Girls fetching water from a dried up river bed, Sware, Kenya Credit: Tucker Tangeman / Unsplash NEW YORK, 20 August 2021 – Young people living in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau are the most at risk of the impacts of climate change, threatening their health, education, and protection, and exposing them to deadly diseases, according to a UNICEF report launched today. ‘The Climate Crisis Is a Child Rights Crisis: Introducing the Children’s Climate Risk Index’ is the first comprehensive analysis of climate risk from a child’s perspective. It ranks countries based on children’s exposure to climate and environmental shocks, such as cyclones and heatwaves, as well as their vulnerability to those shocks, based on their access to essential services. Launched in collaboration with Fridays for Future on the third anniversary of the youth-led global climate strike movement, the report finds approximately 1 billion children – nearly half the world's 2.2 billion children – live in one of the 33 countries classified as “extremely high-risk”. These children face a deadly combination of exposure to multiple climate and environmental shocks with a high vulnerability due to inadequate essential services, such as water and sanitation, healthcare and education. The findings reflect the number of children impacted today – figures likely to get worse as the impacts of climate change accelerate. “For the first time, we have a complete picture of where and how children are vulnerable to climate change, and that picture is almost unimaginably dire. Climate and environmental shocks are undermining the complete spectrum of children’s rights, from access to clean air, food and safe water; to education, housing, freedom from exploitation, and even their right to survive. Virtually no child’s life will be unaffected,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “For three years, children have raised their voices around the world to demand action. UNICEF supports their calls for change with an unarguable message – the climate crisis is a child’s rights crisis.”  The Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) reveals: 240 million children are highly exposed to coastal flooding; 330 million children are highly exposed to riverine flooding; 400 million children are highly exposed to cyclones; 600 million children are highly exposed to vector borne diseases; 815 million children are highly exposed to lead pollution; 820 million children are highly exposed to heatwaves; 920 million children are highly exposed to water scarcity; 1 billion children are are highly exposed to exceedingly high levels of air pollution While nearly every child around the world is at risk from at least one of these climate and environmental hazards, the data reveal the worst affected countries face multiple and often overlapping shocks that threaten to erode development progress and deepen child deprivations. An estimated 850 million children – 1 in 3 worldwide – live in areas where at least four of these climate and environmental shocks overlap. As many as 330 million children – 1 in 7 worldwide – live in areas affected by at least five major shocks. The report also reveals a disconnect between where greenhouse gas emissions are generated, and where children are enduring the most significant climate-driven impacts. The 33 ‘extremely high-risk’ countries collectively emit just 9 per cent of global CO2 emissions. Conversely, the 10 highest emitting countries collectively account for nearly 70 per cent of global emissions. Only one of these countries is ranked as ‘extremely high-risk’ in the index. “Climate change is deeply inequitable. While no child is responsible for rising global temperatures, they will pay the highest costs. The children from countries least responsible will suffer most of all,” said Fore. “But there is still time to act. Improving children’s access to essential services, such as water and sanitation, health, and education, can significantly increase their ability to survive these climate hazards. UNICEF urges governments and businesses to listen to children and prioritise actions that protect them from impacts, while accelerating work to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Without the urgent action required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, children will continue to suffer the most. Compared to adults, children require more food and water per unit of their body weight, are less able to survive extreme weather events, and are more susceptible to toxic chemicals, temperature changes and diseases, among other factors. "Movements of young climate activists will continue to rise, continue to grow and continue to fight for what is right because we have no other choice," said Farzana Faruk Jhumu (Bangladesh), Eric Njuguna (Kenya), Adriana Calderón (Mexico) and Greta Thunberg (Sweden) from Fridays for Future, who authored the report's foreword and are joining in support of the launch. "We must acknowledge where we stand, treat climate change like the crisis it is, and act with the urgency required to ensure today’s children inherit a liveable planet." UNICEF is calling on governments, businesses and relevant actors to: Increase investment in climate adaptation and resilience in key services for children. To protect children, communities and the most vulnerable from the worst impacts of the already changing climate, critical services must be adapted, including water, sanitation and hygiene systems, health and education services. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis, comprehensive and urgent action is required. Countries must cut their emissions by at least 45% (compared to 2010 levels) by 2030 to keep warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Provide children with climate education and greens skills, critical for their adaptation to and preparation for the effects of climate change. Children and young people will face the full devastating consequences of the climate crisis and water insecurity, yet they are the least responsible. We have a duty to all young people and future generations. Include young people in all national, regional and international climate negotiations and decisions, including at COP26. Children and young people must be included in all climate-related decision making.  Ensure the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is green, low-carbon and inclusive, so that the capacity of future generations to address and respond to the climate crisis is not compromised. Source：UN Author：UN Date：August 20, 2021

UN Climate Change News, 9 August 2021 – Today’s IPCC Working Group 1 Report is a code red for humanity.  The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable:  greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. Global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible. The internationally agreed threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius is perilously close. We are at imminent risk of hitting 1.5 degrees in the near term. The only way to prevent exceeding this threshold is by urgently stepping up our efforts, and pursuing the most ambitious path. We must act decisively now to keep 1.5 alive. We are already at 1.2 degrees and rising. Warming has accelerated in recent decades. Every fraction of a degree counts.  Greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels. Extreme weather and climate disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. That is why this year’s United Nations climate conference in Glasgow is so important.  The viability of our societies depends on leaders from government, business and civil society uniting behind policies, actions and investments that will limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.  We owe this to the entire human family, especially the poorest and most vulnerable communities and nations that are the hardest hit despite being least responsible for today’s climate emergency. The solutions are clear.  Inclusive and green economies, prosperity, cleaner air and better health are possible for all if we respond to this crisis with solidarity and courage.  All nations, especially the G20 and other major emitters, need to join the net zero emissions coalition and reinforce their commitments with credible, concrete and enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions and policies before COP26 in Glasgow. We need immediate action on energy. Without deep carbon pollution cuts now, the 1.5-degree goal will fall quickly out of reach. This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet.  There must be no new coal plants built after 2021.  OECD countries must phase out existing coal by 2030, with all others following suit by 2040.  Countries should also end all new fossil fuel exploration and production, and shift fossil    fuel subsidies into renewable energy.  By 2030, solar and wind capacity should quadruple and renewable energy investments should triple to maintain a net zero trajectory by mid-century.  Climate impacts will undoubtedly worsen.  There is a clear moral and economic imperative to protect the lives and livelihoods of those on the front lines of the climate crisis.  Adaptation and resilience finance must cease being the neglected half of the climate equation.  Only 21 per cent of climate support is directed towards adaptation.  I again call on donors and the multilateral development   banks to allocate at least 50 per cent of all public climate finance to protecting people, especially women and vulnerable groups.  COVID-19 recovery spending must be aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.  And the decade-old promise to mobilize $100 billion annually to support mitigation and adaptation in developing countries must be met. The climate crisis poses enormous financial risk to investment managers, asset owners, and businesses.  These risks should be measured, disclosed and mitigated.  I am asking corporate leaders to support a minimum international carbon price and align their portfolios with the Paris Agreement.  The public and private sector must work together to ensure a just and rapid transformation to a net zero global economy. If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe.  But, as today’s report makes clear, there is no time for delay and no room for excuses. I count on government leaders and all stakeholders to ensure COP26 is a success. Source：UN Author：UN Date：August 9, 2021

UN Climate Change News, 5 August 2021 – In a keynote address today to students at the Harvard Kennedy School, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa reiterated her call for “bold and courageous climate leadership” to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Ahead of the crucial UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in November in Glasgow, which she called “a credibility test for global efforts to address climate change,” she urged governments to show leadership now through ambitious national climate action plans (NDCs) outlining commitments for the next five years. The UN Climate Chief stressed the importance of urgent and decisive action ahead of COP26 in the face of rising extreme weather events globally and the imminent publication of the IPCC’s next major climate change report, which is likely to issue further stark warnings on the state of the climate: “Leaders must respond or risk missing our long-term goal under the Paris Agreement to limit global temperatures to 1.5C,” she said. While pointing to some positive developments this year, including the submission of stronger NDCs from some nations; the global uptake of renewable energy; and the commitment by large companies and businesses throughout the world to operate more sustainably, she underlined the need for no less than ‘systemic change.” While history has shown us that this often take decades, even centuries, she stressed that “We have, at best, one decade,” and urged her international audience to contact their respective government representatives to get them to submit ambitious climate plans. Highlighting finance as crucial for progress, she cited the pledge by developed nations to mobilize $100 billion to developing nations by 2020 and underlined the need for 50% of climate finance to be allocated to adapting and building resilience to climate change. With COP26 now less than three months away, Ms. Espinosa stated that “it’s time to compromise,” adding: “Inaction is the result of an inability to make difficult decisions. The problem is that failing to decide may end up being the same as deciding to fail.” Ms. Espinosa called on her audience to use their positions of leadership and influence to place issues related to sustainability and resilience at the heart of their work, both to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and to capture the vast opportunities that come with building a cleaner, greener and healthier future. See full speech by Patricia Espinosa below: It’s a pleasure to speak with all of you today and I thank the Harvard Kennedy School for extending this invitation. While the school has an impressive catalogue of courses and eleven research centres addressing the role of public policy in combatting climate change, I understand that this is the Kennedy School’s first mandatory climate change course. This is reflecting an overall shift — whether in academia, government, industry or otherwise — in which climate change has moved from the periphery of public awareness to, if not by choice but necessity, the forefront of public policy. Many of you are at the midpoint of your careers. Your lives have paralleled this great shift. While some of you are too young to remember the first stirrings of the environmental movement and the response by some governments to enact tougher regulations and legislation in the late 1960s and 70s… …perhaps you have childhood memories of the global efforts to repair the ozone layer which led to the Montreal Protocol... …or later when world leaders such as President George Bush Sr., Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and others spanning the ideological spectrum advocated for greater climate protection. Perhaps your high school years saw leaders gather at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, to promote a more sustainable planet for the future — a summit that led to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. And in your college and university days you followed the subsequent global climate change negotiations: Kyoto, Copenhagen, Cancun and beyond. By the time the Paris Agreement was adopted a little over five years ago, you had already assumed professional leadership roles. Throughout your lives, you’ve watched as the impacts of climate change became more devastating, the science underpinning it more conclusive, and as it evolved from distant threat to existential emergency.   Today you all are in positions of leadership, authority and privilege. You influence policy, programs, governance and more. Few throughout the world can claim the same. As a generation that grew up with climate change, and who now occupy these influential roles, we call upon your unique insight, knowledge, solutions and leadership to help stem its worst impacts for both you and the generations that follow. Because it’s clear that issues around sustainability, resilience and climate change will remain at the heart of geopolitics and global policy for decades. My message to you today is this: if you have not already put these issues at the core of your work and planning, I urge you to do so now. Some of you may feel passionate about climate change. Others may not share that feeling. But all of you will be forced to deal with it in one way or another. Just as governments, businesses and communities throughout the world have as well. It has become, as we’ve established, mandatory. Building a more sustainable and climate-resilient planet is not one in an array of policy choices, it is, in effect, the only policy choice if we’re to collectively ensure humanity’s future on this planet. So the only question is, will we respond in time? Today, I will outline the urgency for action this year, the crucial policy choices facing governments as a result of this urgency and, throughout, discuss your roles in this process.  Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, We stand at the mid-point of a crucial year in which leaders must respond or risk missing our long-term goal under the Paris Agreement to limit global temperatures to 1.5C. They must do so in a year in which millions continue to suffer through a global pandemic, economies have been upended, and the climate emergency gets worse. The science underpinning this emergency continues to get stronger. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is, right now, putting the final touches on their next major climate change report that will inform nations heading into global climate change negotiations — at COP26 — in November. While we do not yet have the final version, it’s safe to say that the news will be far — very far — from good. Each successive report has become more and more stark in its warnings. Two months ago, the World Meteorological Organization indicated a 40% probability that average global temperature will cross the Paris Agreement 1.5C threshold, at least temporarily, in the next five years. This will trigger tipping points that will result in death, destruction and disrupt economies all around the world. This isn’t politics. This isn’t ideology. This is reality. We saw it in the devastating flooding in central China and in India. We saw similar flooding in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.   We saw extreme heat in the Western United States and in Canada. In my home country — in the outskirts of Mexico City — a 40-year-old man died of hypothermia when he was trapped in his car in a block of ice that formed during a hailstorm. Not heat — hypothermia. While horrific incidents can happen in any nation, they’re also incidents developing nations and the most vulnerable have experienced for years. My condolences go out to those who have lost loved ones, homes or livelihoods — in any of these tragedies. But sympathy isn’t enough. We need urgent action if we’re to have any chance of addressing climate change before humanity reaches the point of no return. As we just saw at the recent G20 meetings, however, nations continue to struggle with reaching consensus on several issues central to raising ambition on climate change — at a time we can least afford delay. Before I discuss those issues, we need to examine the other part of the picture. Despite this being an extraordinarily challenging year, it has also been one of progress. The United States returned to the Paris Agreement and submitted a stronger, more robust national climate plan. These plans are known as NDCs and are crucial to the Paris Agreement. Renewable energy is being embraced globally, despite the pandemic, and faster than previously anticipated. The shift by major automobile manufacturers towards electric cars is reaching a tipping point. And some of the largest companies and businesses throughout the world have committed to operate more sustainably. Many have pledged to align their operations with the Paris Agreement and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 or even sooner. These are signs of progress. They are positive developments but mark only the beginning of what ultimately must be a complete transformation of how we produce, distribute, consume and dispose of goods throughout the world. It’s a monumental task. And we will not achieve it unless we are all — all governments and sectors — on board and fully invested in it. That includes you. And what you can do now is what nations and businesses must all ultimately do — put sustainability and resilience at the forefront of your actions, policies and plans. I’m not talking about cosmetic change. I’m talking about transformational, enduring and, most of all, systemic change. For governments, systemic change means integrating sustainability and resilience at all levels, consistently apply them throughout all ministries and ensure they permeate all jurisdictions. They can no longer be the purview of a forgotten corner of the Ministry of the Environment. Businesses must put these issues front and centre as well. A speaker I recently heard put it best: the businesses that don’t will be businesses that go bankrupt. A significant caveat here: this will only happen if consumers demand change from those who sell them goods and services. This makes our personal purchasing and investment choices extremely important. There is nothing inevitable about change — and nothing insignificant about the power each of us wields with our money. History tells us that systematic changes — changes that usher in a new age or direction for humanity — often take decades, even centuries. The Agricultural or Industrial revolutions are examples. But we don’t have decades. We have, at best, a decade. This is the window we’ve left ourselves; the time we have left to create an enormous transformation that will get us off our current trajectory of destruction. So, to the question of “will we respond in time?”, the only possible answer is we must. But we must do it now. And this year is crucial. Ladies and gentlemen, COP26 in November is a credibility test for global efforts to address climate change. It’s where nations must make considerable progress to reach consensus on issues they’ve been discussing for several years. And it’s where they must show more climate ambition. But they cannot simply show up in Glasgow and expect this to magically come together. The work must happen now. Here then is the work that must be accomplished, as I outlined to G7 and G20 ministers recently. To begin, I told them that nations must show bold and courageous leadership right now by presenting, in line with science, ambitious national climate action plans. Plans that: …outline commitments for the next five years… …that show how they will reduce emissions 45 per cent by 2030… …that show how they will achieve net-zero emissions by 2050… …and that include Long-Term Strategies that define the path to that goal. We currently have 112 NDC submissions, but this is less than sixty percent of all Parties to the Paris Agreement. We need the rest of those plans. Here’s where you can also play a role, and it’s an area we need it most. I understand that 50 per cent of those attending this course are from outside of the United States. Get in touch with your respective government representatives and get them to submit strong, robust and ambitious climate plans for the short-, medium- and long-term. Encourage others to do the same. For those nations who have already submitted these plans, we need them to go back and make them more ambitious. Finance is another area where nations must make progress if we’re to make any headway going forward. Finance is linked to virtually every element of our global climate change efforts. A major example is the pledge by developed nations to mobilize $100 billion to developing nations by 2020. This is a commitment made in the UNFCCC process more than a decade ago. It’s time to deliver. How can we expect nations to make more ambitious climate commitments for tomorrow if today’s have not yet been met? We also need to see more work on adaptation and to ensure it becomes a bigger part of the finance picture. Adaptation ranges from physical infrastructure, such as the construction of sea-walls to deal with rising waters, to investing in nature-based solutions, such as planting trees or mangroves. One large-scale example is the Great Green Wall Initiative that will create a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across 11 countries in the Sahel region of Africa. Already, almost 18 million hectares of degraded land has been restored and 350.000 jobs created across the Sahel region. Once complete, the Great Green Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet, three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef. Clearly, adaptation can no longer — especially in light of recent climate disasters — be the forgotten component of climate action. Specifically, we need to see 50 per cent of the total share of climate finance to be allocated to adaptation and resilience. On a wider scale, nations and businesses must align their portfolios and activities to the goals of the Paris Agreement. This is the only way we can truly achieve the deep transformation we need to see towards a more sustainable, resilient future. Again, this is where you can play a key and influential role. We must all — whether we’re in the public or private sphere — get away from the idea that there are climate or “green” investments and then other investments. Nations and businesses cannot fund a few climate projects and then claim to be sustainable and climate friendly if all other investment is based in high-emissions sectors. That’s not courageous leadership. It’s impossible to move forward if we’re still chained to the past. So, in addition to: submitting more ambitious national climate action plans and long-term strategies;   mobilizing the $100 billion;   making adaptation a bigger part of the finance picture; and   aligning global investments with the Paris Agreement… …we also must also make COP26 a success this coming November. And that means achieving consensus in areas where several differences remain. They remain in areas ranging from Article Six — the issue related to carbon markets and pricing — to matters related to transparency, capacity building and more. Much of the work centres on technical issues that nations have been discussing for years. We have run out of time. It is necessary to come to an understanding and ensure the full implementation of the Paris Agreement, which is the most comprehensive and the only reliable strategy to address climate change. As I told G20 Ministers, it’s time to compromise. Negotiations must be driven not just by the legitimate desire to protect national interests, but also by the equally commanding goal of contributing to the welfare of humanity. And however complex the technical aspects under discussion may be, they are, by their very nature, subsidiary to the overriding goal of protecting our peoples and our planet. Every day that goes by without being able to implement the Paris Agreement in full is a wasted day. A lack of action calls into question the commitment of those who signed it and is the cause of persistent harm and suffering around the world. Inaction is the result of an inability to make difficult decisions. The problem is that failing to decide may end up being the same as deciding to fail. Never have we needed bold and courageous leadership more than today. Not by government leaders alone, but by all leaders at all levels — leaders such as yourselves. Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, As I’ve outlined today, an incredible amount of work lies ahead for the remainder of this year, and all of you can play key roles. To repeat: If we are going to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we are to capture the vast opportunities with building a cleaner, greener and healthier future, I urge you to place issues related to sustainability and resilience at the heart of your work. I call on you to use your leadership positions to encourage governments — regardless of nation or jurisdiction — to develop strong short, medium and long-term climate plans outlining a clear path forward and in line with the Paris Agreement. And I urge you to invest wisely — professionally and privately — to ensure finance is driven from the grey economy to the green. My final request has to do with participation, involvement and communication. Climate change policy doesn’t start in the boardrooms, it starts in our homes and in our communities. Get involved at that level. Talk to others. Convey the science. Underline the urgency. Discuss the economic implications of inaction. And use your privileged and influential roles to do what others cannot. You are the generation that has watched climate change move from a distant threat to our existential emergency. You are now adults in positions of significant leadership and influence. When we look back at history, we examine the key turning points and wonder: did they know that this was a major turning point? Did they know that if they simply made these particular sets of decisions, that what came next could have been avoided? Never has a turning point been broadcast so much in advance and with so much warning. Never. So let us therefore assume our great responsibility and make the bold and courageous decisions we must all make to address this emergency that threatens not only our lives but the lives of the generations to follow. Thank you very much for your attention. Source：UN Author：UN Date：August 5, 2021

Credit: UNDP UN Climate Change News, 27 July 2021 – The UN Climate Change secretariat today launched the RCC Annual Report 2020 Making a Difference: Enabling Action and Ambition for the Paris Agreement. The report shows how regional collaboration in 2020 helped address climate change internationally and helped build momentum towards the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow in November of this year. RCCs are Regional Collaboration Centres that support national climate action through capacity-building, technical assistance and strategic networking, sourcing know-how and resources to drive clean development. The RCCs are currently leveraging this work to strengthen Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs – national climate action plans) by building capacity and confidence at the regional level. The report covers the key 2020 achievements of all six RCCs and the activities that these Centres support worldwide, with focus on the outcomes that support the Paris Agreement, the Kyoto Protocol and the Convention. “The need for collective and collaborative action is enshrined in the Paris Agreement, alongside the goal to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels with aspiration to remain within 1.5 degrees,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa. “Everyone needs to be part of the solution if we are to act at the speed and global scale that science demands. Collaboration is the best path to meet the urgency of the climate emergency.” She added: “The RCCs connect countries that need support with expert resources. They connect private sector leaders with the policymakers and innovators who can help chart a low-emission path forward. These centers connect with youth to enable action by all and ensure young people have a voice and are heard.” From carbon pricing to cooling: RCCs helped build capacity for climate action in 2020 In 2020, the RCCs supported more than 135 events, most of which were held virtually due to the pandemic. This includes 31 capacity-building events that advance action under the Clean Development Mechanism, the UN Climate Change carbon offset programme that funds GHG emission-reducing projects worldwide. By building capacity and sharing knowledge on topics such as carbon pricing and markets, climate-smart cooling, standardized baselines and carbon neutrality, the RCCs enable both local action and foster effective participation at the annual UN Climate Change conference. The report also looks at engagement by the RCCs throughout 2020, with a focus on the benefits of working together at the regional level. A solution-focused dialogue with diverse stakeholders is a powerful catalyst for furthering the climate talks and raising ambition to tackle climate change. The RCCs focused on virtual engagement to reach a wide audience and support rigorous outreach. RCC engagement in 2020 was guided by three goals: Goal 1 – Support CDM stakeholders Goal 2 – Facilitate regional engagement Goal 3 – Build support infrastructure By working towards these goals, the RCCs enable nations to revise their Nationally Determined Contributions upwards at a crucial moment, as these NDCs should be submitted at COP26 in November. By engaging widely, RCCs bring climate change considerations into the decisions that governments, organizations, businesses, investors and individuals make today and for years to come. In late 2020 at the RCC Global Forum, UN Climate Change Deputy Executive Secretary Ovais Sarmad put the work of the RCCs into context of multilateral progress, saying, “Never have our regional efforts been more necessary. Especially now as we are at a critical juncture in the climate change process. RCCs successfully combine climate change expertise with in-depth local knowledge. This is critical to our success.” Source：UN Author：UN Date：July 27, 2021

Credit: UNEP UN Climate Change News, 27 July 2021 – The UN Climate Change Secretariat has published a climate action pathway for finance which sets out a roadmap for financial markets and the real economy to align with a sustainable and resilient net-zero emissions future. Finance has a critical role to play in enabling and accelerating the transition to net-zero economies in accordance with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change. This role includes pricing carbon to ensure that polluters pay the true cost of their impacts and fully accounting for the value of climate-related risks and opportunities. Developed countries must also deliver on their promise to provide USD 100 billion annually to support developing countries in taking climate action. The Climate Action Pathways are a vital part of the Marrakech Partnership tools to enhance climate action and ambition towards fully implementing the Paris Agreement. First launched in 2019, the pathways set out sectoral visions for achieving a 1.5° C resilient world in 2050, with overarching milestones, and key impacts that need to be achieved to realize them. The other sectors for which pathways have been developed are: energy; cities and other human settlements; industry; land use; oceans and coastal zones; transport; water; and resilience. Collectively, the 8 pathways provide a blueprint to coordinate climate ambition among cities, regions, businesses and investors in the run up to the crucial UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in November in Glasgow. The cross-cutting finance pathway brings the finance elements of the existing pathways together and sets out how that financing might be achieved. Putting climate change front and centre in financial decision-making To reach the goal of net zero by 2050, every financial decision must take climate change into account and financial flows must be consistent with low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. This means that price signals and profit motives will need to be corrected so that the true cost of negative spillover effects are reflected in balance sheets. Private finance has a particularly significant role to play in financing the transition, as it cannot be achieved through public finance alone. Policymakers, civil society, local government actors, corporates and financial institutions need to take measures today to ensure sectoral breakthroughs by 2030. These include: Correcting market failures and closing the valuation gap Embracing a long-term investment mindset by setting net-zero targets before 2050 and then embedding meaningful short- and medium-term steps in a credible plan to evolve business strategies to align with a net-zero world. Embedding climate-aware sustainable approaches into risk management and incentives by ensuring that markets can obtain and use the data and disclosure that they need to assess risks, while taking advantage of breakthrough technologies. Investing at scale in zero-carbon, resilient infrastructure and nature-based solutions to ensure a just and equitable transition away from high-carbon development to zero-carbon resilient infrastructure, as well as investing in nature as a solution so that all economies can grow sustainably. Source：UN Author：UN Date：July 27, 2021