The Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals together represent nothing less than a global strategy to prevent our planet’s temperature from reaching disastrous levels and to foster and support resilient and sustainable, low-emissions development for everyone.

To this end, policies need to be set in place now, technologies developed, matured, commercialized and deployed at scale, and practices and behaviors of economic actors need to move ever faster towards low-emission and sustainable business and investment.

No one country, company, city, state or individual can do this alone.

That is why the Paris Agreement includes an effective engine of cooperation and coordination across national and international efforts to raise the global climate response rapidly, linking economic activity, emissions and the impacts of climate change in a coherent system of action.

The critical temperature goal—limiting the global rise as close as possible to 1.5°C and well below 2°C—reflects not just a scientific reality but also a vision of the future we want, because it compels us to rethink the way we produce, use and consume energy, how we manufacture and build, and how we manage our land and ecosystems.

Powered by the Agreement, effective climate leadership and implementation by countries, cities, states, business and civil society continues to grow rapidly, and yet much greater scale and speed is now required. This 2017 Summary for Policymakers shows that policy solutions already exist. The summary confronts the challenges that policymakers face, while providing examples from around the world that show how these challenges can be overcome.

I am struck by the clear message in this summary that coherence, coordination, and indeed integration across national and international climate policy is critical. National policy sets the direction and tone of action, but unless it both encourages and is informed by policy goals at the city, state and corporate levels the full impacts will be missed.

My thanks go to the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action for ensuring that this essential area of effective policymaking is kept at the centre of attention.

I am sure it will help Fiji, as President of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference, in its objective to lead the negotiations towards another significant milestone and to build a grand coalition of climate actors to fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action is encouraging activities that galvanize immediate climate actions in the period between now and 2020 to support the realization and overachievement of Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Climate Change Agreement and spur new climate actions in areas of untapped mitigation and adaptation potential.

These actions are guided by the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement and undertaken in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The technical examination process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, set in the broader context of these three post-2015 global agendas, is an important platform for Parties to explore policy options that governments can adopt in specific areas to enhance climate action.

The Marrakech Partnership’s 2017 Yearbook of Climate Action, drawing from thematic and regional meetings, summarizes the achievements in climate action over the last year. This summary for policymakers complements the Yearbook and provides recommendations emanating from the technical examination process for consideration by ministers, particularly in regards to collaborative initiatives and opportunities for adaptation, mitigation in the urban environment and in the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector.

We look forward to the 2017 High-Level Event in Bonn, to further strengthen engagement on the implementation of adaptation and mitigation policy options and actions and to learn about new or strengthened voluntary efforts, initiatives and coalitions. We encourage you all to collaboratively increase our pre-2020 ambition and foster the nexus between climate action, disaster risk management and the sustainable development goals.

Through this summary we intend that Parties are provided with the relevant information to fully engage with non-Party stakeholders, and be empowered to scale up and replicate the good-practice policies, actions and initiatives that best fit their national circumstances with a view to enhancing their pre-2020 action, paving the way for limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C, increasing the resilience and adaptive capacity of communities and ecosystems, and laying a strong foundation for more ambitious post-2020 action.

H.E. Ms. Hakima El Haite, High-level Champion of Morocco and Minister Delegate to the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment

H.E. Mr. Inia Seruiratu High-level Champion of Fiji and Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management and Meteorological Services

This Summary for Policymakers is offered as a tool for Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as non-Party stakeholders, as they take decisions in support of the international response to climate change.

The document highlights key information and recommendations from Technical Expert Meetings (TEMs) on climate change mitigation and adaptation held in May 2017 in Bonn, Germany, under the UNFCCC.1

Under the UNFCCC’s “technical examination process” begun in 2014, TEMs on various themes are held annually. They highlight for policymakers the “what, why and how” of pre-2020 climate action. They also point to follow-up work to be undertaken by Parties, international organizations and partnerships throughout the year.

The objective is implementation of scalable, best-practice policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The document:

Showcases good practices and policies that integrate adaptation and mitigation actions with the principles, priorities and objectives of the Sendai Framework, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and other applicable national and international frameworks.

Identifies common challenges to mitigation and adaptation action confronted by Parties, subnational actors, civil society organizations and other stakeholders.

Presents technologies and actions that can be scaled up and replicated by Parties and other stakeholders. Highlights actions policymakers can take, why they are important and how to implement them, including partnerships and resources for support in the three areas covered by the TEMS.