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"This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one. Clean air and water, and a liveable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is our moral obligation."

Leonardo DiCaprio

Climate change is a change in average weather patterns observed in a given region over a certain period of time. These patterns include all the elements that we usually associate with the weather, such as temperature, wind and precipitation. Climate change on a world scale, refers to modifications the totality of the planet's climate suffers. In the long term, the speed and scope of climate-related changes can have numerous consequences on the ecosystems and on human activities.

Climate change is a real and undeniable threat to our entire civilization. The effects are already visible and will be catastrophic unless we act now. Through education, innovation and adherence to our climate commitments, we can make the necessary changes to protect the planet. These changes also provide huge opportunities to modernize our infrastructure which will create new jobs and promote greater prosperity across the globe.

What Is The 'Paris Agreement'

Runtime: 1:39 - Sep 24, 2020
This video explains the basics of the #ParisAgreement: the international UN treaty of 2015 that aims to tackle Climate Change head on. It's central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with ambition to limit the increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

COP 26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, UK

(October 30-November 12, 2021)

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COP 25 Climate Conference in Madrid, Spain

(December 2019)

(Tap/Click to access)

6th Intergovernmental Panel Report on Climate Change (IPCC): The Physical Science Basis

(February 2022)

(Tap/Click to access)

What the IPCC Report on Climate Change: The Physical Science Basis Means for the World's Climate Ambition

What Does This Report Tell Us?

This report shows that climate change impacts are rapidly getting more severe worldwide. Extreme weather-related events like heat waves, droughts, flooding and wildfires are already harming people, ecosystems, community safety, food security, infrastructure and the economy and it’s worsening.

Communities around the world are ill-prepared for the level of climate disruption that is already upon us. Adaptation plans are inadequately funded which is leaving our most vulnerable communities at risk.

Vulnerability to the impacts of climate change varies widely around the world and in different segments of society. Those suffering the worst impacts have contributed least to the crisis.

The Report

The thirteen chapters of the Working Group I report provide an assessment of the current evidence on the physical science of climate change, knowledge evaluation gained from observations, reanalyses, paleoclimate archives and climate model simulations, as well as physical, chemical and biological climate processes. (1300 pages?)

  • The Regional Information component provides access to climate change information (variables and derived indices) from the main datasets used in the report.

  • The Regional Synthesis component allows the exploration of key synthesized assessments building on multiple lines of evidence across the Working Group I reference regions. This component supports the SPM and is being updated to align with the final approval version (to be presented in late September).

  • Link to the Interactive Atlas

Other Articles

6th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report

(August 2021)

(Tap/Click to access)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, eight years in the making, released 9 August 2021, has found that human activity is “unequivocally” the cause of rapid changes to the climate, including sea level rises, melting polar ice and glaciers, heatwaves, floods and droughts. Learn about the the current climate situation and projections for the future.

Some Articles That Explain the IPCC

DAVOS 2020: World Economic Forum

(January 2020)

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Learning About SDG 13

Run Time: 1:23 - Aug 9, 2019

SDG 13 Explained

Run Time: 2:48 - Sep 16, 2015

Facts and Figures

Source (United Nations Development Programme)

+1°C

As of 2017 humans are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.

+20cm

Sea levels have risen by about 20 cm (8 inches) since 1880 and are projected to rise another 30–122 cm (1 to 4 feet) by 2100.

2050

To limit warming to 1.5C, global net CO2 emissions must drop by 45% between 2010 and 2030, and reach net zero around 2050.

1/3

Climate pledges under The Paris Agreement cover only one third of the emissions reductions needed to keep the world below 2°C.

$26 trillion

Bold climate action could trigger at least US$26 trillion in economic benefits by 2030.

18 million

The energy sector alone will create around 18 million more jobs by 2030, focused specifically on sustainable energy.

SDG 13 Info

Run Time: 2:02 - Aug 25, 2017

SDG 13 Soundtrack

Run Time: 3:10 - Dec 3, 2018

SDG 13 Info

Run Time: 1:18 - Nov 1, 2017

Angry Birds

Run Time: 7:11 - Jul 16, 2018

More Climate Action Videos

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Website: UN Sustainable Development Goals

This website provides facts, targets, printouts, links and related stories and videos about SDG 13 - Climate Action.

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. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, weather events are becoming more extreme and greenhouse gas emissions are now at their highest levels in history. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is likely to surpass 3 degrees centigrade this century. 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. Climate change, however, is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. It is an issue that requires solutions that need to be coordinated at the international level to help developing countries move toward a low-carbon economy.

Go to website to learn more

Website: SDG Goal Tracker

SDG 13 Targets

This website provides facts, targets, and related stories about programmes contributing to SDG 13 - Climate Action.

13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning

13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

13.A Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible

13.B Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities

Go to website to learn more

Website: UN Development Programme

This website provides facts, and related stories about SDG 13 - Climate Action.

There is no country that is not experiencing the drastic effects of climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions are more than 50 percent higher than in 1990. Global warming is causing long-lasting changes to our climate system, which threatens irreversible consequences if we do not act.

The annual average economic losses from climate-related disasters are in the hundreds of billions of dollars. This is not to mention the human impact of geo-physical disasters, which are 91 percent climate-related, and which between 1998 and 2017 killed 1.3 million people, and left 4.4 billion injured. The goal aims to mobilize US$100 billion annually by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries to both adapt to climate change and invest in low-carbon development.

Supporting vulnerable regions will directly contribute not only to Goal 13 but also to the other SDGs. These actions must also go hand in hand with efforts to integrate disaster risk measures, sustainable natural resource management, and human security into national development strategies. It is still possible, with strong political will, increased investment, and using existing technology, to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, aiming at 1.5°C, but this requires urgent and ambitious collective action.

Go to website to learn more

Climate Action Tracker

The Climate Action Tracker is an independent scientific analysis that tracks government climate action and measures it against the globally agreed Paris Agreement aim of "holding warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius."