The Paris Agreement and the SDGs were both adopted in 2015, and as such, they have a complementary relationship. We need to make sure that our efforts to proceed with both of these are carried out in an integrated manner. For example, the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C states that, if global warming is limited to 1.5°C rather than 2°C, severe impacts on ecosystems as well as human health and well-being will be mitigated, and also that it will be easier to achieve the SDGs. On the other hand, if we can achieve the SDGs, this may well contribute greatly to reducing systemic vulnerabilities, as well as being consistent with climate adaptation measures.
However, it has been pointed out that the current situation, when combined with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by each country under the Paris Agreement, is not enough to keep the temperature rise below 2°C. And although we are certainly making progress on the SDGs, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), there is not one country that is on track to achieve all 17 goals.
Under these circumstances, UNFCCC and UNDESA held the 1st Climate and SDGs Synergy Conference in Copenhagen this past April in order to accelerate integrated and ambitious efforts between climate change and the SDGs. Then in September, the SDG Summit and the Climate Action Summit were held back-to-back during the UN General Assembly High Level Week. We need to keep this kind of momentum that is so important in making inroads to minimize the impact of climate change and achieve the SDGs. Therefore, we want to build on discussions that came out of the 1st Synergy Conference, and have organised this event to discuss measures to strengthen synergies that will bring about integrated efforts on climate change and SDGs, and look at ways to improve ambition, accelerate actions for implementation, and strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Event Details
SDG Pavilion
Presentation Materials
| 12:00-12:05 | Welcome Speech | H.E. Mr. Satoru Morishita (Vice Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of the Environment Japan (MOEJ)) | |
| 12:05-12:15 | Special Address １: “Sharing Experiences of the 1st Climate and SDGs Synergy Conference and Future Prospects” | ||
| Mr. Liu Zhenmin (Under-Secretary-General for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)) | |||
| 12:15-12:25 | Keynote Address | Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi (President, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) / Chair of the Central Environment Council, Japan) | |
| 12:25-13:05 | Panel Discussion: “Role of Science for Policy & Action” | ||
| Moderator | Prof. Kazuhiko Takemoto (Former Director, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) / Project Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives, Tokyo University) | ||
| Panelists | Ms. Mami Mizutori (Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Head of UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)) | ||
| Ms. Jyoti Mathur-Filipp (Director for the Implement Support Division, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)) | |||
| Dr. Lynn Wagner (Senior Director of the Tracking Progress program at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)) | |||
| Mr. Boyd Dionysius (Senior Vice President, Lead Resilient Environment, Iskandar Malaysia) | |||
| 13:05-13:20 | Special Address 2: “Towards Scaling Up Synergies to Solve Global Problems” | ||
| Mr. Ovais Sarmad (Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)) | |||
| H.E. Mr. Shinjiro Koizumi (Minister of the Environment, Japan) | |||
| Closing | |||
| Emcee | Dr. Junichi Fujino (Principal Researcher / Program Director, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)) | ||