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How to make the post-2015 development agenda climate-smart?

by Sven Harmeling | CARE International
Wednesday, 22 July 2015 09:32 GMT

A man rows his boat along a flooded street at a village in Kawlin township, Sagaing division, Myanmar, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

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* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Without scaled-up action to adapt to climate change impacts, the push for sustainable development will fail in the next 15 years

With the U.N. Financing for Development Conference having adopted an agreement last week, the second major development policy milestone in 2015 is over. But the train is quickly moving on to New York.

From July 20 to 31, government delegates aim to finalise the negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, with the Sustainable Development Goals at its core.

Then, at the end of September, world leaders are expected to convene in New York to adopt this agenda. Most likely, the sustainable development summit will integrate the Addis Ababa outcomes as the “means of implementation”.

And on the horizon we can already see Paris, where in early December governments are expected to agree on a new international climate change deal which – hopefully – will bring the world closer towards tackling climate disruption.

From CARE’s perspective, climate change, sustainable development and poverty eradication are inextricably linked. Without curbing global warming to significantly below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, adverse impacts will be severe and irreversible.

And more and more vulnerable countries are rightly calling for a limit of 1.5 degrees. However, without scaled-up action to adapt to climate change impacts and tackle the already occurring loss and damage from those impacts, the sustainable development agenda will fail in the next 15 years, leaving millions of the poorest and most vulnerable behind.

Existing inequalities, including the marginalisation of women and girls, will be further exacerbated, and progress in food and nutrition security will be undermined.

While the U.N. climate negotiations are the main forum to deliver international rules and facilitate ambitious and equitable national commitments to limit global warming, the post-2015 development agenda should also incorporate climate change in a manner adequate for the threat it poses.

The good news is that there are also multiple synergies in implementing the SDGs and in taking action on climate change under the UNFCCC, as highlighted in the recently released report, “Twin tracks - Developing sustainably and equitably in a carbon-constrained world”, prepared by CARE and WWF. These apply across a range of areas, such as mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, ecosystem protection.

CLIMATE-SMART DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

But does the post-2015 development agenda already match that requirement? In New York, negotiators will work on the basis of a revised final draft for the post-2015 outcome document, titled “Transforming our world – the 2030 agenda for global action”.

On a positive note, the draft proposes to maintain the 17 SDGs including the climate change goal. The declaration part of the document recognises the link to the UNFCCC in a separate paragraph and calls for the widest international cooperation.

Tackling climate change is also incorporated in the 5 P (People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, Partnership), the proposed short form of the agenda.

However, overall it falls short of fully incorporating the fundamental sustainable development challenge entailed in climate change and fails to address inherent injustice. CARE sees four main areas for improvement to make the agenda climate-smart:

First, the document should make a clear reference to the goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees, as anything higher will bring about severe impacts that will be difficult to overcome.

Such language has been agreed in the UNFCCC before and was also part of the agreement reached on the SDGs by the so-called Open Working Group (OWG), but it is now only contained in an annex with a very unclear status. This should also signal the need for immediate action and promote equity, taking into account common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities.

Second, it should find a way to send a signal for a full phase-out of carbon emissions as the long-term objective, instead of just calling for an accelerated reduction. This could send a strong message of ambition to the outside world.

Third, it should strengthen the role and support of adaptation to climate change impacts and addressing loss and damage. Scaling-up action on both is substantial to safeguard sustainable development in the next 15 years and, while details may be left to the UNFCCC process, this must be reflected. However, the declaration itself is silent on adaptation and loss and damage, and reference to resilience or disaster risk reduction does not do the job.

Fourth, the report does not fully reflect the crosscutting nature of climate change. More than 20 years after the adoption of the UN Climate Convention, and after several IPCC reports that have highlighted the impacts of climate change, it is clear they affect all three dimensions of sustainable development and pose an environmental, economic and social challenge.

But the report treats climate change as just another issue, adding it to the pool of challenges, instead of highlighting that it actually exacerbates all other challenges and lies at their root. It should make clear that climate considerations must be applied in an integral manner in all other goals for them to be able to succeed, which could be well captured in various parts of the declaration.

It is still not too late to make the post-2015 development agenda climate-smart, and this can help maximise the synergies between the twin tracks of the sustainable development agenda and the U.N. climate process, for the benefit of today’s and future generations and the people and communities most vulnerable to climate change.

For specific textual suggestions on the agenda text also: http://t.co/BaB1fnwHC1

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