UN Climate Change News, 10 November 2024 - Climate action by non-Party stakeholders, including businesses, investors, sub-national actors and civil society, is driving progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, and their engagement is more crucial than ever, as highlighted in the 2024 Yearbook of Global Climate Action launched today.
"There can be no comprehensive approach without the involvement of the entire economy and the whole of our societies. And that means we need Parties and non-Party stakeholders to work together, to join efforts, communicating on best ways forward, systematically," said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. "This is why the Marrakech Partnership is so important, why the examples in this Yearbook are so fundamental, and why they must be scaled up."
The Yearbook showcases climate action by non-Party stakeholders, such as finance and nature protection, and highlights their key role in raising ambition, as governments work to develop their next round of national climate plans (NDCs) due next year and to build resilience in the face of growing climate impacts.
The Yearbook reports that the Global Climate Action Portal (GCAP) now tracks over 39,000 actors - a massive increase compared to the 1,000 actors the platform registered 10 years ago. The Portal also tracks 175 Cooperative Climate Initiatives (CCIs) - collaborative efforts by diverse stakeholders to achieve climate goals - with nearly 80 per cent of these operating on a global scale.
The examples of climate action in the Yearbook show a growing emphasis on whole-of-society and inclusive climate action, demonstrating how multi-stakeholder action mobilizing the private sector, cities, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and following a gender-responsive approach is vital to address the climate crisis.
While challenges remain, particularly in mobilizing equitable finance and scaling decarbonization, the increased engagement of non-Party stakeholders provides a strong foundation for accelerating and scaling up collaborative climate action towards COP 29 and beyond.
In the foreword of the Yearbook, the High-Level Champions Razan Al Mubarak of the COP 28 Presidency (United Arab Emirates) and Nigar Arpadarai of the COP 29 Presidency (Azerbaijan) wrote: "At COP 28, we witnessed transformative stories of resilience and innovation. Climate action is advancing across the globe [and] collectively, we have the potential to pivot towards a thriving future. COP 29 is a defining moment to build on this ambition, translating it into immediate, far-reaching impact."
As in previous years, the High-Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership have been supporting the engagement of non-Party stakeholders in the UNFCCC process, in areas ranging from mitigation and climate finance to the follow up on the first global stocktake.
Launched in the lead-up to COP 29 (taking place from 11-22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan), the 2024 Yearbook is the eighth of the series published by UNFCCC, which provides an overview of the progress, trends and challenges of real-world climate action taken by non-Party stakeholders, to inspire further actions and raise ambition.
