The Secretary-General weighs in on the state of the planet

24 November 2020

On 2 December at Columbia University, the �山��Secretary-General delivered a landmark speech on the state of the planet, setting the stage for dramatically scaled-up ambition on climate change over the coming year. He called for making peace with nature by starting now to achieve carbon neutrality, putting global finance to work for climate and protecting the most vulnerable. Across all actions for climate and our shared planet, we must act with urgency, but also hope, as many of the solutions are at hand. See more.

Photocomposition: the earth globe in the background, and a hand holding a pen, signing a paper, in the front

All About the NDCs

Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, are national climate action plans by each country under the Paris Agreement. A country's NDC outlines how it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help meet the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement requires that NDCs are updated every five years with increasingly higher ambition, taking into consideration each country��s capacity.

Two boys playing on a narrow bridge over a gully of trash outside thier home

Time to rethink ��outdated and ineffective�� international financial architecture

Some of the world��s poorest countries spend more on debt repayments than on health, education and infrastructure combined, severely hampering their chances of developing their economies. At the Summit of the Future, reducing inequality and improving people��s lives by overhauling the entire international financial system will be high on the agenda.

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Aligning AI and climate governance

Can AI governance be harnessed to combat climate change? Read about emerging global policies and their potential for climate action in this piece by the United Nations University.

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