SDG Action

🌍 Migration: a symptom of global imbalance, not the cause I’m grateful to have contributed to SDG Action with an article that explores the complex relationship between climate change and migration. Migration is too often framed as "the problem" when in reality, it’s a symptom of deeper systemic issues like inequality, poverty, and environmental degradation. By addressing these root causes through climate adaptation and inclusive, justice-centered policies, we can transform migration into an empowered choice rather than a forced necessity. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ef8hJb9g #ClimateAction #ClimateJustice #Migration #SDGs #SustainableDevelopment 

📣 🚨 InfluenceMap has launched the COP29 Corporate Climate Advocacy Landscape Assessment as part of its COP29 Corporate Accountability Platform. This new resource identifies the companies represented at COP29 by cross-referencing the UNFCCC-disclosed list of registered attendees against InfluenceMap’s database on corporate lobbying. ⚔ This year’s findings reflect a pitched battle between companies in the fossil fuel value chain that oppose science-aligned policy action, and a growing list of highly positive, strategically engaged companies, or ‘climate policy leaders’ who are increasingly active. Key Findings:  ❌ Only 17% of the companies attending COP29 have science-aligned climate policy advocacy positions (as defined by the IPCC 1.5C pathways).  ❌ These companies are matched by a further 21% of companies in attendance that are actively pushing for policy pathways likely to lock-in warming scenarios well in excess of the internationally agreed targets set out by the 2015 Paris Agreement.   ❌ 1/3 of industry associations attending COP29 covered by the LobbyMap database oppose science-aligned climate policy. The analysis suggests that although the proportion of companies of attending COP that demonstrate science-aligned policy engagement has almost doubled (from below 10% of corporate representatives in 2023 to almost 20% in 2024) a powerful minority of very active and influential companies and industry associations from the fossil fuel value chain are well represented at proceedings again this year. These entities are likely to be using their access to oppose progress on climate from within the confines of the event. 🛑 Oppositional companies with more than 10 COP29 delegates include: ExxonMobil, Gazprom, Petrobras and Lukoil.  🛑 Other negative companies with smaller delegations at COP29 include: Chevron, Eni, BMW, JBS, JFE Steel, Nippon Steel Corporation and Toyota. ❇ Companies that demonstrate science-aligned climate policy engagement and have more than 10 COP29 delegates include: Alphabet, SAP, Schneider Electric and SSE.  ❇ Other positive companies with smaller delegations at COP29 include: Unilever, Trane Technologies, Acciona, Vestas, Microsoft and Iberdrola. 🚩 The list of industry association COP29 attendees includes some of the most influential and negative entities covered by the InfluenceMap database, including The US Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute, The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), and the Federation of German Industries (BDI). Access the database here: https://lnkd.in/eywgsRjs Read our piece in SDG Action: https://lnkd.in/ehMUA-_z Dylan Tanner Ed Collins Tom Holen Vivek Parekh Mohammed Nasif Rose Harris Tanvi Rahim Kitty Hatchley Georgia Oddie Sofia Shehana Basheer

We’re pleased to see the SDG Action platform publish this article as part of their COP climate series, exploring how the circular economy can be a catalyst for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Based on insights from our Chatham House paper we released during the Summit of the Future, the article highlights the urgent need for systemic change to decouple growth from resource use while addressing climate, biodiversity, and equity challenges. By embedding circularity into global policy frameworks, we can unlock new pathways to progress on the SDGs, especially as we approach critical 2030 milestones. Collaboration across sectors and borders is key, and we’re excited to see this conversation grow at COP and beyond! #CircularEconomy #SDGs #ClimateAction #COP Claire Manuel Chatham House Environment and Society https://lnkd.in/eADp-cpX

Now that Trump has secured control of the White House and both bodies of Congress, it is worth revisiting Rachel Bowen Pittman and Elizabeth Métraux's article from September: https://lnkd.in/e-ZMJePS The ideological crusade against the UN will recommence, and the US and the world have much to lose. #SDGs, #UN, United Nations, United Nations Foundation, United Nations Association of the United States of America, United Nations Association - UK

#COP29 starts next week, and the Climate Policy Initiative argue that annual finance flows to tackle #climate change are at least $8 trillion short of where they need to be for the next 30 years. That gap is especially acute in the least developed countries and for #adaptation.   It means that one of the spotlights next week must be on how policymakers can better incentivise private finance to narrow the gap. This short blog from our CEO Rory Sullivan offers some thoughts on how to design policy to explicitly address this challenge and overcome the barriers to investment.   https://lnkd.in/ehG2eVaJ   Nicky Amos, Robert Black, Gemma James, SDG Action. Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), #GreenerTogether

🏦🌱A sustainable financial system is essential to achieving the #SDGs —and UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub is at the forefront of building it.   Read our OpEd in SDG Action to learn more about #sustainable finance that aligns investments—public and private—with development and #climate goals. To close the $4.2 trillion annual SDG financing gap, we need more than just high-level pledges; we need a comprehensive financial system that tracks both financial returns and sustainable impact.   Through the UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub, we're helping bridge this gap by: ✅Supporting Integrated National Financing Frameworks (#INFFs) in 86 countries, aligning public budgets with the #SDGs. ✅Developing initiatives like #Tax4SDGs and Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) to increase domestic revenue for SDG targets. ✅Equipping private investors and financial institutions with tools like the SDG Investor Platform and ISO/UNDP guidelines to bring sustainability to the core of investment strategies.    🆕 https://bit.ly/3UN9d0K Tom Beloe | SDG Action

UN COP29 starts today. Michael Lenox and I write about the need for a nuanced technology policy to help accelerate change for SDG Action. https://lnkd.in/ek4EKRKS

If you are interested in emissions trading systems and are wondering what will be crucial for them to deliver on their promises, SDG Action just published a piece I wrote :) Thank you, SDG Action! https://lnkd.in/dG6MAT6k #ETS #ClimatePolicy

Our CEO Rory Sullivan has written an article for SDG Action arguing that scaling up private climate finance requires governments and agencies to fully understand the financial characteristics of the activities and entities that need to be supported. He pays particular attention to emerging markets and to adaptation, the two areas that are most poorly served by private finance. "However, the reality is that most adaptation measures are not that attractive to private investment. While there are often clear economic or societal reasons to support such investments, it is often the case that relatively few of the benefits from adaptation finance accrue directly to the entity providing the investment. Even if there are private benefits, these are often long term. " https://lnkd.in/eQTq8dVP

While true progress towards a more sustainable economy seems further away than ever given yesterday's US election results, SDG Action published a short op-ed I wrote for them recently. I was asked to critically answer the question: ‘can existing market economies ever become fully circular?’. I could have answered with a single word (no), but ended up using about a thousand more, drawing from my earlier publication on this topic. Of course I realize at this point, we might be further away from reaching anything that resembles a truly circular economy than we might have hoped. Still, that doesn’t make it any less relevant or necessary.