Global Climate Action

Credit: UNFCCC

At the United Nations Climate Change conference in Paris, COP 21, governments agreed that mobilizing stronger and more ambitious climate action is urgently required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Action must come from governments, cities, regions, businesses and investors. Everyone has a role to play in effectively implementing the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement formally acknowledges the urgent need to scale up our global response to climate change, which supports even greater ambition from governments. The commitments from all actors are recognized in the decision text of the Paris Agreement, including those launched through the Lima–Paris Action Agenda.

History of the non-Party stakeholder engagement

Before COP 21

The need for engagement and action by all levels of society, public and private, was recognized early in the UNFCCC process—Parties’ attention to public participation, technologies and use of markets and mechanisms are just a few examples of this recognition. However, there are few prominent milestones that marked the path of non-Party stakeholders to a place in the Paris Agreement. In 2014, building on a platform for enhanced action established in Durban at COP 18, then-UN-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened world leaders and diverse climate stakeholders in New York to motivate for concerted global climate action. A few weeks later at COP 20 in Lima, governments established the Lima-Paris Action Agenda to demonstrate the commitment of non-state actors and forge a coalition of actors towards the goal of limiting global temperature rise through short-term and long-term actions that support a new legal agreement. The Action Agenda involved both state and non-state actors (national governments, cities, regions and other sub national entities, international organizations, civil society, indigenous peoples, women, youth, academic institutions, as well as businesses) acting as individual entities or in partnerships. It aimed to accelerate actions in the pre-2020 period and afterwards. A joint undertaking of the Peruvian and French COP presidencies, the Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the UNFCCC Secretariat, the Lima-Paris Action Agenda strengthened climate action throughout 2015 and in Paris in December of that year in several ways: Mobilized robust global action towards low carbon and resilient societies; Provided enhanced support to existing initiatives, such as those launched during the Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September 2014; and Mobilized new partners and provided a platform for the visibility of their actions, commitments and results in the run up to COP21.

COP 21

At COP 21 in Paris in 2015, it was agreed that mobilizing stronger and more ambitious climate action by all Parties and non-Party stakeholders was urgently required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. In decision 1/CP.21, the commitments from all actors are recognized, including those launched through the Lima–Paris Action Agenda, as well as the urgent need to scale up the global response to climate change and support greater ambition from governments. Parties also recognized the value of having climate champions to ensure a durable connection between the Convention and the many voluntary and collaborative actions. In Paris they decided that two high-level champions shall be appointed representing the current COP Presidency and the incoming COP Presidency, turning into practice an initiative that saw climate champions from Peru, France and Morocco help pave the way for success in Paris.

Post COP 21

Since adoption of the Paris Agreement, global climate action has been encouraged and facilitated under the banner of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, which was agreed in Morocco at COP 22 and acknowledged at subsequent Conferences of the Parties. The Partnership brings together in stakeholders working in key sectors and themes to spur enhanced climate ambition and action, and then recognizes that action, to inspire sill greater effort.

Credit: Kiara Worth | UN Climate Change

In recognition of the need for catalyzing stronger and more ambitious climate action by non-Party stakeholders, and mobilizing all levels of society, there are different channels through which non-Party stakeholders can engage in the UNFCCC process and contribute to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The Action Empowerment Unit supports the intergovernmental work on gender and climate change, Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE), and children and youth under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

Action for Climate Empowerment & Children and Youth

Action for Climate Empowerment

Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) refers to efforts related to implementing Article 6 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. The overarching goal of ACE is to empower all members of society to engage in climate action, through the six ACE elements: climate change education and public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these matters. ACE plays a key role in enabling the changes in systems, attitudes, and behaviors needed to foster low-emission, climate-resilient, and sustainable development. Due to its close linkages with the six elements, children and youth is a cross-cutting focus under the ACE agenda.

Children holding sign that says Our Planet Our Future

Credit: Pexels/Karolina Grabowska

Children and Youth

Parties to the UNFCCC have recognized the importance of youth as agents of change in addressing and responding to climate change and have called for the meaningful inclusion of youth within Parties' delegations and in climate policy design and implementation processes. Meaningful participation of children and youth in climate policy and action is essential for fair, inclusive, and ambitious climate action under the Paris Agreement and the Convention at all levels.

Gender and Climate Change

UN Initiative to boost resilience of women

Credit: CIAT

Parties to the UNFCCC have recognized the importance of gender mainstreaming through targets and goals in activities under the Convention and Paris Agreement as an important contribution to increasing their effectiveness, fairness and sustainability and that the full, meaningful and equal participation and leadership of women in all aspects of the UNFCCC process and in national- and local-level climate policy and action is vital for achieving the long-term climate goal.

Understanding the current state of climate action by all stakeholders is crucial in identifying gaps and strengthening global efforts to combat climate change. These could be pursued by promoting transparency of the progress of all actors engaging in climate action through monitoring, evaluating, and acknowledging voluntary climate initiatives. The Global Climate Action Portal plays a central role in presenting these voluntary actions and tracking their progress, whereas the work under the Recognition and Accountability Framework aims to enhance the accountability of non-Party stakeholder’s climate action, especially on net zero commitments.

To provide unique platforms bringing together diverse stakeholders in the public and private sectors around a common goal of addressing climate change and inspire individuals and organizations to become part of the solution, there are various spaces where stakeholders have the opportunities to host or participate in such exchanges and discussions at different levels, from the Side Events and Exhibits at the sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies and COPs, the Global Climate Action space at COPs, to Regional Climate Weeks.