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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.
Paris Climate Agreement
United Nations 2015
Article: Paris climate agreement: 54 cities on track to meet targets | The Guardian| Dec 11, 2020
What Is The 'Paris Agreement'
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)
(Tap/Click to access)What Got Decided at COP26? Here Are 5 Takeaways From Climate Scientists | Ideas.TED.com | Nov 16, 2021
The Ultimate Guide to Why the COP26 Summit Ended in Failure and Disappointment (despite a few bright spots) | The Conversation | Nov 14, 2021
Watch the 2021 TED Countdown Global Livestream | Take Action on Climate Change | TED | Oct 30, 2021 | YouTube Originals presents the TED Countdown Global Livestream, an empowering event laying out a credible and realistic pathway to a net-zero future. Watch now and take action on climate change.
What is Cop26 and Why Does it Matter? The Complete Guide | Guardian | Oct 11, 2021 | Everything you need to know about the Glasgow conference seeking to forge a global response to the climate emergency
A Quick Explainer for COP26 — Here’s How Climate Negotiations Work and What’s at Stake | Ideas.Ted.com | Oct 28, 2021
COP 26 Coalition Website | Join the Climate Justice Movement at COP26
COP26: 'Not Fear, But Hope' - Attenborough Speech in Full | BBC News | Nov 1, 2021 | Sir David Attenborough has told delegates at COP26 that they are powerful enough to save the planet, if they work together.
Greta Thunberg and Youth Activists Petition UN To Declare a Global Climate Emergency | My Modern Met | Nov 11, 2021
A New Perspective on the Journey to Net Zero Oct 2021 | Climate action can be a vehicle to deliver dignity, opportunity and equality for all. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed invites us to reimagine what the journey to net-zero could look like if we invest in people's climate efforts while prioritizing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals -- a blueprint of interlinked global goals to protect humanity and our warming planet. "It's time to make some serious noise to transform our world," she says.
The Children Will Rise Up! | Oct 8, 2021 | A song sung by children to help raise awareness for climate change!
Capitalism Is Killing the Planet – It’s Time to Stop Buying into Our Own Destruction | Guardian | Oct 30, 2021
Four Charts That Explain Why the Stakes are so High at the U.N. Climate Summit | NPR | Oct 29, 2021
COP26: Obama Tells Young People to Stay Angry on Climate Fight | BBC | Nov 9, 2021 | Barack Obama has called on young people to "stay angry" in the fight against climate change at the COP26 summit.
Climate Change: COP26 Conference Hailed as 'World's best Last Chance.' Here's Why | CNET | Oct. 4, 2021 | November's UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, is being hailed as "the world's best last chance" to get the climate emergency under control. To ensure temperature change remains "well below" the 2 degrees Celsius agreed to by UN signatories in the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries need to act fast and double down on commitments to reach net zero emissions.
All4Climate – Italy 2021 website |The site encompasses the full lineup of climate events taking place in Italy this year. Its goal is simple: to make 2021 a landmark year for climate ambition.
Climate crisis is 'single biggest health threat facing humanity,' WHO says, calling on world leaders to act | CNN | Oct 11, 2021 | The World Health Organization, in a new special report, is calling for governments and policymakers to "act with urgency" on the climate and health crises. The report describes climate change as the "single biggest health threat facing humanity," and outlines 10 recommended climate and health actions along with the research in support of why each action is beneficial.
Sustainable Living: 40 Eco-friendly Tips from the Best Experts in the Business | Marie Claire | Oct 29, 2021
COP 25 Climate Conference in Madrid, Spain
(December 2019)
(Tap/Click to access)COP25 climate talks in Madrid: What was accomplished? | DW News | Dec 15, 2019
Madrid climate talks end in near failure as crucial decisions are bumped into 2020 | The Globe and Mail | December 15, 2019 | By: Eric Reguly, European Bureau Chief
Various speakers at COP 25 including Greta Thunberg | Dec 11, 2019
Critical Juncture in Efforts to Limit Global Warming - UN Chief at UN Climate Change Conference | Dec 2, 2019
Related: China Goes All-In On Coal While Telling The Rest Of The World To Reduce Emissions |Forbes | Dec 16, 2019
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?)
Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis - Summary for Policymakers
The novel AR6 Working Group I Interactive Atlas allows for a flexible spatial and temporal analysis of both data-driven climate change information and assessment findings in the report. It includes two components:
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).
Other Articles
Final warning: what does the IPCC’s third report instalment say? | C|NET | April 4, 2022 |Explainer: Key points from the final section of the IPCC’s latest review of climate science.
IPCC report: Earth already feeling irreversible impacts of climate change | C|NET | August 10, 2022 | Landmark report by UN climate panel is a 'reality check' and grim warning but there's still time to take action to combat the climate crisis.
IPCC report: Half the world is facing water scarcity, floods and dirty water — large investments are needed for effective solutions | UBC| February 28, 2022| Climate change exacerbates global water insecurity because it contributes to more frequent and severe droughts, floods and extreme rainfall, accelerated glacier melt, rapid declines in groundwater and the deterioration of water quality.
A Sicker, Poorer, and Less Abundant World | The Atlantic| March 1, 2022| Here are three big takeaways from the new UN-led report, which warns that global warming “is a threat to human well-being and planetary health.”
We Are Changing Climate Faster Than We Can Adapt, New IPCC Report Warns | Smithsonian Magazine| March 2, 2022| Despite the ‘irreversible’ impacts of a warming planet, scientists emphasize there is still time to act.
Here’s What The New Climate Report Says About The Future Of My 1-Year-Old Daughter | Buzz Feed News | March 5, 2022 | Not halting global warming, said one expert, “would be the final, truly unfair thing to do to a generation of kids coming up right now.”
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
Major climate changes inevitable and irreversible – IPCC’s starkest warning yet | The Guardian | 9 Aug 2021|
IPCC climate report: Profound changes are underway in Earth’s oceans and ice | The Conversation | | 9 Aug 2021|
IPCC report: global emissions must peak by 2025 to keep warming at 1.5°C – we need deeds not words | The Conversation | | 9 Aug 2021|
IPCC says Earth will reach temperature rise of about 1.5℃ in around a decade. But limiting any global warming is what matters most | The Conversation | | 9 Aug 2021|
This is the most sobering report card yet on climate change and Earth’s future. Here’s what you need to know | The Conversation | | 9 Aug 2021|
DAVOS 2020: World Economic Forum
(January 2020)
(Tap/Click to access)5 things we learned about climate change at Davos 2020 | weforum.org | Jan 24, 2020
Read Yuval Harari's blistering warning to Davos in full | weforum.org | Jan 24, 2020
A climate scientist explains what the melting Arctic means for the world | weforum.org | Jan 23, 2020
One trillion trees - World Economic Forum launches plan to help nature and the climate | weforum.org | Jan 22, 2020
3 charts that show how attitudes to climate science vary around the world | weforum.org | Jan 22, 2020
This is what Greta Thunberg just told Davos |weforum.org | Jan 21, 2020
Davos: Trump decries climate 'prophets of doom' with Thunberg in audience | BBC.com | Jan 21, 2020
'In my region people are dying because of climate change': One woman's urgent message to Davos | weforum.org | Jan 21, 2020
Learning About SDG 13
SDG 13 Explained
+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
SDG 13 Soundtrack
SDG 13 Info
Angry Birds
More Climate Action Videos
(Tap/Click to access)10 years to transform the future of humanity — or destabilize the planet | October 2020 | Run Time: 7:38
Climate change: Earth's giant game of Tetris | Apr 22, 2014 | RuneTime: 2:48
Cities are driving climate change. Here's how they can fix it | October 2020 | Run Time: 6:19 |
The city planting a million trees in two years | October 2020 | Run Time: 4:46
Is the weather actually becoming more extreme? | Aug 25, 2020 | Run Time: 5:21
Why the Arctic is climate change's canary in the coal mine | Jan 22, 2015 | Run Time: 3:58
Underwater farms vs. climate change | Jun 13, 2019 | Run Time: 4:31
Can wildlife adapt to climate change? | Mar 3, 2016 | Run Time: 4:46
Climate justice can't happen without racial justice | October 2020 | Run Time: 9:24
How to be a good ancestor | October 2020 | Run Time: 7:04
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.
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
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.