Here's How the UN Hits Their Sustainable Development Goals on Climate

Each goal is delicately bound to the others (so, for instance, without Goal #13 of "Taking Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and its Impacts," Goal #16 for "Promoting Just, Peaceful, and Inclusive Societies" can't succeed) But with more anti-science legislators in the US Congress than ever before, the UN has to reach individuals, to change hearts and minds, if it wants to reach its goals in America.

As New York City plans to host Climate Change Week from September 18-24, SDG #13 is at the top of everyone's minds. There are mountains of facts compiled by non-partisan scientists and researchers: climate change is happening at unprecedented rates with global emissions of CO2 increasing by almost 50 percent since 1990 and emissions growing more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the previous decades.

But the question, when faced with such daunting statistics, is what can we do about it? For that, we need to look at some of the accomplishments that have already been made as a result of setting and following up on SDGs.

"There's a need to connect climate change closer to people," said Erik Solheim, Director of UN Environment, in an interview with VICE Impact, citing China as a country making serious progress.

"China wants to clamp down on pollution," Solheim said. "The Chinese recently removed the last coal fired plant in Beijing, and they are already breathing much better air. It's fantastic for the people and very good for the environment at the same time."

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Solheim said the way China's sustainability efforts are painted by the current US administration is inaccurate.

"It may have been fair ten years back, but now solar and wind technologies have made them competitive with coal," he said. "Moving into renewable energies, you improve people's health, do good for the climate and do good for the economy at the same time. People should be inspired by what China has done rather than criticize it."

But Solheim also pointed points out there have been great innovations in the US in terms of energy on the state level. When the US withdrew from the monumental Paris climate agreement, through which 175 countries agreed to work towards sustainability goals to reduce climate change, it felt like a big blow. But the response, Mr. Solheim argues, may have been the groundswell we needed.

"It may come as a surprise," he said, "but it has brought a lot of new energy into the climate struggle for two main reasons. It's made citizens and governments all over the planet reconfirm that they are committed to climate. And secondly, in the US, all the main companies like Google and Apple and Amazon and Microsoft have all said they want to move towards a green economy, and that they will take action. And states are taking a leadership role."

Through "America's Pledge", California Governor Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg brought together states, cities, and corporations to publicly vow to live up to the goals of the Paris agreement.

"In the US, emission levels are determined far more by cities, states, and businesses than they are by our federal government – and each of these groups is taking action because it's in their own best interest," said Michael Bloomberg, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, in a statement. "Reducing emissions is good for the economy and good for public health. The American government may have pulled out of the Paris Agreement, but American society remains committed to it – and we will redouble our efforts to achieve its goals. We're already halfway there."

Over the past ten years, the United States has been a leader in the reduction of carbon emissions without the help of the federal government. In fact, Bloomberg pointed out in an opinion piece in The Guardian, "the US Congress has never passed a single law directly aimed at climate change."

Along with laying out goals, the SDG initiative lays out targets to meet those goals and has a reporting system so people can learn about how countries, cities, and corporations are meeting those goals.

Targets related to climate change include strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries, integrating climate change measures into national policies, improving education and raising awareness about climate change, implementing the commitment by developed country parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing $100 billion annually by 2020, and raising capacity for climate change related planning and management by focusing on women, youth, and local and marginalized communities.

Part of this comes back to connecting the effects of climate change to the people.
"In the US, there are many more jobs in solar than in coal, and they are cleaner, there are more opportunities for women," Solheim said. "We need to connect climate to jobs."

The hope is that the Sustainable Development Goals and their corresponding targets have set the ball in motion enough that no one country, or one person, can stop the momentum. But individuals with a conscience will have to keep fighting, and inspiring, if they want to keep those waters from rising.

Find out how to get involved and connect with the SDGs at the personal level now, and get your local officials to go 100 percent sustainable with the Sierra Club's Ready for 100 campaign.