UNFCCC Yearbook Finds “Leadership, Clarity and Ambition” Key in Achieving Paris Objectives

In advance of the Madrid Climate Change Conference, the UNFCCC Secretariat and the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action released a publication that calls on all actors to step up their climate action, unite behind science and collaborate in inclusive ways to support ‘Climate Action Pathways’ to reach the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Yearbook concludes that progress can be accelerated with “leadership, clarity and ambition from national governments.”

The ‘Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2019’ provides an assessment of actions by non-Party stakeholders, defined as regions and cities, businesses and civil society. The report shares examples of regional engagement in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Asia-Pacific that galvanized support for the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, and summarizes subsequent Summit outcomes. The report also showcases examples of practical climate action and lessons learned for local governments, the private sector and other stakeholders, including to help policymakers identify opportunities for incentivizing climate-friendly action.

The Yearbook finds that “many areas across all sectors” where “non-Party actors,” often in cooperation with each other and countries, are delivering actions and solutions to increase ambition. If current international cooperative initiative deliver on their goals, they “could close the global gap to the emission trajectory for 2 degrees Celsius of warming in 2030,” although a significant gap would still remain to achieve the 1.5°C goal. The Yearbook highlights the launch of the Climate Ambition Alliance to increase ambition by 2020 and provide leadership on the net-zero emissions by 2050 goal.

The Yearbook further highlights the importance of individual behavior in moving towards climate neutrality. It states that “individual climate-thoughtful choices” by everyone can add up to “world-saving trends towards climate neutrality.” Consumer choices on modes of transport, the products they buy and the foods they eat can have a “significant impact” on deforestation, land use, transport emissions, industry transition and capital reallocation.

To sufficiently raise climate ambition, the report recommends addressing five challenges. First, the report recommends viewing climate action holistically to realize increased cooperation across sectors and between actors. Second, the report calls for governments to remove barriers to implementation and move away from subsidies and incentives for fossil fuel-related areas and towards incentives for renewable and sustainable solutions to create the conditions needed for non-Party action. Third, the Yearbook highlights the importance of continuing and strengthening the Global Climate Action agenda within the post-2020 UNFCCC process. Fourth, the report recommends aligning finance flows with finance needs. Finally, the Yearbook calls for strengthening the reporting of results from climate action to inspire others to act.