SDG 13: Climate Action

SDG 13 is to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.”

Did you know…

In 1998-2017, the economic losses from natural disasters were estimated to be almost $3 trillion USD and the estimated lives that were lost are 1.3 million. 

In April 2019, 185 parties had signed the Paris Agreement where they are expected to maintain, communicate, and prepare national contributions to mitigate climate change. 

In a world where the population is increasing, the greenhouse gas emissions are rising at such rates that the reverse of climate change does not seem to be ending any time soon. 

Even though positive steps have been made in terms of climate finance flows (money allocated for climate emergencies), more countries need to take part and more drastic steps must be made by national governments to accelerate action for the climate crisis. 

Financial access and strengthened capacities need to be scaled up at a faster rate especially in countries, islands, and developing states most in need. Drastic actions must be taken as climate change is causing temperature rising and thus ice melting. This leads to: the sea levels rising, natural habitat loss, climate immigration and extinction of plant and animal species. Natural disasters such as severe storms are also becoming more frequent and extreme because of climate change.

Targets 

• “Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.”

• “Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.”

• “Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities.”

How Chemistry Can Help 

Chemistry is a key industry for fighting climate change. Key contributions include improvements in materials for renewable energy (e.g. wind, solar), creating  materials that reduce energy consumption, and making electronics with chemicals less harmful to the environment. One example of this are the new battery technologies that allow them to be more efficient, affordable and scalable (see SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities). 

Chemical innovations are used to improve energy generation, recovery and use of alternative fuels that together will contribute to a low-carbon society. 

An example of this is the Low Carbon Technology Partnership initiative (LCTPi). It’s a programme that aims to accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon technology solutions so the global temperature does not rise by more than 2 °C. For this to occur, chemical companies have to come together to explore different pathways to deliver low-carbon and sustainable solutions. 

High performance products such as coatings, adhesives and foams, are using innovative chemistry techniques where carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are being captured and used as raw materials.