Ministers from over 25 countries will gather in Vancouver, Canada, from May 27–29, 2019, to accelerate progress towards a clean energy future.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C left no question about the future: at the current rate of warming of 0.2°C per decade, global warming will reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels around 2040, disrupting basic social and economic activities around the world.
What the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C means for cities.
The science is clear: we have to act now to prevent catastrophic climate change…and cities offer a unique opportunity to limit global temperature rise. These are some of the key findings of the Summary for Urban Policymakers of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 ° C, launched at the COP24 climate negotiations in Poland.
The battle against climate change can only be won with cities. But, cities cannot do it alone. They are often limited by a lack of access to the resources required to deliver climate action. Multilevel integration can play a key role in raising national ambitions and promoting innovation and action at the local level. This includes vertically integrating investment plans of local authorities into national climate investment plans to address the urban finance gap.
Climate action has taken on a new urgency, and people across the world and across sectors are ready to “Take Ambition to the Next Level.” This was especially clear at the Global Climate Action Summit held in San Francisco, September 2018. Throughout this impactful event, we aimed to shine a spotlight on the contributions of city leaders and announced new initiatives and tools to support cities’ efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change, fulfilling their commitments and achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
With the Paris Agreement coming into force, and the associated commitment of 197 nations around the world, including the European Union, to limit global warming to well below 2o C, governments are beginning to understand the urgency of the climate change crisis.