UN Member States have reached agreement by consensus on the draft outcome document of the new sustainable development agenda, providing important momentum for the new, universal climate change agreement in Paris in December.

The ambitious agenda features 17 new sustainable development goals (SDGs) that aim by 2030 to eradicate extreme poverty, promote prosperity and people's well-being, while protecting the environment. The agenda will be formally adopted by world leaders in New York in September.

Taking Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and its Impacts

Several of the interlinked SDGs directly relate to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. For example, goal seven of the SDGs is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, including through increasing substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix and doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030.

Goal 13 of the news SDGs is to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. The specific steps outlined under this goal are to:

• Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
• Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.
• Improve education, awareness raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
• Implement the commitment undertaken by developed country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible.
• Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change related planning and management in least developed countries, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities.

Under goal 13, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is acknowledged as the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

The negotiating process for the new sustainable development goals has spanned more than two years with the unprecedented participation of civil society.

Read the UN News Centre article on agreement on the new SDGs