas contributes to achieving individual SDGs. Similarly, alignment between mitigation measures and efforts towards specific SDGs was noted in NDCs. For example, some Parties communicated one or several specific SDGs in relation to which there are synergies with their priority areas for mitigation, with energy supply measures contributing to achieving SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and measures in LULUCF contributing to achieving SDG 15 (life on land) most frequently indicated.
