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The publication provides a summary on the state of the climate indicators in 2023 with sections on key climate indicators, extreme events and impacts. The indicators include global temperatures, greenhouse gas concentration, ocean heat content, sea level rise, ocean acidification, Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, Greenland ice sheet and glaciers and snow cover, precipitation and stratospheric ozone, with an analysis of major drivers of inter-annual climate variability during the year including the El Niño Southern Oscillation and other ocean and atmospheric indices. The highlighted extreme events include those related to tropical cyclones and wind storms; flooding, drought and extreme heat and cold events. The publication also provides most recent finding on climate related risks and impacts including on food security and population displacement.

The WMO State of the Climate in Asia 2023, is the fourth edition of climate reports published annually for this region and has involved National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), WMO Regional Climate Centres (RCCs), and several research institutions, as well as United Nations agencies, international and regional organizations. The report provides the status of key climate indicators and latest data and information on impacts, risks and policy from United Nations agencies. It addresses specific physical science, socio-economic and policy aspects that are relevant to Asia and responds to Members needs in the fields of climate monitoring, climate change and climate services.

While climate change is a big threat to health, implementing solutions to address climate change presents a huge opportunity to promote better health and protect people from climate-sensitive diseases. Communicating the health risks of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions is both necessary and helpful. Health professionals are well-placed to play a unique role in helping their communities understand climate change, protect themselves, and realize the health benefits of climate solutions. This toolkit aims to help health professionals effectively communicate about climate change and health.

This report assembles an impressive set of data from 24 low- and middle-income countries in five world regions to measure the effects of climate change on rural women, youths and people living in poverty. It analyses socioeconomic data collected from 109 341 rural households (representing over 950 million rural people) in these 24 countries. These data are combined in both space and time with 70 years of georeferenced data on daily precipitation and temperatures. The data enable us to disentangle how different types of climate stressors affect people’s on-farm, off-farm and total incomes, labour allocations and adaptive actions, depending on their wealth, gender and age characteristics.

This paper describes how to achieve feminist climate justice through four interlinked dimensions (recognition, redistribution, representation, and reparation) and the principles of interdependence and intersectionality. It provides practical guidance on what countries need to do to transition to low-emission economies that are resilient to a changing climate, while recognizing the leadership of women, girls, and gender-diverse people in driving the change that is so urgently needed. It zooms in on the global food system as one illustration of how this framework can be applied and provides an analysis of the major barriers to accountability for gender-responsive climate action and how they can be overcome.

This Booklet summarizes the main results of the 2023 Climate Classroom edition.

The report finds that there has been progress since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. Greenhouse gas emissions in 2030, based on policies in place, were projected to increase by 16 per cent at the time of the agreement’s adoption. Today, the projected increase is 3 per cent. However, predicted 2030 greenhouse gas emissions still must fall by 28 per cent for the Paris Agreement 2°C pathway and 42 per cent for the 1.5°C pathway.

As things stand, fully implementing unconditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) made under the Paris Agreement would put the world on track for limiting temperature rise to 2.9°C above pre-industrial levels this century. Fully implementing conditional NDCs would lower this to 2.5°C.

The report calls for all nations to accelerate economy-wide, low-carbon development transformations. Countries with greater capacity and responsibility for emissions will need to take more ambitious action and support developing nations as they pursue low-emissions development growth.

The report looks at how stronger implementation can increase the chances of the next round of NDCs, due in 2025, bringing down greenhouse gas emissions in 2035 to levels consistent with 2°C and 1.5°C pathways. It also looks at the potential and risks of Carbon Dioxide Removal methods – such as nature-based solutions and direct air carbon capture and storage.

The case for a gender-responsive just transition towards low-carbon economies with quality, decent jobs for women and men is grounded in the Paris Agreement and a growing body of data and evidence that underscores the necessity of incorporating gender equality considerations in just transition policies and initiatives.

This policy brief discusses robust pathways to overcome the prevailing challenges to just transitions with gender equality. It calls for governments and other stakeholders to make commitments to a gender-responsive just transition and be held accountable for their commitments and actions. Concluding recommendations set forth actions and investments to build sustainable economies and societies that support the survival and flourishing of the planet and present and future generations.

The transformation of societies and economies towards paradigms centred on interdependence, care, and sustainability is urgently needed. In this context, this working paper sheds light on emerging efforts to address women’s and girls’ unpaid care, domestic, and communal work in a dramatically changing climate.

The paper discusses the ways in which climate change and environmental degradation disrupt the care economy and increase and intensify women’s and girls’ unpaid care, domestic, and communal work. The paper analyses emerging national efforts to address unpaid care and domestic work through multilateral environmental agreements and valuing paid and unpaid care work in gender-responsive just transitions.

The paper concludes with recommendations for governments, international organizations, UN agencies, academia, and civil society at a key moment for rethinking the dominant development model based on the extraction and exploitation of natural resources, fossil fuels, and human lives, and for making caring for people and the planet a central concern.

Climate change is a global emergency that puts the achievement of gender equality at great risk. As climate change intensifies around the world, many women and girls, especially those in situations of vulnerability, migrate in search of safety, livelihoods, and employment opportunities. Gender considerations shape the decision to migrate and the migration experience.

Greater collection and analysis of data is needed to ensure migration policies are responsive to the needs of women and girls migrating in the context of climate change. Existing international frameworks and mechanisms to manage safe and regular migration in relation to climate change are limited, and those that do exist have not fully mainstreamed gender equality considerations.

This policy brief explores the linkages among gender, migration, and climate change, and provides recommendations to policymakers and practitioners to ensure safe and regular migration for women and girls in the context of climate change.

This document presents the World Health Organization Operational framework for building climate resilient and low carbon health systems. The framework’s goal is to increase the climate resilience of health systems to protect and improve the health of communities in an unstable and changing climate, while optimizing the use of resources and implementing strategies to reduce GHG emissions. It aims to contribute to the design of transformative health systems that can provide safe and quality care in a changing climate.

The report, which includes input from more than 30 collaborating partners, features case studies from around the world showcasing how integrated climate and health action makes a very real difference in people’s daily life. This includes early warnings systems for extreme heat, pollen monitoring to help allergy sufferers and satellite surveillance for climate-sensitive diseases.

This report builds on 2021’s Children’s Climate Risk Index and examines water scarcity and water vulnerability along with the critical actions the international community must take at COP28 to protect children against climate change.

The report – which looks at progress in planning, financing and implementing adaptation actions – finds that the adaptation finance needs of developing countries are 10-18 times as big as international public finance flows. This is over 50 per cent higher than the previous range estimate. This report identifies seven ways to increase financing, including through domestic expenditure and international and private sector finance. Additional avenues include remittances, increasing and tailoring finance to Small and Medium Enterprises and a reform of the global financial architecture. The new Loss and Damage fund will also need to move towards more innovative financing mechanisms to reach the necessary scale of investment.

The report analyses the most common weather-related hazards that lead to the
largest number of displacements: floods, storms, droughts and wildfires.
Together, these hazards account for over 99 per cent of all weather-related
displacements recorded by IDMC since 2016, while hazards such as extreme heat,
erosion and landslides, make up the rest.3 Due to lack of available data, the analysis
does not assess the full range of weather-related events that can contribute to
displacement– particularly in relation to slower-onset climate processes. Therefore,
these findings represent conservative estimates, and the actual numbers of
climate-related displacements of children are likely to be much higher.
These new insights can help governments, United Nations agencies, civil
society, and affected communities, to identify children at risk of weather-related
displacement, map the areas most affected and most importantly, target efforts
and resources to the most vulnerable, with the aim of protecting children’s
futures from the impacts of displacement as the climate continues to change.

This strategy paper draws from existing research and practical project experience applying nature-based solutions (NBS) for adaptation and building climate resilience in informal areas to better understand the potential for upscaling implementation as well as the challenges.

The paper identifies (a) what are some of the interconnected opportunities and challenges of working on NBS to build climate resilience in informal areas, (b) what are some of the special considerations that may need to be acknowledged when planning or implementing NBS for adaptation in informal areas and finally (c) what are some of the best practices that can be identified to date.

It is intended that this strategy paper will support strategic discussions and programming to catalyze research and action on nature-based solutions in informal areas to reduce vulnerability, address climate risk, and contribute to sustainable development for the urban poor and the natural environment.

The State of Climate Ambition: Snapshot for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), provide analysis for this group of Climate Promise-supported countries, surrounding their NDC status and implementation readiness.

The Snapshot builds upon, and updates information, from UNDP’s The State of Climate Ambition (Oct 2021). It explores NDC submission, ambition and quality status while assessing progress on key systems and architecture for NDC implementation.

It also looks at areas of past and future Climate Promise support and showcases champion countries.

The State of Climate Ambition: Snapshot for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), provide analysis for this group of Climate Promise-supported countries, surrounding their NDC status and implementation readiness.

The Snapshot builds upon, and updates information, from UNDP’s The State of Climate Ambition (Oct 2021). It explores NDC submission, ambition and quality status while assessing progress on key systems and architecture for NDC implementation.

It also looks at areas of past and future Climate Promise support and showcases champion countries.

This new report unpacks why a just transition is central to delivering the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, analyses key global and regional trends, and explores what a just transition means for UNDP’s work.