A race against time and against ourselves. Against the dangerous idea that we can’t do this, that there is no way.
Unlike most races, it won’t have one winner. In this race we all win, or we all lose. Winning it requires a radical, unprecedented level of collaboration, from all corners of our world. From our cities, businesses, regions and investors. From people everywhere.
Together we’re racing for a better world. A zero carbon and resilient world. A healthier, safer, fairer world. A world of wellbeing, abundance and joy, where the air is fresher, our jobs are well-paid and dignified, and our future is clear.
To get there we need to run fast, and get faster. We need more and more people to join the race, and right now. This is not about 2050, it’s about today.
Together, we can do this. And we’re already on our way.
The UN High-Level Climate Champions and the Marrakech Partnership are spearheading the race to a cleaner, safer, healthier and more resilient world. Through our campaigns, Race to Resilience and Race to Zero, we are elevating ambition and mobilizing credible climate action among cities, regions, businesses and investors.
Seafood firms can reduce their impact on climate and the oceans – and in doing so can ensure they have a long-term thriving business, writes Nigel Topping, UN High Level Champion for Climate Action at COP26.
The more we delay action, burn fossil fuels and destroy nature, the more brutal climate change will become, according to the latest IPCC scientific report on mitigating climate.
The IPCC’s latest report on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability made it explicit that people living in informal settlements are the most vulnerable urban populations to climate change.
As with tortillas in Mexico and rice in West Africa, symbolism around bread has a spiritual dimension. Egyptians handle bread with care and respect at the bakery, on the street and in their homes.
From enhancing the integrity of our campaigns to refining our criteria, the Climate Champions regularly produce reports that help improve, clarify and communicate our work.
Securing gender equality and women’s full representation in vital negotiations about humanity’s future—like those happening at COP26—rely on fulfilling girls’ basic human rights, argue Kristen P. Patterson, Director, and Carissa Patrone, Program Coordinator, Drawdown Lift, Project Drawdown.
“The opportunities for adapting, while shifting our economy to be prosperous, sustainable and equitable, are plenty – we just have to have the will and the courage to seize these opportunities” – Camille Manning Broome, President and CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) explains why a happy ending for Louisiana is possible.
Argentina’s third largest city Rosario’s urban agriculture program has evolved from an approach to put food on the table, to a tool for job creation, and more recently to a strategy for tackling climate change.
Women and girls should be at centre stage in the fight for climate justice and a transformative shift towards a disaster-proof Africa, according to the Africa Consultation on the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
A shift from viewing food waste as a problem to one where it can provide a rich foundation for regenerative farming can fundamentally accelerate restoring land soil health, as well as improve food resilience, argues UN Climate Champion Regenerative Agriculture Fellow, Leah Bessa.
“The opportunities for adapting, while shifting our economy to be prosperous, sustainable and equitable, are plenty – we just have to have the will and the courage to seize these opportunities” – Camille Manning Broome, President and CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) explains why a happy ending for Louisiana is possible.
Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, explains why “world leaders need to stop dancing around the harsh reality that fossil fuels are the main driver of the climate crisis and publicly endorse the need for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
If we are serious about achieving the dual goals of enhancing access to modern energy services and combating climate change in the long term, all stakeholders need to take decisive action. For lasting change, young people can be an important part of the solution, argues Sarah Hambly, Partnership and Communications Manager, Energy Saving Trust, co-Secretariat, Efficiency for Access.
The IPCC’s latest report on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability made it explicit that people living in informal settlements are the most vulnerable urban populations to climate change.
The Philippine’s financial hub, Makati, has joined Cities Race to Resilience. The city’s Mayor, Abigail Binay, explains why joining the campaign has helped the city remain on track with its climate actions in spite of the global pandemic.
Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity explains why we must put nature at the heart of urban development.
The High Level Champions have convened a group of global leaders with a range of expertise and knowledge across regions and sectors to support the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience.
One third of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees, face extinction globally. Professor Lindsay Jaacks explains why we need to think very carefully about releasing chemicals specifically designed to kill into the environment.
Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity explains why we must put nature at the heart of urban development.
“I’m not certain how much the natural world will have changed but I am certain that my children or grandchildren will ask me, who did this?” Kenyan climate activist, Elizabeth Wathuti’s letter to world leaders.
A new report commissioned by IUCN and the UNFCCC High Level Champions and steered by a working group of African partners ahead of Climate COP26 in Glasgow provides compelling, quantitative evidence of the positive impacts of regenerative agricultural practices
Massive Attack has commissioned the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research to produce a roadmap for live music, setting out emissions reductions that would make the sector compatible with Paris/1.5C targets.
Burberry has announced a strategy to protect, restore and regenerate nature, which includes expanding support for farming communities, in line with its commitment to become climate-positive by 2040.
One of the world’s most carbon intensive industries, the fashion industry, is joining forces to drive faster, wider emissions reductions across the fashion value chain between now and 2050.
With roughly half of Europe’s steel assets up for reinvestment this decade there is a unique opportunity to kick-start the transition by switching those production assets to zero-emission technologies.
We are now looking to fill a number of key roles in the team to maintain the momentum and further accelerate climate action leading up to COP 27 and beyond.
UN Race to Zero and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) – a net zero alliance responsible for more than $130 trillion in assets in 40 countries across the financial sector, today publishes its Net Zero Financing Roadmaps.
Commissioned by the UN High-Level Climate Action Champions, new research with support from Vivid Economics breaks down the numbers behind the where, who and how of the trillions of investments required to meet the net zero goal.
More than 30 leading financial institutions, collectively with over US$ 8.7 trillion in assets under management have committed to tackle agricultural commodity-driven deforestation as part of broader efforts to drive the global shift towards sustainable production and nature-based solutions.
The Boston Consulting Group has traced the “true value” of a cookie made from ingredients sourced from multiple countries and sold in the UK. The analysis could influence big value chain decisions, such as sourcing and supplier relationships and product formulation.
A review of 16 university carbon-management schemes showed that none had quantitatively considered how their land might be used to offset emissions. David Werner, Professor in Environmental Systems Modelling, Newcastle University explains why universities should use carbon offsetting strategies for the land under their management.
A new report commissioned by IUCN and the UNFCCC High Level Champions and steered by a working group of African partners ahead of Climate COP26 in Glasgow provides compelling, quantitative evidence of the positive impacts of regenerative agricultural practices
“We have to address who is leading, and how we are leading, to usher in transformation more quickly and more fully than we’re seeing right now,” Dr Katharine Wilkinson on gender inequality, culture, imagination, and the good and the bad of net zero commitments.
As we celebrate Earth Day and inch closer to COP26, 17 of the world’s greatest environmentalists – scientists, guardians of the planet, leaders, pioneers, activists, adventurers and ambassadors – reflect on their hopes for its outcome.
International climate change and human rights lawyer, Tessa Khan discusses the law’s role in holding governments and companies to account, the limitations of the legal process, and the eroding social license of the fossil fuel industry.
“We will all be watching to see what you will do to promote life, or whether you will promote death and destruction” – founder and exectuive director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Catherine Coleman Flower’s letter to world leaders.
The Exponential Roadmap Initiative spoke to UK headquartered multinational consumer goods company Unilever to find out about the actions they are taking to help halve global emissions by 2030.
An initiative, founded by the Ocean Race, is helping to increase understanding of ocean health by filling critical data gaps in remote areas and corroborating findings in locations where research already exists.
Legendary marine biologist, Chair and President of Mission Blue, and National Geographic Explorer, Dr Sylvia Earle explains what it will take to restore the health of our oceans after decades of deep decline.
Ocean-based solutions not only mitigate climate change but play a large role in climate adaptation. Opinion by Project Drawdown’s Emilia Jankowska, Mamta Mehra and Chad Frischmann.
The High Level Climate Champions and the ocean community have signed the Ocean for Climate Declaration: a call to governments and non-state actors to scale up ocean-based climate solutions and action.
Nonprofit art hub for sustainability, ReGenesis and the UN Climate Champions convened a group of artists, representing a range of disciplines, to open up the conversation on climate and help make it accessible to everyone.
With a remit set out in law to be “the guardian of the interests of future generations in Wales”, Sophie Howe is the world’s only Future Generations Commissioner. At COP26 she discusses how her interventions have secured fundamental changes to land use planning policy, major transport schemes and Government policy on housing – ensuring that decisions taken today are fit for the future.
We need to recognize the contributions of women as decision makers, stakeholders, educators, and experts across borders and sectors to drive long-term solutions. It’s time we realize women are the missing piece in our global efforts to protect and regenerate our planet, argues Mariah Levin & Gwendoline de Ganay, World Economic Forum.
Covid has hit culture hard. In Glasgow, half of the city’s 160 cultural organizations have no plans to reopen due to financial distress. It’s time to come up with a master plan to save the arts, which allows the industry to more easily deacarbonize, says Annika Ericsoon, founder of digital art condition report tool, Articheck.
Transforming global shipping is a critical part of reaching the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and building zero emissions, resilient global supply chains that billions of people rely on.
Green corridors have been likened to special economic zones at sea — arenas where companies deploy new technologies and business models at full scale, interacting with each other and with regulations and incentives tailored to their efforts.
This year’s global climate conference was the first to emphasize the benefits of accelerating zero-emissions transportation, and Drive Electric partners showed up in full force.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, electrifying transportation has the potential to catalyze emission reductions and investments while improving the quality of life in cities, according to the UN Environment Programme’s Movilidad eléctrica en América Latina y el Caribe (MOVE).
To mark World Water Day on March 22, UNICEF issued a video answering the questions most vital to the water crisis in the Middle East and North Africa region.
