As greenhouse gas levels continue to climb, climate change is occurring much faster than anticipated, and its effects are evident worldwide. The global mean temperature for 2018 was approximately 1°C above the pre-industrial baseline, and the last four years have been the warmest on record. Sea levels continue to rise at an accelerating rate.

Climate change is the defining issue of our time and the greatest challenge to sustainable development. Its compounding effects are speeding up its advance, leaving very little time to act if we want to prevent runaway climate change. Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is necessary to avoid catastrophic consequences and irreversible changes. That will require rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land and urban infrastructure and industrial systems.

Janos Pasztor of UN on Goal 13

While countries have taken positive steps by preparing nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and increasing financing to combat climate change, far more ambitious plans and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society are required. Access to finance and the strengthening of resilience and adaptive capacity need to be scaled up at a much faster pace, particularly among LDCs and small island developing States.

In 2017, atmospheric CO2 concentrations reached 405.5 parts per million (ppm) (up from 400.1 ppm in 2015), representing 146 per cent of pre‑industrial levels. To limit global warming to 1.5°C means that emissions will need to peak as soon as possible, followed by rapid reductions. Global carbon emissions need to fall by a staggering 45 per cent by 2030 from 2010 levels and continue at a steep decline to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.