{"id":107468,"date":"2022-11-30T12:14:09","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T17:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?page_id=107468"},"modified":"2022-11-30T12:14:10","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T17:14:10","slug":"goal-of-the-month-editorial-november-2022","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/goal-of-the-month-editorial-november-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Goal of the Month Editorial | November 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“We must close the emissions gap before climate catastrophe closes in on us all<\/span><\/span><\/i>\u201d <\/i><\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

United Nations Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/p>\n

This edition focuses on <\/span>Sustainable Development Goal 13<\/span><\/span><\/a> (climate action), as world leaders gather in Egypt for the <\/span>Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Climate Change Conference.<\/a><\/span> Taking place from 6 to 18 November, <\/span>COP27<\/a><\/span> seeks solidarity and action on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency \u2013 from urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to building resilience, and delivering the necessary financing for developing countries. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery government, every business, every investor, every institution must step up with concrete climate actions for net zero,\u201d <\/span>said<\/a><\/span> United Nations Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, ahead of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Framework Convention on Climate Change. \u201cOn every climate front, the only solution is decisive action in solidarity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

COP27 Heads Up<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

3 November: <\/span><\/b>Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵEP will launch the <\/span>2022 edition of the Adaptation Gap Report<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

6 Nov<\/span><\/strong>ember:<\/strong> <\/span><\/span>W<\/span>MO will present its provisional <\/span>State of the Global Climate 2022 Report<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

7-8 Nov<\/span><\/strong>ember:<\/strong> <\/span><\/span>Watch<\/a> <\/span>COP27 <\/span>Leaders<\/span> Summit <\/span>Live<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

7 Nov<\/span><\/strong>ember:<\/strong> <\/span><\/span>WMO will l<\/span>aunch <\/span>an <\/span><\/span>Early Warning Systems Action Plan<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

8 Nov<\/span><\/strong>ember:<\/strong> <\/span><\/span>S<\/span>tay tuned on the recommendations of the <\/span><\/span>High-level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> of businesses, investors, cities and regions that the Secretary-General is expected to receive at COP27<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

14 November<\/b>: Water Day<\/a> at COP27 sets the stage for <\/span>Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ 2023 Water Conference<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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<\/i><\/i><\/span>Why care?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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The temperature has already risen 1.1\u00baC above the pre-industrial level, with glaciers melting and the sea level rising. It affects us all. A report from <\/span>the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/a><\/span> (IPCC) estimates that 3.3 billion to 3.6 billion people live in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change. These hotspots are concentrated in small island developing States, the Arctic, Southern Asia, Central and South America, and much of sub-Saharan Africa. By 2030, an estimated 700 million people will be at risk of displacement by drought alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Achieving <\/span>Goal 13<\/a><\/span> is therefore an imperative to save lives and livelihood, and key to making the <\/span>2030 Agenda<\/a><\/span> for Sustainable Development \u2013 the blueprint for a better future \u2013 a reality. <\/span><\/p>\n

Read: <\/span>COP27: What you need to know about this year\u2019s big Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Climate Conference<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

Watch:<\/span> Flight for Life<\/span><\/i><\/a>,<\/span> an amination film about a family displaced from their farm by the climate crisis<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Move the dial <\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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In the lead-up to COP27, the United Nations has issued a s<\/span>eries<\/span> of major reports, with a mixed bag of bad news and some positive trends. <\/span>The bo<\/span>ttom<\/span> line is that <\/span>humanity is in a race against time to<\/span> preserve a liveable planet<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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A new report<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> from the <\/span><\/span>United Nations Children<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s Fund (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵICEF) indicates that <\/span><\/span>heatwaves are becoming longer, stronger, more widespread and more frequent. By 2050, over 2 billion children \u2013<\/span> virtually every child on earth \u2013<\/span> are<\/span> forecast to face more frequent heatwaves<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Greenhouse gas levels hit new highs <\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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Greenhouse Gas Bulletin<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicates that atmospheric levels of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – all reached record highs in 2021. Atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 149 per cent of the pre-industrial level in 2021, primarily because of emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and cement production. The annual increases of atmospheric methane concentration in 2020 and 2021 are the largest since the systematic record began in 1983.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emissions Gap Report 2022<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from the United Nations Environment Programme (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵEP) finds that policies currently in place point to a 2.8\u00b0C\u00a0temperature rise by the end of the century. Implementation of the current pledges will only reduce this to a 2.4-2.6\u00b0C\u00a0temperature rise by the end of the century.\u00a0 \u201c<\/span>Commitments to net zero are worth zero without the plans, policies and actions to back it up,\u201d stressed t<\/span>he Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary-General. \u201c<\/span>We must close the emissions gap before climate catastrophe closes in on us all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/i><\/i><\/span>National climate plans still insufficient <\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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A <\/span>new Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Climate Change report<\/a><\/span> shows that the combined climate pledges of 193 Parties to the Paris Agreement are projected to increase global greenhouse gas emissions by almost 11 per cent by 2030 (compared to 2010 levels) \u2013 far from the 45 per cent decrease needed to limit temperature rise to 1.5 \u00b0C. \u201cWe are still nowhere near the scale and pace of emission reductions required,\u201d said Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Climate Change.<\/span><\/p>\n

A <\/span>second Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Climate Change report<\/a><\/span> looked at 62 countries\u2019 net-zero emissions transition plans by mid-century, indicating that their emissions could be roughly 68 per cent lower in 2050 than in 2019, if all the long-term strategies are fully implemented on time. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Africa\u2019s COP <\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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Africa, which contributes only about 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, bears the disproportionate brunt of the climate crisis, as many countries in the region lack mitigation and adaptation capacity. Taking place in Egypt, COP27 can be a watershed moment for the continent.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read <\/span>Africa Renewal<\/a><\/span> articles:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n