OVERVIEW

Earth's climate is changing. Multiple lines of evidence show changes in our weather, oceans, ecosystems, and more. Natural causes alone cannot explain all of these changes. Human activities are contributing to climate change, primarily by releasing billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping gases, known as greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere every year. Climate changes will continue into the future. The more greenhouse gases we emit, the larger future climate changes will be.

Countries and communities around the world are already experiencing stepped-up climate change impacts – including droughts, floods, more intense and frequent natural disasters, and sea-level rise – and the most vulnerable are being hit the hardest.
• Under the Paris Agreement (adopted December 2015, in force November 2016), the world committed to limiting the rise in global temperatures to below 2C by the end of the century.

• Global temperatures have already risen 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Climate change increases volatility and threatens efforts to end poverty.
• Without urgent action to reduce vulnerability, provide access to basic services, and build resilience, climate change impacts could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030.

• The impact of extreme natural disasters is equivalent to a $520 billion loss in annual consumption and forces some 26 million people into poverty each year.

• Climate change will contribute to significant shifts in population settlements over time; development planning will have to take such shifts into account.

• Climate change is already having real, measurable impacts on human health, with impacts expected to grow. Co-pollutants associated with carbon emissions are already responsible for more than 7 million premature deaths each year, while direct costs to health are estimated to be between US$2-4 billion/year by 2030.

• Malnutrition is identified as the largest health impact of climate change in the 21st century. WHO estimates a 6% decline in global wheat yields and 10% fall in rice yields for each additional 1 °C rise in global temperature. Climate change is estimated to result in 10 million additional children being stunted by 2050

The financing required for an orderly transition to a low carbon, resilient global economy can be counted in the trillions, not billions.
• Over the next 15 years, the world will require about $90 trillion in new infrastructure – most of it in developing and middle-income countries. Making the right choices in favour of infrastructure that is climate resilient and locks in a low carbon development pathway is critical and urgent. Action now will avoid huge costs later.

• The IEA estimates that limiting the rise in global temperature to below 2 Celsius by the end of the century will require an average of $3.5 trillion a year in energy sector investments until 2050.

• To mobilize private sector climate financing at scale, the world needs a greener financial sector that integrates climate risks and opportunities and expands the use of approaches such as risk mitigation, blended finance, and green bonds.

Climate action is a vast opportunity for sustainable global development, with investment potential in the trillions of dollars and the ability to drive innovation and create green industries and new jobs.
• The IFC estimates that the NDCs of 21 emerging market economies alone represent $23 trillion in investment opportunities.

• According to IRENA, the global energy transition could contribute $19 trillion in economic gains by 2050.

• The shift to green jobs is underway – 2015 saw the number of US jobs in solar energy overtake those in oil and natural gas extraction. In China, there are 35 percent more people working in clean energy than in oil and gas.