Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
I am pleased to welcome you to this important event on strengthening synergies between climate action and the SDGs.
This morning, the Secretary-General¡¯s call was clear: to accelerate the transition to renewable energy or face ever-worsening climate disasters.
This urgency underscores our discussion today, on the critical link between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals. As the world confronts multiple links, the synergy between these two agendas is more crucial than ever.
The hard truth is we are failing on both fronts. We are far off track in meeting our climate and SDG targets.
Over 80% of SDGs are directly linked to climate change. Synergistic actions allow us to maximize co-benefits, minimize trade-offs, and optimize the use of our resources.
This year presents key opportunities to build these synergies. Under the Paris Agreement, countries are submitting updated nationally determined contributions. These enhanced NDCs must be aligned with national SDG strategies to maximize impact.
While some progress is emerging, currently less than 15% of NDCs even reference the SDGs, and none outlines strategies to link climate and development goals.
Several steps can help close this gap and strengthen synergies.
First, catalyze investments to close the 4 trillion US dollars SDG financing gap ¡ª as underscored by the Sevilla Commitment ¡ª and scale up climate finance to 1.3 trillion US dollars in line with the ¡°Baku to Belem Roadmap¡±.
Second, align climate and development strategies, particularly in energy, food systems, and transportation. Demand-side solutions alone could cut emissions by 70% by 2050 while advancing progress across SDGs 1 to 9.
Third, ensure just transitions by prioritizing marginalized communities and integrating just transition into national climate plans.
Finally, strengthen the evidence base. This September, the Expert Group on Climate and SDG Synergy will release a synthesis report quantifying global benefits, precisely because we cannot improve what we cannot measure.
Distinguished delegates,
We at UN DESA, along with the UNFCCC, remain committed to supporting the work of the Expert Group. We will continue to co-convene the annual global synergy conferences.
I would like to extend sincere gratitude to our champion countries, Brazil, Denmark, and Japan, for supporting this work.
Let us break down the silos and act with urgency and unity this moment demands. Now is the time to turn ambition into alignment, and alignment into action that delivers for our people and planet.
Thank you.