Twenty-seven nations across the continent have now committed to restore 111 million hectares of degraded land as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) and the Bonn Challenge – exceeding the 100-million-hectare AFR100 target. In realizing these commitments, countries will spur climate resilience, economic growth and more.

 

AFR100 was launched in 2015 in response to the African Union (AU) mandate to bring 100 million hectares of land into restoration by 2030. The initiative is led by the African Union’s NEPAD Agency in partnership with 27 participating countries, 27 technical and 12 financial partners. Founding partners include NEPAD, the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), World Resources Institute (WRI), GIZ, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Bank.

 

 

During the 3rd Annual AFR100 Partners Meeting in Nairobi this August, member country representatives, as well as technical and financial partners supporting implementation, reaffirmed that the initiative is a powerful lever to bring forest landscape restoration to scale.

 

“It is a testament to the continuing political will to restore landscapes across Africa that the AFR100 partnership has exceeded its 100-million-hectare target in commitments. We must sustain this momentum and move from pledges to implementation. There are already many examples of restoration success underway in African communities from which we can collectively learn, to realize these commitments,” said Wanjira Mathai, Senior Advisor, WRI and Co-Chair, Global Restoration Council.

 

In the margins of the meeting, two countries pledged to restore a combined 19.6 million hectares of land towards the 100-million-hectare target: Burkina Faso (5 million hectares) and the Republic of Sudan (14.6 million hectares). These pledges follow commitments made by Togo (1.4 million hectares) and Tanzania (5.2 million hectares) in the weeks before the meeting.

 

“Sudan is delighted to be able to commit to restoring 14.6 million hectares of degraded land as part of AFR100. Restoration in Sudan will support in the reduction of youth immigration and food security for the poorest communities, as well as help the country to respond to international commitments,” said Ali Hamid Osman, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the Sudan Sustainable Natural Resources Management Project and Sudan’s AFR100 Focal Point.

 

“The fight against desertification and land degradation is a major challenge for Burkina Faso's sustainable development and economic vitality. Our 5-million-hectare commitment to the AFR100 Initiative will improve food security and create more robust livelihoods, both of which are conducive to resilient restoration and productive agro-ecosystems. In our context, special attention and effort should be given to sustainable employment and entrepreneurship for young people and women, to provide economic opportunities through the restoration of our lands and forests,” added Adama Doulkom, Coordinator of the Great Green Wall Initiative for the Sahara and the Sahel, Burkina Faso.

 

“Indeed, of all the Bonn Challenge’s regional platforms, AFR100 is the most successful, contributing over half of the current global commitment of 170 million hectares. Ideas can only take root if they are owned and while many have contributed to this momentum we must recognize the fundamental role that NEPAD has played in making this an African led and owned initiative, and particularly the inspiring work of Mamadou Diakhite and his team,” stated Stewart Maginnis, Global Director, Nature-based Solutions Group, IUCN.

 

Restoration is widely understood as a key pathway to meet climate change, desertification, biodiversity and sustainable development goals in Africa, and to secure vital food, water, and energy resources.

 

“In times of ever-increasing pressure on land, water, and biodiversity, the restoration of degraded forests and lands is more urgent than ever. Bringing back trees into the land offers multiple benefits for sustainable development, the fight against poverty and hunger, for conserving biodiversity and for adaptation to climate change. Restoration is spectacular in that every $1 invested there is the potential for $27-$35 in return. Seeing communities who restore their land reap a share of their restoration proceeds, is an honor,” said Mamadou Diakhite, Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLWM) Team Leader at the NEPAD Agency, home to the AFR100 Secretariat.

 

“It was a great success that the Global Landscapes Forum conference in Nairobi took place back-to-back with the third annual AFR100 partners meeting at the end of August there. We have sent a strong signal for the integration of reforestation, restoration, and sustainable rural development. The broad concept of landscape restoration provides us with strong ideas in the fight against hunger and poverty through implementing the entire Agenda 2030 – and mainly SDG2 (zero hunger) and SDG15 (life on land),” said Bernhard Worm, Senior Policy Officer at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

 

Participants of the recent AFR100 meeting also endorsed the motion to have the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declare a UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, first proposed in March 2018 by El Salvador’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources – intended to increase the visibility of and to resource for countries’ restoration efforts.

 

The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat announced on September 27 the 15 recipients of the 2018 UN ‘Momentum for Change’ climate action award which will be recognized at the UN Climate Conference (COP24) in Poland.

 

 

Activities range from a mobile app that promotes the fight against food waste and hunger worldwide to an entire government that is taking 100% responsibility for its greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Representatives from the following five winning activities spoke about their solutions to climate change at a special event co-hosted by The Climate Group at Climate Week in New York City:

 

         Creating the Greenest Football Club in the World - Forest Green Rovers | United Kingdom: The Forest Green Rovers are bringing eco-thinking, sustainable living, and renewable technology to football fans.

 

         Catalytic Finance Initiative | Global: Bank of America Merrill Lynch is working with partners to mobilize approximately USD 10 billion for innovative and high-impact climate mitigation and sustainability-focused investments.

 

         Santiago Biofactory | Chile: Water utility company Aguas Andinas is transforming Santiago’s three wastewater treatment plants into “biofactories” that convert wastewater and sewer sludge, a wastewater treatment byproduct, into clean energy.

 

         Carbon Neutral Government Program | Canada: In 2010, British Columbia became the first government at the provincial, territorial, or state level in North America to take 100% responsibility for its greenhouse gas pollution.

 

         Sri Lanka Mangrove Conservation Project | Sri Lanka: Seacology, a nonprofit environmental conservation organization, is helping Sri Lanka become the first nation in history to preserve and replant all of its mangrove forests.

 

Other winners include:

 

         “Yalla Let’s Bike”, a women-powered initiative that aims to end verbal harassment of female cyclists in Syria while simultaneously fighting climate change;

 

         Monash, Australia’s largest university which has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2030, and;

 

         Climate-Efficient School Kitchens and Plant-Powered Pupils, which is providing healthy, climate-friendly meals in German schools.

 

 

 

The Momentum for Change initiative, spearheaded by the UN Climate Change secretariat, shines light on some of the most practical examples of what people across the globe are doing to combat climate change.

 

Selected initiatives, called ‘Lighthouse Activities,’ demonstrate the unprecedented amount of climate action happening around the world. This announcement is part of a wider effort to mobilize action and ambition as national governments work toward implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals at COP24 in Poland.

 

The 15 winning activities fall within one of Momentum for Change’s four focus areas: (1) Planetary Health, (2) Climate Neutral Now, (3) Women for Results, and (4) Financing for Climate Friendly Investment. All activities will be showcased at a series of special events during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland (2-14 December 2018).

Last summer, a group of youth from Fiji, Palau, Timor-Leste, Seychelles, Mauritius, Singapore, and Barbados joined Peace Boat to take part in the second edition of the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme. During the programme, Peace Boat filmed a short documentary directed by the social impact filmmaker, Ryan Carl. This 6-minute video, ‘The Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors – A Short Film by Peace Boat’ aims to contribute to the Talanoa Dialogue for Climate Ambition, a process to take stock of collective efforts to reduce emissions and build greater resilience, in line with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.

[video:https://vimeo.com/289616328]

Through its 35-year history of conducting educational voyages, Peace Boat has visited many small islands states organizing study and exchange programmes. During this time, Peace Boat has witnessed first-hand how these small territories on the front line of climate change have experienced a degradation of their coastal areas. In 2017, Peace Boat began the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme to bring youth leaders from countries which are members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to travel onboard our ship, engaging in capacity building and bringing their message to citizens and government representatives through the voyage.

 

After the success of the first edition, which brought together youth from Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Seychelles, Maldives, Trinidad and Tobago, and Belize, the second edition was organized in June and July 2018. The third edition will take place in May-June 2019. Peace Boat’s Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme was launched at the United Nations Ocean Conference and recognized by the COP23 Presidency Secretariat as an Endorsed Event of COP23.

 

 

In 2018, the second edition of the programme started in Stockholm, Sweden. The young leaders engaged with local, regional and national governments, civil society and the scientific community taking part in awareness-raising and outreach events in ports visited, including in Copenhagen, Denmark; Bergen, Norway; Reykjavik, Iceland; Halifax, Canada and concluding their voyage in New York, US. Participants gave testimony of their experiences and the impact of climate change and marine degradation on their communities. Music, dance, art, and spoken word were incorporated into the activities in port for wider appeal and dissemination via social and traditional media, both as a call to action and to build momentum for action for the climate and ocean. Throughout the programme, there was an emphasis on possible solutions to the crisis as the youth shared about inspiring initiatives in their own countries at the local and government level. They learnt from local projects and efforts for climate action and marine protection in the countries they visited. The short documentary outlines some of the activities in the programme.

 

The short filmed by the social impact filmmaker Ryan Carl is available now on Vimeo.

What if you could generate and sell renewable energy for extra income? How do technologies like blockchain change the equation for climate finance? Could Internet bots be repurposed to drive climate activism? We asked a range of experts and executives from academia, design, tech, finance, and media to forecast the future of climate action. 

 

The result was A New Story to Spark the Future of Climate Action, a joint study launched this week from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and the Institute for the Future (IFTF) that identifies the zones of opportunity, barriers, and potential new actors over the next decade in the always-evolving realm of climate action.

 

 

The report was launched on September 13, 2018, at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco (download the report in pdf).

 

 

 

 

A major international summit ended today in California with delegates calling on national governments to join forces to step up climate action ahead of 2020—the year when global greenhouse gases need to peak and fall sharply thereafter to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

 

The meeting of leaders from states and regions, cities, business, investors and civil society at the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) underlined the transformational action they are already pursuing.

 

 

Over 100 leaders, for example, are now committed to carbon neutrality—or removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they emit with the Governor of California bringing the date forward for his state achieving this to 2045.

 

Leaders also unveiled a range of bold new commitments across five specific challenge areas aimed at taking their collective ambition to the next level. These are aimed at avoiding risks and seizing the opportunities outlined in a suite of reports including the new Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century by the New Climate Economy.

 

 

         ​  Result in $26 trillion in economic benefits worldwide through 2030.

         ​  Generate over 65 million new low-carbon jobs in 2030, equivalent to today’s entire workforces of the U.K. and Egypt combined.

         ​  Avoid over 700,000 premature deaths from air pollution in 2030.

         ​  Generate, through just subsidy reform and carbon pricing, an estimated US$2.8 trillion in government revenues per year in 2030—equivalent to the total GDP of India today—funds that can be used to invest in other public priorities or reduce distorting taxes.

         ​  By a shift to more sustainable forms of agriculture combined with strong forest protection, deliver potentially more than US $2 trillion per year of economic benefits, generating millions of jobs, improving food security—including by reducing food loss and waste—and delivering over a third of the climate change solution.

         ​  By restoring natural capital, especially our forests, degraded lands and coastal zones, strengthen our defenses and boost adaptation to climate impacts, from more extreme weather patterns to sea-level rise.

 

The announcements during and prior to the Global Climate Action Summit are helping realize this promise that will in turn support the achievement of the Paris Climate Change Agreement now and over the years and decades to come.

 

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr of California, and a Summit co-chair said, “This week, cities, states, businesses and non-profits stepped up and took strong action at the Global Climate Action Summit. Now it’s time to take this momentum back home. Climate change waits for nobody. Let’s get to work.”

 

An alliance of more than 60 state/regional, city governments and multinational businesses are now committed to a 100% zero emission targets through the ZEV Challenge.

 

         ​  12 regions – including Catalonia, Lombardy, Scotland, and Washington State, representing over 80 million people and over 5 percent of global GDP will have 100 per cent zero emission public fleets by 2030.

         ​  26 cities with 140 million people are committed to buy only zero emission buses starting in 2025 and creating zero emission areas in their cities starting in 2030.

 

Business is stepping-forward with 23 multinational companies in EV100, with revenue of over $470 billion, committed to taking fleets zero emission.

 

         ​  IKEA Group will transition to EV in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Shanghai by 2020 – to reach 100% zero emissions for last mile home delivery.

         ​  More than 3.5 million additional zero emission vehicle charging points will be installed by 2025, and a goal for transport hydrogen to be zero-emissions by 2030 was launched

 

Almost 400 global companies along with health care providers, cities, states and regions now have 100% renewable energy targets.

 

         ​  This includes nearly 150 major global companies such as Tata Motors and Sony who have joined the RE100 initiative: collective annual revenues of these companies total well over US $2.75 trillion and their annual electricity demand is higher than that of Poland.

         ​  Over 30 energy intensive industry and property players have set smart energy and net zero carbon buildings targets through EP100.

488 companies from 38 countries have adopted emission reduction pathways in line with the science of the Paris Agreement—up nearly 40 per cent from last year.

 

         ​  Nearly a fifth of Fortune Global 500 companies have now committed to set science-based emissions reduction targets including big emitters like India’s Dalmia Cement

         ​  As one example, Levi Strauss & Co. has an approved Science Based Target for a 90 per cent reduction in emissions in all owned-and-operated facilities and 40 per cent reduction in its supply chain by 2025.

         ​  Collectively these more than 480 companies represent $10 trillion of the global economy, equivalent to the value of the NASDAQ stock exchange.

 

At the Summit, 21 companies announced the Step Up Declaration, a new alliance dedicated to harnessing the power of emerging technologies and the fourth industrial revolution to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all economic sectors and ensure a climate turning point by 2020.

 

         ​  Signatories include several established climate leaders: Akamai Technologies, Arm, Autodesk, Bloomberg, BT, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, HP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lyft, Nokia, Salesforce, Supermicro, Symantec, Tech Mahindra, Uber, Vigilent, VMware, WeWork, Workday, and

         ​  Companies Autodesk, Safaricom and Unilever became the first to join a new Pledge for a Just Transition to Decent Jobs. They pledged to only buy from renewable energy providers that uphold fundamental workers’ rights including social protections and wage guarantees.

Over 70 big cities, home to some 425 million citizens, are now committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, including Accra, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Mexico City.

 

         ​  These actions alone will lead to a 2.5 percent cut of annual global greenhouse gas emissions and the avoidance of 12 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2050.

 

A further 9,100 cities representing 800 million citizens are now committed to city-wide climate action plans.

 

This could lead to reductions of more than 60 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between now and 2050.

 

         ​  Mayors of over 70 of the world’s key cities reaffirmed their commitment to delivering on the highest ambitions of the Paris Agreement, namely to keep a global temperature rise to below 1.5℃. .

 

Cities are getting the job done, with other new city commitments that have put key cities on the path towards zero waste, to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions in new and existing buildings; and to deliver inclusive climate action that benefits all citizens equitably.

 

         ​  During the maiden voyage of the San Francisco Bay Area’s first plug-in hybrid electric ferry, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed a comprehensive package of bills aimed at dramatically reducing carbon emissions by boosting the number of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations in California and getting dirty cars and trucks off the road.

         ​  Meanwhile Starbucks, as one example, announced that by 2025 the company will have 10,000 Greener Stores globally, encompassing existing stores and new stores and renovations.

 

A powerful Leaders Group and a new alliance linking over 100 NGOs, businesses, state and local governments, indigenous groups and local communities was launched to fire up action across the forest, food and land agendas.

 

         ​  Over 100 global supply chain actors including supermarket chain Tesco and investors–managing over US $5.6 trillion–pledged to work with a variety of organizations to halt deforestation and native vegetation loss in the Cerrado, Brazil.

         ​  Walmart announced a new platform to identify high-risk jurisdictions and source palm oil and paper and pulp from jurisdictions with no deforestation. As an example, Unilever – an anchor partner and supplier to Walmart – will support farmer certification as well as restoration in the Sugut, Kinabatangan and Tawau river basins in Sabah, Malaysia.

         ​  Ecuador’s Inter-institutional Committee on Sustainable Palm Oil seeks to balance economic growth, productivity, and forest conservation and preservation. To achieve this, the Committee will work towards increasing production of palm oil on existing cultivation areas, by implementing sustainable agricultural practices based on national legislation and international standards, including the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO); thus, decreasing pressure on remaining forests in the country and strengthening the capacities of smallholder producers on sustainable management. These combined actions will contribute to Ecuador’s advancement in the fight against deforestation, using a jurisdictional sectoral approach, with a vision towards reducing and eliminating deforestation from palm oil production in the Amazon by 2025, as well as achieving zero deforestation from the sector by 2030, nation-wide

         ​  Through the Pacific Coast Collaborative, states and cities on the United States’ West Coast committed to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030, a commitment with the potential to reduce 25 million tons of GHG emissions per year from the often-overlooked food sector.

         ​  The Global Environment Facility announced $500 million in funding to drive improved land use and forest conservation.

         ​  Nine of the world’s leading philanthropic foundations announced their intent to commit at least $459 million through 2022 to the protection, restoration and expansion of forests and lands worldwide—the announcement underlined indigenous peoples’ and traditional communities’ collective land rights and resource management.

         ​  Coral Vita announced it would be collaborating with Mote Marine Lab and Gates Coral Lab to commercialize innovative, resiliency-driven, and super-fast growing methods of ‘coral farming’ to replace dead and dying ones in the Caribbean. The pilot will be in Grand Bahama and then extended to other countries in the region and the world.

         ​  An initial $1 million public-private partnership between the office of US Senator Brian Shatz of Hawaii and NOAA, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Marc and Lynne Benioff was announced to support monitoring and research at the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

The Investor Agenda was formally launched bringing together nearly 400 investors managing US $32 trillion of assets including CalPERS, the largest US pension fund; La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CPDQ), Danish pension fund PKA, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.

 

It means that investors with assets more than a third larger than the economy of the United States are now firmly focused on accelerating and scaling-up financial flows into climate action and building a more sustainable, low-carbon, global economy.

 

         ​  CDPQ, Canada’s second largest pension fund has, for example, committed to increase its low-carbon investments by 50% by 2020, representing more than US$6.2 billion in new investment, and pledged to reduce the carbon intensity of its portfolio by 25% by 2025.

         ​  PKA, Denmark’s labor market pension fund manager, announced it plans to increase its investments in low-carbon climate solutions to 10 percent of its assets.

         ​  APG, the Dutch pension fund manager, announced it would no longer be investing in any coal related infrastructure going forward.

         ​  New York City announced it would be doubling its investments in clean energy and climate solutions to $4 billion over the next three years.

 

296 investors have now joined Climate Action 100+ which is working with some of the highest emitting companies to assist them in lowering emissions, getting on track with clean energy and the goals of the Paris Agreement.

 

         ​  The Green Bond Pledge announced founding signatories including the City of Mexico, Luxembourg Green Exchange and SFPUC who join the state treasurers of California, New Mexico and Rhode Island; some major cities including the City of San Francisco; Australian pension fund LGS and two financial firms —which together should spur the goal of seeing US $ 1 trillion-worth of green bonds issued by end 2020.

         ​  A Global Green Bond Partnership, (GGBP) backed by the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, Amundi and major climate finance and sustainability groups was launched with the aim of supporting and assisting sub-national and corporate green bond issuance.

         ​  42 financial institutions gathered under the mainstreaming Climate Action in Financial Institutions initiative, representing over $13 trillion in assets, announced a commitment to helping cities, states, and regions finance climate action, including Multilateral Development Banks, members of the International Development Finance Club as well as leading private financial institutions from developing and developed countries.

 

At the end of the final plenary, Governor Edmund G Brown Jr announced that California would be developing its own climate change pollutant-monitoring satellite in partnership with San Francisco earth-imaging company Planet Labs.

 

The news came as delegates issued the Summit’s Call to Global Climate Action:

 

“We, the people gathered at the Global Climate Action Summit, and communities around the world calling for climate action, commit to a climate-safe future for all.”

 

“Now is the time for all leaders to step up and take bold action. Climate change is a threat to all humanity, and it can only be solved by a global cooperative effort. Only together will we transform our communities and energy systems, create employment opportunities and economic prosperity, protect our oceans and natural environment, and complete the transition to a zero-carbon world.”

 

“We call on the national governments of the world to: Step-Up Ambition Now including in the form of enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020, consistent with what science tells us is needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement Now; Chart a Clear path to your Zero-carbon future and Empower Bottom-Up Climate Action,” it says.

 

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN climate change and Summit co-chair, said: “This Summit and its Call to Action make an important contribution towards achieving our collective goal: to keep global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with the Paris Agreement. It will encourage governments worldwide to step up their actions, demonstrating the vital role that states and regions, companies, investors, and civil society are playing to tackle climate change.”

 

Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group and Summit co-chair, said: “The coming together of businesses, cities, states and regions at the GCAS has demonstrated the momentum that is needed to step up action on climate change. It has shown that the world doesn’t need to wait. Leaders the world over need to be authentic, committed and need to re-inspire people to follow this path. Acting on climate is at the core of the Mahindra Group, It is for this reason that I have extended my pledge that the entire Mahindra Group will become carbon neutral.”

 

Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs of China and Summit co-chair, said: “China will 100% achieve its Paris commitment”

 

UN Development Programmes Goodwill Ambassador and Danish Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster–Waldau and Aidan Gallagher, UN Environment Youth Advocate and American actor in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, were also asked to help take the Call and Outcomes to the American people and people around the globe via social media.

 

Both celebrities are supporting the New American Road Trip—a journey across the United States by electric car from San Francisco to New York where it is planned to hand over the document to leaders at the One Planet Summit, convened by President Macron of France, on Sept. 26 during the annual Climate Week.

Dear friends of planet Earth,

 

Thank you for coming to the UN Headquarters today.

 

I have asked you here to sound the alarm.

 

Climate change is the defining issue of our time – and we are at a defining moment.

 

 

We face a direct existential threat.

 

Climate change is moving faster than we are – and its speed has provoked a sonic boom SOS across our world.

 

If we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us.

 

That is why, today, I am appealing for leadership – from politicians, from business and scientists, and from the public everywhere.

 

We have the tools to make our actions effective.

 

What we still lack – even after the Paris Agreement – is the leadership and the ambition to do what is needed.

 

Dear friends,

 

Let there be no doubt about the urgency of the crisis.

 

We are experiencing record-breaking temperatures around the world.

 

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the past two decades included 18 of the warmest years since 1850, when records began.

 

This year is shaping up to be the fourth hottest.

 

Extreme heatwaves, wildfires, storms and floods are leaving a trail of death and devastation.

 

Last month the state of Kerala in India suffered its worst monsoon flooding in recent history, killing 400 people and driving 1 million more from their homes.

 

We know that Hurricane Maria killed almost 3,000 people in Puerto Rico last year, making it one of the deadliest extreme weather disasters in U.S. history.

 

Many of those people died in the months after the storm because they lacked access to electricity, clean water and proper healthcare due to the hurricane.

 

What makes all of this even more disturbing is that we were warned.

 

Scientists have been telling us for decades. Over and over again.

 

Far too many leaders have refused to listen.

 

Far too few have acted with the vision the science demands.

 

We see the results. 

 

In some situations, they are approaching scientists’ worst-case scenarios.

 

Arctic sea ice is disappearing faster than we imagined possible.

 

This year, for the first time, thick permanent sea ice north of Greenland began to break up.

 

This dramatic warming in the Arctic is affecting weather patterns across the northern hemisphere.

 

Wildfires are lasting longer and spreading further.

 

Some of these blazes are so big that they send soot and ash around the world, blackening glaciers and ice caps and making them melt even faster.

 

Oceans are becoming more acidic, threatening the foundation of the food chains that sustain life.

 

Corals are dying in vast amounts, further depleting vital fisheries.

 

And, on land, the high level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is making rice crops less nutritious, threatening well-being and food security for billions of people. 

 

As climate change intensifies, we will find it harder to feed ourselves.

 

Extinction rates will spike as vital habitats decline.

 

More and more people will be forced to migrate from their homes as the land they depend on becomes less able to support them.

 

This is already leading to many local conflicts over dwindling resources.

 

This past May, the World Meteorological Organization reported that the planet marked another grim milestone: the highest monthly average for carbon dioxide levels ever recorded.

 

Four hundred parts per million has long been seen as a critical threshold.

 

But we have now surpassed 411 parts per millions and the concentrations continue to rise.

 

This is the highest concentration in 3 million years. 

 

Dear friends,

 

We know what is happening to our planet.

 

We know what we need to do.

 

And we even know how to do it.

 

But sadly, the ambition of our action is nowhere near where it needs to be.

 

When world leaders signed the Paris Agreement on climate change three years ago, they pledged to stop temperatures rising by less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to work to keep the increase as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.

 

These targets were really the bare minimum to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

 

But scientists tell us that we are far off track.

 

According to a UN study, the commitments made so far by Parties to the Paris Agreement represent just one-third of what is needed.

 

The mountain in front of us is very high.

 

But it is not insurmountable.

 

We know how to scale it.

 

Put simply, we need to put the brake on deadly greenhouse gas emissions and drive climate action.

 

We need to rapidly shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels.

 

We need to replace them with clean energy from water, wind and sun.

 

We must halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and change the way we farm.

 

We need to embrace the circular economy and resource efficiency.

 

Our cities and transport sectors will need to be overhauled.

 

How we heat, cool and light our buildings will need to be rethought so we waste less energy.

 

And this is exactly where this conversation can become exciting.

 

Because, so much of the conversation on climate change focuses on the doom and gloom.

 

Of course, warnings are necessary. But fear will not get the job done.

 

No, what captures my imagination is the vast opportunity afforded by climate action.

 

Dear friends,

 

Enormous benefits await humankind if we can rise to the climate challenge.

 

A great many of these benefits are economic.

 

I have heard the argument – usually from vested interests -- that tackling climate change is expensive and could harm economic growth.

 

This is hogwash.

 

In fact, the opposite is true.

 

We are experiencing huge economic losses due to climate change.

 

Over the past decade, extreme weather and the health impact of burning fossil fuels have cost the American economy at least 240 billion dollars a year.

 

This cost will explode by 50 per cent in the coming decade alone.

 

By 2030, the loss of productivity caused by a hotter world could cost the global economy 2 trillion dollars.

 

More and more studies also show the enormous benefits of climate action.

 

Last week I was at the launch of the New [Climate] Economy report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate Change.

 

It shows that that climate action and socio-economic progress are mutually supportive, with gains of 26 trillion dollars predicted by 2030 compared with business as usual. If we pursue the right path.

 

For example, for every dollar spent restoring degraded forests, as much as $30 dollars can be recouped in economic benefits and poverty reduction.

 

Restoring degraded lands means better lives and income for farmers and pastoralists and less pressure to migrate to cities.

 

Climate-resilient water supply and sanitation could save the lives of more than 360,000 infants every year.

 

And clean air has vast benefits for public health.

 

The International Labour Organization reports that common sense green economy policies could create 24 million new jobs globally by 2030.

 

In China and the United States, new renewable energy jobs now outstrip those created in the oil and gas industries.

 

And, in Bangladesh the installation of more than four million solar home systems has created more than 115,000 jobs and saved rural households over 400 million dollars in polluting fuels.

 

So, not only would a shift to renewable energy save money, it would also create new jobs, waste less water, boost food production and clean the polluted air that is killing us.

 

There is nothing to lose from acting; there is everything to gain.

 

Now, there are still many who think that the challenge is too great.

 

But I deeply disagree.

 

Humankind has confronted and overcome immense challenges before; challenges that have required us to work together and to put aside division and difference to fight a common threat.

 

That is how the United Nations came into action.

 

It is how we have to helped to end wars, to stop diseases, to reduce global poverty and to heal the ozone hole.

 

Now we stand at an existential crossroad.

 

If we are to take the right path – the only sensible path -- we will have to muster the full force of human ingenuity.

 

But that ingenuity exists and is already providing solutions.

 

And so dear friends,

 

Another central message - technology is on our side in the battle to address climate change.

 

The rise of renewable energy has been tremendous.

 

Today, it is competitive [with] – or even cheaper – than coal and oil, especially if one factors in the cost of pollution.

 

Last year, China invested 126 billion dollars in renewable energy, an increase of 30 per cent on the previous year.

 

Sweden is set to hit its 2030 target for renewable energy this year – 12 years early.

 

By 2030, wind and solar energy could power more than a third of Europe.

 

Morocco is building a solar farm the size of Paris that will power more than one million homes by 2020 with clean, affordable energy.

 

Scotland has opened the world’s first floating wind farm.

 

There are many other signs of hope.

 

Countries rich in fossil fuels, like the Gulf States and Norway, are exploring ways to diversify their economies.

 

Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in renewables to move from an oil economy to an energy economy.

 

Norway’s 1 trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund – the largest in the world – has moved away from investments in coal and has dropped a number of palm and pulp-paper companies because of the forests they destroy. 

 

There are also promising signs that businesses are waking up to the benefits of climate action.

 

More than 130 of the world’s largest and most influential businesses plan to power their operations with 100 per cent renewable energy.

 

Eighteen multinationals will shift to electric vehicle fleets.

 

And more than 400 firms will develop targets based on the latest science in order to manage their emissions.

 

One of the world’s biggest insurers – Allianz – will stop insuring coal-fired power plants.

 

Investments are shifting too.

 

More than 250 investors representing 28 trillion dollars in assets have signed on to the Climate Action 100+ initiative.

 

They have committed to engage with the world’s largest corporate greenhouse [gas] emitters to improve their climate performance and ensure transparent disclosure of emissions. 

 

Many such examples are going to be showcased this week at the important Global Climate Action Summit being convened by Governor Brown in California.

 

All the pioneers I mentioned have seen the future.

 

They are betting on green because they understand this is the path to prosperity and peace on a healthy planet.

 

The alternative is a dark and dangerous future.

 

These are all important strides.

 

But they are not enough.

 

The transition to a cleaner, greener future needs to speed up.

 

 

We stand at a truly “use it or lose it” moment.

 

Over the next decade or so, the world will invest some 90 trillion dollars in infrastructure.

 

And so we must ensure that that infrastructure is sustainable or we will lock in a high-polluting dangerous future.

 

And for that to happen, the leaders of the world need to step up.

 

The private sector, of course, is poised to move, and many are doing so.

 

But a lack of decisive government action is causing uncertainty in the markets and concern about the future of the Paris Agreement.

 

We can’t let this happen.

 

Existing technologies are waiting to come online – cleaner fuels, alternative building materials, better batteries and advances in farming and land use.

 

These and other innovations can have a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so we can hit the Paris targets and inject the great ambition that is so urgently needed.

 

Governments must also end harmful subsidies for fossil fuels, institute carbon pricing that reflects the true cost of polluting greenhouse [gas] emissions and incentivizes the clean energy transition.

 

Dear friends,

 

I have spoken of the emergency we face, the benefits of action and the feasibility of a climate-friendly transformation.

 

There is another reason to act -- moral duty.

 

The world’s richest nations are the most responsible for the climate crisis, yet the effects are being felt first and worst by the poorest nations and the most vulnerable peoples and communities.

 

We already see this injustice in the incessant and increasing cycle of extreme droughts and ever more powerful storms.

 

Women and girls, in particular, will pay the price – not only because their lives will become harder but because, in times of disaster, women and girls always suffer disproportionally.

 

Richer nations must therefore not only cut their emissions but do more to ensure that the most vulnerable can develop the necessary resilience to survive the damage these emissions are causing.

 

It is important to note that, because carbon dioxide is long-lasting in the atmosphere, the climate changes we are already seeing will persist for decades to come.

 

It is necessary for all nations to adapt, and for the richest ones to assist the most vulnerable.

 

Dear friends,

 

This is the message I would like to make clear in addressing the world leaders this month’s in the General Assembly in New York.

 

I will tell them that climate change is the great challenge of our time.

 

That, thanks to science, we know its size and nature.

 

That we have the ingenuity, and the resources and tools to face it.

 

And that leaders must lead.

 

We have the moral and economic incentives to act.

 

What is still missing – still, even after Paris – is the leadership, and the sense of urgency and true commitment to [a] decisive multilateral response.

 

Negotiations towards implementation guidelines for operationalizing the Paris Agreement ended yesterday in Bangkok with some progress -- but far from enough.

 

The next key moment is in Poland in December.

 

I call on leaders to use every opportunity between now and then -- the G7, the G20 gatherings as well as meetings of the General Assembly, World Bank and International Monetary Fund -- to resolve the sticking points.

 

We cannot allow Katowice to remind us of Copenhagen.

 

The time has come for our leaders to show they care about the people whose fate they hold in their hands.

 

 

We need them to show they care about the future – and even the present.

 

That is why I am so pleased to have such a strong representation of youth in the audience today.

 

It is imperative that civil society -- youth, women’s groups, the private sector, communities of faith, scientists and grassroots movements around the world -- call their leaders to account. As I was told myself by my Youth Envoy.

 

I call -- in particular -- on women’s leadership. 

 

When women are empowered to lead, they are the drivers of solutions.

 

Nothing less than our future and the fate of humankind depends on how we rise to the climate challenge.

 

 

It affects every aspect of the work of the United Nations.

 

Keeping our planet’s warming to well below 2 degrees is essential for global prosperity, people’s well-being and the security of nations.

 

That is why, next September, I will convene a Climate Summit to bring climate action to the top of the international agenda.

 

Today, I am announcing the appointment of Luis Alfonso de Alba, a well-respected leader in the climate community, as my Special Envoy to lead those preparations.

 

His efforts will complement those of my Special Envoy for Climate Action, Michael Bloomberg, and my Special Advisor Bob Orr, who will help to mobilize private finance and catalyze bottom-up action.

 

The Summit next year will come exactly one year before countries will have to enhance their national climate pledges under the Paris Agreement.

 

Only a significantly higher level of ambition will do.

 

To that end, the Summit will focus on areas that go to the heart of the problem – the sectors that create the most emissions and the areas where building resilience will make the biggest difference.

 

The Summit will provide an opportunity for leaders and partners to demonstrate real climate action and showcase their ambition.

 

We will bring together players from the real economy and real politics, including representatives of trillions of dollars of assets, both public and private.

 

I want to hear about how we are going to stop the increase in emissions by 2020, and dramatically reduce emissions to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century.

 

We need cities and states to shift from coal to solar and wind -- from brown to green energy. 

 

Our great host city, New York, is taking important steps in this direction -- and working with other municipalities to spur change.

 

We need increased investments and innovation in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies across buildings, transport, and industry.

 

And we need the oil and gas industry to make their business plans compatible with the Paris agreement and the Paris targets.

 

I want to see a strong expansion in carbon pricing.

 

I want us to get the global food system right by ensuring that we grow our food without chopping down large tracts of forest.

 

We need sustainable food supply chains that reduce loss and waste.

 

And we must halt deforestation and restore degraded lands.

 

I want to rapidly speed up the trend towards green financing by banks and insurers, and encourage innovation in financial and debt instruments to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable nations such as small island states and bolster their defences against climate change.

 

And I want to see governments fulfilling their pledge to mobilize 100 billion dollars a year for climate action in support of the developing world.

 

We need to see the Green Climate Fund become fully operational and fully resourced.

 

But for all this, we need governments, industry and civil society reading from the same page – with governments front and centre driving the movement for climate action.

 

I am calling on all leaders to come to next year’s Climate Summit prepared to report not only on what they are doing, but what more they intend to do when they convene in 2020 for the UN climate conference and where commitments will be renewed and surely ambitiously increased.

 

And it is why I am calling on civil society, and young people in particular, to campaign for climate action.

 

Let us use the next year for transformational decisions in boardrooms, executive suites and parliaments across the world. 

 

Let us raise our sights, build coalitions and make our leaders listen.

 

I commit myself, and the entire United Nations, to this effort. We will support all leaders who rise to the challenge I have outlined today.

 

Dear friends,

 

There is no more time to waste.

 

As the ferocity of this summer’s wildfires and heatwaves shows, the world is changing before our eyes.

 

We are careering towards the edge of the abyss.

 

It is not too late to shift course, but every day that passes means the world heats up a little more and the cost of our inaction mounts.

 

Every day we fail to act is a day that we step a little closer towards a fate that none of us wants -- a fate that will resonate through generations in the damage done to humankind and life on earth.

 

Our fate is in our hands.

 

The world is counting on all of us to rise to the challenge before it’s too late.

 

I count on you all.

 

Thank you.

 

We also know that, globally, forests and terrestrial soils combined store more than two and half times as much carbon as the atmosphere. And we know that, with some changes in how we manage our landscapes, they could emit less carbon and store much more.

 

So given all that we do know, here’s one thing I don’t know—why aren’t we investing more in nature’s ability to address climate change?

 

It’s not for lack of evidence. Research by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and fourteen partner organizations shows that with some changes in land-use practices over the next decade, nature could provide a third of the emissions reductions we need between now and 2030 to keep global temperature rise below 2°C. And these are solutions that are available today, with real possibilities for scaling.

 

Despite this, it seems that collectively we have forgotten the role that nature can play in mitigating climate change. Natural climate solutions might offer a third of the solution for carbon emissions, but they take up less than 1 percent of the public discussion and just 3 percent of the public funding for emissions reduction. About 70 percent of the countries who have signed the Paris Agreement do reference land-use in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), but very few include any specific actions or targets.

 

 

Still, as my colleague Lynn Scarlett reminds us, national commitments are not all that matter—climate change solutions are happening from the ground up. This is one promising signal of the upcoming Global Climate Action Summit. In addition to calling for more ambitious commitments on the national level, this event is shining a spotlight on the subnational actors who are taking action now to help us meet our global climate goals. Even as we work to raise national and global ambition on climate action, states and regions are setting their own ambitious targets. Cities are banding together—through organizations like C40 and the 100 Resilient Cities Network—to share best practices for adaptation and mitigation and present a united front on climate leadership. Business leaders are stepping up, making their own commitments to make their operations more sustainable. And indigenous peoples and local communities of all sizes are making investments in nature, both for their economies and their environment.

 

Meanwhile, nonprofit organizations, including TNC, are coming together under the Nature4Climate campaign to speak with one voice about the importance of natural climate solutions. These solutions are not just an imperative for climate action—they are also an opportunity. A working forest, when sustainably managed, can be both a carbon sink and a source of jobs. Smarter forestry practices like reduced impact logging for carbon (RIL-C) can maintain timber harvest while preserving more standing trees. And changes in agricultural practices can reduce carbon emissions and enhance the health and carbon content of soils to increase crop yields.

 

 

We are seeing the powerful potential for these solutions to come together at the subnational level—and on a large landscape scale. For example, TNC has worked for several years in the East Kalimatan province of Indonesia and in the three states comprising Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where regional governments have signed Green Growth Compacts with local industry partners that aim to leverage the forestry and agricultural sectors for economic development while reducing deforestation and reducing current land-based emissions. 

 

However, reducing emissions is probably not enough to keep the climate in safe boundaries—we need to also draw more carbon out of the atmosphere. Restoring ecosystems may be our best option for doing so in the near term.

 

Restoring degraded lands offers another sourcefor economic growth while tackling climate change on the ground. Globally, the nascent restoration economy is estimated to produce at least 9 billion in annual economic activity, with the potential to grow much larger. Consider: current national commitments for reforestation add up 160 million acres—an area the size of South Africa. This could be huge untapped opportunity for the companies that figure out how to deliver on those commitments efficiently.

 

National commitments are of course vitally important—they represent one of the most important ways to set goals and hold ourselves accountable at the global level. But it’s important not to lose sight of everything happening at the subnational level, especially when it comes to natural climate solutions. The immediate impact we’re seeing from local, lands-based work is crucial—our research also indicates we need to accelerate investment in natural climate solutions in the next ten years to ensure nature’s maximum capacity to reduce emissions and store more carbon in the landscape.

 

And here is one more thing that we know—if we don’t act soon enough, the results of climate change will likely be catastrophic. Hopefully the Global Climate Action Summit will yield new commitments, new opportunities for on the ground action, and new investments in nature-based solutions—because making those investments today may be our best route to a safer, more resilient tomorrow.