Sustainable Development Goal 13: Urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Climate change is already affecting every dimension of the world’s resources, and much more severe impacts are in store if we fail to develop and implement stringent climate actions and scale up the uptake and adaptation of climate actions. Available climate actions and strategies face many challenges worldwide, particularly in their implementations. This chapter has outlined some of the relevant climate actions and adaptation strategies. Existing climate actions include establishing international agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Some countries have acted by developing and implementing climate adaptation measures. Climate actions that have been taken include combining nature-based solutions with new technologies, breeding climate-resistant and improved crop varieties, varying farming calendars, and crop and livestock diversification, soil and water conservation practices, agroforestry. Despite these actions and strategies, there are some real problems facing the successful implementation of climate actions. Finally, implementation of climate action is hindered by leadership challenges such as a lack of strong regional or national leadership with climate focus, lack of awareness among actors, and inadequate information.