sustainable development and climate change essay

Climate Change Is a Challenge For Sustainable Development

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Rachel Kyte Gaidar Forum Moscow, Russian Federation

Climate change is the most significant challenge to achieving sustainable development, and it threatens to drag millions of people into grinding poverty. 

At the same time, we have never had better know-how and solutions available to avert the crisis and create opportunities for a better life for people all over the world.

Climate change is not just a long-term issue. It is happening today, and it entails uncertainties for policy makers trying to shape the future.

EFFECTS ON RUSSIA

In 2008, the Russian National Hydrometeorological Service (Roshydromet) found that winter temperatures had increased by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in Siberia over the previous 120-150 years, while average global temperature rose about 0.7 degrees during the same period.

Russia is projected to cross the 2°C threshold earlier than the world on average if significant and effective mitigation is not forthcoming. By 2100, the northern half of Asia, including Russia, is likely to experience a temperature increase of 6 to 16°C, compared to approximately 4°C global mean temperature increase.

While warming might have some potential gains for Russia, the adverse effects include more floods, windstorms, heat waves, forest fires, and the melting of permafrost.

Globally, permafrost is thought to hold about 1,700 gigatons of carbon – and near-shore seabeds in the Eastern Siberian Sea hold a similar amount in methane hydrates that could potentially be destabilized in a warmer world, as well. This is compared to 850 gigatons of carbon currently in the Earth’s atmosphere. Of this, 190 gigatons are stored just in the upper 30 cm of permafrost, the layers that area most vulnerable to melting and the irreversible release of methane. The release of even a small portion into the atmosphere could dramatically compound the challenge already presented from anthropogenic sources, potentially wiping out any hard-won mitigation gains.

Russia hosts perhaps 70 percent of methane in circumpolar permafrost, as well as the methane hydrates in the East Siberian Sea. Permafrost warming of up to 2°C in parts of the European Russia has already been observed.

Russia will be front and center for any efforts to deal with thawing permafrost and Russian leadership is much needed to better understand its effects for the global climate as well as finding solutions for effective adaptation. There is no time to lose.

In Yakutsk, collapsing ground caused by melting permafrost has damaged buildings, airport runways, and other infrastructure. In 2010, the Ministry of Emergency Situations estimated that a quarter of the housing stock in Russia’s Far North would be destroyed by 2030.

Analyses indicate that about 60 percent of infrastructure in the Usa Basin in Northeast European Russia is located in the "high risk" permafrost area, which is projected to thaw in the future. This region is an area of high industrial and urban development, like coal mines, hydrocarbon extraction sites, railways, and pipelines. Yet the timing of this thaw remains uncertain – potentially a few decades or as long off as a century away.

DECISION MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY

Policy makers all over the world are facing similar challenges. While we certainly know that the climate will change, there is great uncertainty as to what the local or regional impacts will be and what will be the impacts on societies and economies.  Coupled with this is often great disagreement among policy makers about underlying assumptions and priorities for action.

Many decisions to be made today have long-term consequences and are sensitive to climate conditions – water, energy, agriculture, fisheries and forests, and disasters risk management. We simply can’t afford to get it wrong.

However, sound decision making is possible if we use a different approach. Rather than making decisions that are optimized to a prediction of the future, decision makers should seek to identify decisions that are sound no matter what the future brings. Such decisions are called “robust.”

For example, Metropolitan Lima already has major water challenges: shortages and a rapidly growing population with 2 million underserved urban poor. Climate models suggest that precipitation could decrease by as much as 15 percent, or increase by as much as 23 percent. The World Bank is partnering with Lima to apply tested, state-of-the-art methodologies like Robust Decision Making to help Lima identify no-regret, robust investments. These include, for example, multi-year water storage systems to manage droughts and better management of demand for water. This can help increase Lima’s long-term water security, despite an increasingly unpredictable future.

WORKING WHERE IT MATTERS MOST

Each country will need to find its own ways to deal with uncertainties and find its best options for low-carbon growth and emissions reduction. While they vary, every country has them.  

One example: Russia has made remarkable progress since 2005 in reducing the flaring of gas from oil production, but it is still the world’s largest gas flarer. And it is situated in a region from where black carbon from the flares reaches the Arctic snow and ice cap, which diminishes the cap’s reflective power (albedo). The World Bank Group is appreciative of the successful cooperation with Russia's Khanty-Mansiysk region in the Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership (GGFR). With more Russian partners, in particular from Russian state oil companies, the impact could be even greater.

Russia’s forests provide the largest land-based carbon storage in the world. Better forest management and improving forest fire response – a long-standing field of cooperation between Russia and the World Bank Group – are another example to reconcile growth and emissions reductions.

Options for countries all over the world include a mix of technology development that lowers air pollution; increasing investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency, expanding urban public transport; improving waste and water management; and better planning for when disasters strike.

Each of these climate actions can be designed to bring short-term benefits and lower current and future emissions.

To move forward on the global level at the required scale, we must drive mitigation action in top-emitting countries, get prices and incentives right, get finance flowing towards low-carbon green growth, and work where it matters most.

Prices: Putting a price on carbon and removing harmful fossil fuel subsidies are necessary steps towards directing investment to low-carbon growth and avoiding a 4°C warmer world. We are working with others to help lay the groundwork for a robust price on carbon and supporting the removal of harmful fossil fuel subsidies. An ambitious global agreement could help establish stronger carbon prices and should include commitments to accelerate fossil fuel subsidy reform and other fiscal or tax policy measures in support of low carbon and climate resilient development.

Finance flowing: Progress on the provision of climate finance is critical. Governments must deliver a clear strategy for mobilizing the promised $100 billion in climate finance. This $100 billion is doubly important in that it must be used to mobilize effectively private investment and other finance.

Climate change increases the costs of development in the poorest countries by between 25 and 30 percent.  For developing countries, the annual cost of infrastructure that is resilient to climate change is around $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion, resulting in a yearly $700 billion gap in financing. It will take combining efforts of development banks, financial institutions, export credit agencies, institutional investors, and public budgets to meet the climate and development challenge.

All public finance should be used to leverage private capital and fill gaps in the market where private finance is not flowing. Also, it must be deployed in a way that the least amount leverages the maximum amount from public and/or private sources. We are not dealing with how to jump start something in which the private sector is not interested, but how we create the framework within which the now small but significant momentum is captured, disseminated, and accelerated and the speed-bumps are removed and setbacks avoided.

At the World Bank Group we are committed to working where it matters most:

By 2050 two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities. Helping developing country cities access private financing and achieve low-carbon, climate-resilient growth and avoid locking in carbon intensive infrastructure is one of the smartest investments we can make. Every dollar invested in building creditworthiness of a developing country city will mobilize $100 dollars in private financing for low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure.

To feed 9 billion people nutritiously by 2050 we need to make agriculture resilient, more productive in changing landscapes, and aggressively reduce food waste. Making agriculture work for the people and the environment is one of the most pressing tasks at hand. We need climate-smart agriculture that increases yields and incomes, builds resilience, and reduces emissions while potentially capturing carbon. 

The World Bank Group supports the Sustainable Energy for All goals of doubling both the rate of improvement of energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix from 18 percent to 36 percent by 2030. Reaching these goals is key to low-carbon growth.

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Climate change mitigation and Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence and research gaps

Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Global Centre for Environment and Energy, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India

Roles Visualization, Writing – review & editing

Roles Methodology, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Climate Economics and Risk Management, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

• Minal Pathak, 
• Shaurya Patel, 
• Shreya Some

Published: March 4, 2024

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000366
• Reader Comments

Citation: Pathak M, Patel S, Some S (2024) Climate change mitigation and Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence and research gaps. PLOS Clim 3(3): e0000366. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000366

Editor: Jamie Males, PLOS Climate, UNITED KINGDOM

Copyright: © 2024 Pathak et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Never in the past three decades have the interlinkages between sustainable development and climate change been more pressing. The projected date when the remaining carbon budget will be exhausted if continuing at the current rate of emissions [ 1 ] is estimated to be around 2030- which also coincides with the timeline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recent global assessments clearly show the collective global performance on the targets relating to climate change, biodiversity and SDGs is abysmally poor [ 2 , 3 ]. Urgent efforts are needed to achieve both deep and rapid emissions reductions and to meet the SDGs to set the world on a pathway towards sustainable development.

The appreciation of interconnections between climate change and equity and sustainable development is not recent. In 1992, Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was restructured with a mandate to assess cross-cutting economic and other issues related to climate change including placing socio-economic perspectives in the context of sustainable development. IPCC’s Second Assessment Report in 1995 explicitly highlighted the different starting points of countries, trade-offs between economic growth and sustainability, distributional impacts of mitigation and adaptation actions and issues of intertemporal equity. This understanding has further deepened since then. Successive IPCC reports have highlighted the implications of efforts aimed at achieving targets under Climate Action (SDG 13) on SDGs [ 2 , 4 , 5 ]. There is now more evidence to show synergies of several climate actions with SDGs outweigh the trade-offs [ 6 ] Such actions include active transport, passive building design, clean energy, circular economy and urban green and blue infrastructure ( Fig 1 ) [ 7 ].

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000366.g001

A quick literature search on Scopus for papers focusing on climate change mitigation and SDGs showed 433 papers (Scopus search using search strings for each individual SDGs, for example: (TITLE-ABS-KEY ("SDG 1" OR "SDG1") AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ("Climate") AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ("mitigation" OR "mitigate"))). SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and 15 (Life on Land) were the most studied while SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), 10 (Reduced inequality) and 16 (Peace, Justice and strong institutions) received less attention.

Despite numerous studies, there’s limited evidence of the SDGs being perceived as a valuable tool for making decisions regarding climate action. Firstly, many of the existing studies highlight the potential of mitigation actions supporting SDG achievement through theoretical or modelled methods with few empirical studies demonstrating ex-post evaluation of specific interventions. In particular, there is limited literature on trade-offs and understanding of distributional effects for specific groups [ 8 ]. Secondly, a study on mapping SDG interactions of mitigation actions would not necessarily reveal the full picture. For example, urban public transport could show potential synergies with multiple SDGs however, it wouldn’t necessarily provide evidence on whether benefits could accrue to the most vulnerable groups. Similarly, a new urban transit system could have potential synergies with SDGs 3, 6, 9 and 11, however, this would fail to capture the near-term trade-offs e.g. relocation or costs or emissions.

It becomes more challenging when a particular action can result in mixed impacts, presenting both synergies and trade-offs across indicators within the same SDG. For example, while renewable energy can create green employment opportunities (synergy SDG 8 Target 8.5), it remains uncertain whether these jobs will ensure a safe and secure working environment for all workers throughout the supply chain (trade-off SDG 8, target 8.8). Mitigation options often work across sectors and systems and such interactions are not yet fully dealt with in existing studies.

Additionally, there are gaps in studies and available data for various crucial indicators worldwide, [ 6 ] which complicates the comprehensive assessment of comparing these key indicators across different countries, projects or entities. For instance, the Sustainable Development Report 2023 (Includes time-series data for 122 SDG indicators (out of 169 indicators) for 193 UN member states.) which measures progress across indicators for UN member states compiles data for 3 indicators to construct the index for SDG 13—all of which are related to emissions. Adaptation-related indicators are missing. Finally, studies do not cover temporal and spatial dimensions or the status of these interactions for alternate warming scenarios.

What does this mean for the scientific community?

Addressing the gaps identified presents an opportunity to enhance our understanding of progress towards SDGs and reduce missed opportunities [ 9 , 10 ]. Action that takes into account co-impacts can increase efficiency, reduce costs and support early and ambitious climate action, particularly in developing countries where there are simultaneous development priorities [ 11 ].

A business-as-usual approach to understanding mitigation SDG interactions has made progress but this is not enough. Data, indicators and methodologies, resources, the huge scope of SDGs, limitations of capturing non-measurable development dimensions and capacity constraints remain major challenges for in-depth research in this area [ 12 , 13 ]. New research therefore must focus on the SDGs and targets that have received limited attention and find ways to generate and report data ensuring access and transparency. Where specific data is not available, alternative approaches are needed for e.g. establishing reliable assumptions for utilizing proxy data through expert engagement. Developing indices specific to each goal and setting up reporting guidelines is essential for comparing progress. Failure to report the complete set of indicators limits comparability across goals and targets, and risks missing key priority areas.

Future research needs to focus on comprehensive assessments. For example, demonstrating how, where and to what speed and scale the implementation of a particular intervention resulted in synergies or trade-offs and whether these impacts are sustained. Similarly, going beyond acknowledging trade-offs towards a deeper understanding of what the trade-offs are, for which groups and whether and how these were resolved particularly in relation to questions around power and politics. In-depth studies require both time and resources. Funding needs to be directed to interdisciplinary research as well as building capacity of researchers to undertake such assessments. Quantitative studies involving new tools or modeling exercises, if complemented by qualitative approaches, can deliver more useful insights on synergies and trade-offs, particularly in situations where data is limited. Research institutions and universities can contribute by creating standardized templates and guidelines, as well as consistently reporting data using these templates.

Climate change mitigation research relies significantly on Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) to provide a comprehensive perspective on the interactions between socio-economic systems and earth systems. Existing models do not fully capture all development dimensions [ 14 ] or climate change adaptation though efforts are underway. Future research can focus on developing SD/G-compatible scenario storylines that prioritize development. More work is needed on variables and assumptions to better incorporate equity and justice issues [ 15 ] Modeling teams need to work closely with experts on various aspects of adaptation and sustainable development, including poverty, urbanisation, human well-being and biodiversity.

In conclusion, research frameworks and practices to assess mitigation SDG interactions are inadequate in their present form. Given the urgency, researchers and funders need to move away from business-as-usual approaches towards more in-depth assessments that significantly advance knowledge.

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• 2. IPCC. Climate Change 2023—Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, Switzerland: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; 2023 pp. 1–85. https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6syr/pdf/IPCC_AR6_SYR_LongerReport.pdf
• 3. Sachs JD, Lafortune G, Fuller G, Drumm E. Sustainable Development Report 2023: Implementing the SDG Stimulus. Dublin University Press; 2023 pp. 1–546.
• 4. IPCC. Global Warming of 1.5°C: IPCC Special Report on Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5°C above Pre-industrial Levels in Context of Strengthening Response to Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press; 2018.
• 5. IPCC. Climate Change 2022—Mitigation of Climate Change: Working Group III Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 1st ed. Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press; 2022.
• 6. United Nations Synergy Solutions for a World in Crisis: Tackling Climate and SDG Action Together. Report on Stregnthening the Evidence Base. USA: United Nations; 2023 pp. 1–100. https://www.saoicmai.in/elibrary/first-global-report-on-climate-and-sdg-synergies.pdf
• 9. Dubash N, Mitchell C, Boasson EL, Borbor-Cordova MJ, Fifita S, Haites E, et al. National and Sub-national Policies and Institutions. 1st ed. In: Shukla P, Skea J, Slade R, Al Khourdajie A, van Diemen R, McCollum D, et al., editors. Climate Change 2022—Mitigation of Climate Change. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press; 2022. pp. 1355–1450.
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• 15. IPCC. IPCC Workshop on the Use of Scenarios in the Sixth Assessment Report and Subsequent Assessments. Thailand: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; 2023 pp. 1–76. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2023/07/IPCC_2023_Workshop_Report_Scenarios.pdf

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Renewable energy – powering a safer future

Energy is at the heart of the climate challenge – and key to the solution.

A large chunk of the greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat are generated through energy production, by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and heat.

Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, are by far the largest contributor to global climate change , accounting for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

The science is clear: to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, emissions need to be reduced by almost half by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050.

To achieve this, we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels and invest in alternative sources of energy that are clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and reliable.

Renewable energy sources – which are available in abundance all around us, provided by the sun, wind, water, waste, and heat from the Earth – are replenished by nature and emit little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the air.

Fossil fuels still account for more than 80 percent of global energy production , but cleaner sources of energy are gaining ground. About 29 percent of electricity currently comes from renewable sources.

Here are five reasons why accelerating the transition to clean energy is the pathway to a healthy, livable planet today and for generations to come.

1. Renewable energy sources are all around us

About 80 percent of the global population lives in countries that are net-importers of fossil fuels -- that’s about 6 billion people who are dependent on fossil fuels from other countries, which makes them vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and crises.

In contrast, renewable energy sources are available in all countries, and their potential is yet to be fully harnessed. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that 90 percent of the world’s electricity can and should come from renewable energy by 2050.

Renewables offer a way out of import dependency, allowing countries to diversify their economies and protect them from the unpredictable price swings of fossil fuels, while driving inclusive economic growth, new jobs, and poverty alleviation.

2. Renewable energy is cheaper

Renewable energy actually is the cheapest power option in most parts of the world today. Prices for renewable energy technologies are dropping rapidly. The cost of electricity from solar power fell by 85 percent between 2010 and 2020. Costs of onshore and offshore wind energy fell by 56 percent and 48 percent respectively.

Falling prices make renewable energy more attractive all around – including to low- and middle-income countries, where most of the additional demand for new electricity will come from. With falling costs, there is a real opportunity for much of the new power supply over the coming years to be provided by low-carbon sources.

Cheap electricity from renewable sources could provide 65 percent of the world’s total electricity supply by 2030. It could decarbonize 90 percent of the power sector by 2050, massively cutting carbon emissions and helping to mitigate climate change.

Although solar and wind power costs are expected to remain higher in 2022 and 2023 then pre-pandemic levels due to general elevated commodity and freight prices, their competitiveness actually improves due to much sharper increases in gas and coal prices, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).

3. Renewable energy is healthier

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 99 percent of people in the world breathe air that exceeds air quality limits and threatens their health, and more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes, including air pollution.

The unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide originate mainly from the burning of fossil fuels. In 2018, air pollution from fossil fuels caused $2.9 trillion in health and economic costs , about $8 billion a day.

Switching to clean sources of energy, such as wind and solar, thus helps address not only climate change but also air pollution and health.

4. Renewable energy creates jobs

Every dollar of investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than in the fossil fuel industry. The IEA estimates that the transition towards net-zero emissions will lead to an overall increase in energy sector jobs : while about 5 million jobs in fossil fuel production could be lost by 2030, an estimated 14 million new jobs would be created in clean energy, resulting in a net gain of 9 million jobs.

In addition, energy-related industries would require a further 16 million workers, for instance to take on new roles in manufacturing of electric vehicles and hyper-efficient appliances or in innovative technologies such as hydrogen. This means that a total of more than 30 million jobs could be created in clean energy, efficiency, and low-emissions technologies by 2030.

Ensuring a just transition , placing the needs and rights of people at the heart of the energy transition, will be paramount to make sure no one is left behind.

5. Renewable energy makes economic sense

About $7 trillion was spent on subsidizing the fossil fuel industry in 2022, including through explicit subsidies, tax breaks, and health and environmental damages that were not priced into the cost of fossil fuels.

In comparison, about $4 trillion a year needs to be invested in renewable energy until 2030 – including investments in technology and infrastructure – to allow us to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The upfront cost can be daunting for many countries with limited resources, and many will need financial and technical support to make the transition. But investments in renewable energy will pay off. The reduction of pollution and climate impacts alone could save the world up to $4.2 trillion per year by 2030.

Moreover, efficient, reliable renewable technologies can create a system less prone to market shocks and improve resilience and energy security by diversifying power supply options.

Learn more about how many communities and countries are realizing the economic, societal, and environmental benefits of renewable energy.

Will developing countries benefit from the renewables boom? Learn more here .

What is renewable energy?

Derived from natural resources that are abundant and continuously replenished, renewable energy is key to a safer, cleaner, and sustainable world. Explore common sources of renewable energy here.

Why invest in renewable energy?

Learn more about the differences between fossil fuels and renewables, the benefits of renewable energy, and how we can act now.

Five ways to jump-start the renewable energy transition now

UN Secretary-General outlines five critical actions the world needs to prioritize now to speed up the global shift to renewable energy.

What is net zero? Why is it important? Our net-zero page explains why we need steep emissions cuts now and what efforts are underway.

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Our climate 101 offers a quick take on the how and why of climate change. Read more.

How will the world foot the bill? We explain the issues and the value of financing climate action.

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It’s time to stop burning our planet, and start investing in the abundant renewable energy all around us." ANTÓNIO GUTERRES , United Nations Secretary-General

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Have a question?

What is “sustainability” is it the same thing as taking action on climate change, climate action is just one form of sustainability—a concept that asks us to see the big picture of what we are taking from the earth, and how our actions affect future generations..

March 30, 2021

You might have heard the word “sustainability” in conversations about climate change—as in a “sustainable economy,” or a “sustainable energy system.” In the context of climate change, this usually means changing our energy, transportation and other systems so that they don’t contribute to warming the planet. But sustainability is a broader concept than just preventing climate change.

“What's so interesting about sustainability, and why I've built my career around it, is that it's complex,” says Julie Newman, MIT’s first Director of Sustainability. “It involves people and the environment, extraction, disposal, use—so it's really looking at the complexity of the world and how humans interact with it.” From an environmental perspective, sustainability is concerned with the resources we take from the Earth and how we use them, with an emphasis on not exhausting what the planet can supply.

The other common thread in sustainability is a focus on how our actions today will impact the world tomorrow. “I see it as setting a vision for the future,” says Newman. This idea is also reflected in the United Nations’ concept of “sustainable development,” which is used to set global goals and direct international aid. The UN defines “sustainable development” as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” 1 This definition goes far beyond just environmental concerns: it also looks at economic prosperity, water and food access, education, and other needs that contribute to people’s quality of life.

A warming planet is a major challenge for sustainability. Human activities that contribute to climate change are, by definition, not sustainable, as they alter the very planet we depend on for all our needs. But climate change also makes it harder to find sustainable solutions to other problems. “Shifting biodiversity and shifting climate conditions affect our food sources , rising sea levels , the way we design our cities , and more,” says Newman. Many challenges for sustainability both affect and are affected by the climate: for instance, a warming Earth will make it harder to grow enough food, 2 and clear-cutting forests to grow that food contributes to climate change. 3

As with climate action, sustainability can also be a lens for thinking about personal choices and behaviors. But Newman points out that no individual can live a “sustainable” life on their own. “People often assume that it’s just about solar panels, recycling, and biking,” she says. But unless governments, communities and businesses make it easy to, say, get to work and the grocery store by bicycle, or turn recycled materials into new products, these personal acts do not make for a sustainable system that can grow with the needs of the people it serves.

“The other biggest misconception about sustainability and climate change is that zero is the answer,” says Newman—whether that means zero waste, or zero carbon emissions. In fact, she says, sustainability is a balancing act, which aims to provide enough resources for people to live full, healthy lives, without compromising humanity’s future. “We really need to look at it through an ecological framework of understanding. What is it that we need to ensure we have for a balanced ecosystem that leads to thriving human health and environmental health conditions?”

It can be useful to keep the definition of sustainability in mind as we work on solutions to climate change. A good framing question for every decision about climate change might be: Is this action going to prevent people from enjoying a high quality of life in the future?

Read more Ask MIT Climate

1 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: The Sustainable Development Agenda . Accessed March 30, 2021.

2 See our Explainer on Food Systems and Agriculture .

3 See our Explainer on Forests and Climate Change .

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• Published: 15 July 2019

Connecting climate action with other Sustainable Development Goals

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The international community has committed to combat climate change and achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here we explore (dis)connections in evidence and governance between these commitments. Our structured evidence review suggests that climate change can undermine 16 SDGs, while combatting climate change can reinforce all 17 SDGs but undermine efforts to achieve 12. Understanding these relationships requires wider and deeper interdisciplinary collaboration. Climate change and sustainable development governance should be better connected to maximize the effectiveness of action in both domains. The emergence around the world of new coordinating institutions and sustainable development planning represents promising progress.

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Acknowledgements

KTH research work for this Perspective was partially funded by the Formas grant no. 2018-01253.

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Francesco Fuso Nerini & Mark Howells

Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

Francesco Fuso Nerini & Hisham Zerriffi

Science Policy Research Unit, School of Business, Management, and Economics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

Benjamin Sovacool

Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London, London, UK

Nick Hughes & Julia Tomei

World Energy Outlook team, International Energy Agency, Paris, France

Laura Cozzi

Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, University College London, London, UK

Ellie Cosgrave

Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

Massimo Tavoni

RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment, Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Milan, Italy

Department of Forest Resources Management, Forest Sciences Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Contributions

F.F.N. coordinated the research team for this Perspective, designed and contributed to the expert elicitation process and wrote and reviewed the paper. B.M., B.S. and N.H. designed and contributed to the expert elicitation process and wrote and reviewed the paper. L.C., E.C., M.H., M.T., J.T. and H.Z. contributed to the expert elicitation process and to writing and reviewing sections of the paper.

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Correspondence to Francesco Fuso Nerini or Ben Milligan .

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Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Table 1, Supplementary References 1–5, results from the analysis included in one big table.

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Fuso Nerini, F., Sovacool, B., Hughes, N. et al. Connecting climate action with other Sustainable Development Goals. Nat Sustain 2 , 674–680 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0334-y

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Received : 20 November 2018

Accepted : 12 June 2019

Published : 15 July 2019

Issue Date : August 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0334-y

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