“Climate action must accelerate everywhere. Transforming systems, from energy and transport to our relationship with nature and our social systems, is essential to rapidly reduce emissions and build resilience,” said UN-Climate Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
“Greater collaboration between Parties and non-Party stakeholders is an opportunity to radically improve action towards our collective climate goals,” he added.
This directory, the seventh produced by high-level champions, presents the current state of global climate action carried out by non-state actors (cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society).
It indicates, among other things, that the Global Climate Action Portal – a platform that tracks climate action around the world – now has more than 32,000 registered actors, an increase of around 6% compared to 2022, and almost six times more than in 2015. However, gaps remain, both in terms of increasing the geographic coverage and scale of climate action of the portal itself, and in terms of solutions implemented by non-state actors.
In the yearbook’s foreword, high-level champions Mahmoud Mohieldin (Egypt) and Razan Al Mubarak (United Arab Emirates) jointly called for intensified climate action this decade.
“Effective implementation – in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – is our common goal which must be pursued according to the guiding principle of climate justice. The global stocktake is an opportunity to move forward , together,” they wrote.
Other key advances outlined in the 2023 edition of the yearbook include increased support for cities adapting to the impacts of climate change, more funding mobilized for marginalized groups such as indigenous peoples, the publication of a manual to help non-state actors align their policies with net zero goals, and the launch of a report that explains how to unlock climate finance in Africa.
The 2023 yearbook also focuses on the conclusion of the first global review of COP28, which began this Thursday in Dubai.
The global stocktake is a process that allows countries and stakeholders to see where they are collectively making progress – and where they are not – towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Governments must make a decision on the global stocktake at COP28, which can be used to accelerate ambition in their next round of climate action plans due in 2025.
Non-state actors shared their ideas on how governments can come together at COP28 to provide a strong response to the inventory, which identified seven key messages that could contribute to the conclusion of the inventory global :
Climate action must align with the goal of keeping a 1.5 degree Celsius climate resilient world within reach; opportunities to accelerate climate action exist, but they need to be strengthened; non-state actors are key partners in scaling up climate action and ambition; the credibility of the actions and commitments of non-state actors must be systematically ensured; international cooperation between sectors and actors, guided by the principle of climate justice, is essential for systems transformation; climate action must not be siloed; and equitable financial flows are needed now.
Remember that the action of non-state actors was encouraged by the designation of high-level Champions during the 2015 COP21 in Paris and reinforced by the Marrakech Partnership launched at the COP22 the following year in Morocco.
The Marrakech Partnership, under the aegis of the High Level Champions, has fostered collaboration between governments and cities, regions, businesses and investors acting on climate change.