Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Climate Action


Every person, in every country in every continent will be impacted in some shape or form by climate change. There is a climate cataclysm looming, and we are underprepared for what this could mean.

Climate change is caused by human activities and threatens life on earth as we know it. With rising greenhouse gas emissions, climate change is occurring at rates much faster than anticipated. Its impacts can be devastating and include extreme and changing weather patterns and rising sea levels.

If left unchecked, climate change will undo a lot of the development progress made over the past years. It will also provoke mass migrations that will lead to instability and wars.

To limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre- industrial levels, emissions must already be decreasing and need to be cut by almost half by 2030, just six years away. But, we are drastically off track from this target.

Urgent and transformative actions going beyond mere plans and promises are crucial. It requires raising ambition, covering entire economies and moving towards climate-resilient development, while outlining a clear path to achieve net-zero emissions. Immediate measures are necessary to avoid catastrophic consequences and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

WMO World Ozone and Ultra-Violet Data Centre

WOUDC 1961 Toronto ON Canada K g

WMO World Radiation Data Centre, St Petersburg

WRDC 1964 St Petersburg Russia K

WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones

PTC 1972 Islamabad Pakistan E g

Women in Action Worldwide

WaW 2012 G

Women's Climate Initiative

WCI G

Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, International

WECAN 2011 Mill Valley CA USA G

Women's International News Gathering Service

WINGS 1986 Denman Is BC Canada G

Women's World Summit Foundation

WWSF 1991 Geneva Switzerland F f

WoMin

2013 Johannesburg South Africa F

Wonderland

2002 Vienna Austria F v

Working Committee of the Malting Industry of the EU

1959 Brussels Belgium E t

Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests

Montreal Process 1994 Tokyo Japan E

World Academy of Art and Science

WAAS 1960 Puducherry India B v

World Agroforestry Centre

ICRAF 1977 Nairobi Kenya E

World Association for Christian Communication

WACC 1975 Toronto ON Canada B y

World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

WADEM 1976 Madison WI USA F v

World Association for Sustainable Development

WASD 2003 London UK C

World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations

WAITRO 1970 Nanjing China B yt

World Association of Soil and Water Conservation

WASWAC 1983 Beijing China B

World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

WAZA 1946 Barcelona Spain C y

World Benchmarking Alliance

WBA Amsterdam Netherlands C y

World Bioenergy Association

WBA 2008 Stockholm Sweden C

World Biogas Association

WBA London UK J

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

WBCSD 1995 Geneva Switzerland C

World City Ice and Snow Tourism Cooperation Organization

WCISTCO J

World Climate Foundation

WCF Copenhagen Denmark J

World Climate Research Programme

WCRP 1979 Geneva Switzerland F

World Community Chaplains

1978 West Hills CA USA N

World Council of Civil Engineers

WCCE 2005 Granada Spain C y

World Council on City Data

WCCD Toronto ON Canada J

World Culture Forum

WCF Delhi India G

World Economy, Ecology and Development

WEED 1990 Berlin Germany G

World Egg Organisation

WEO J

World Energy & Meteorology Council

WEMC 2015 Norwich UK C

World Evangelical Alliance Sustainability Center

WEA Sustainability Center 2018 Bonn Germany G

World Fair Trade Latin America

WFTO-LA Ypacarai Paraguay D t

World Fair Trade Organization

WFTO 1989 Culemborg Netherlands B yt

World Farmers' Organisation

WFO 2011 Rome Italy C

World Federation of Consuls

FICAC 1982 Brussels Belgium C

World Federation of Engineering Organizations

WFEO 1968 Paris France A y

World Federation of Scientific Workers

WFSW 1946 Mont-Saint-Aignan France C

World Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers

1954 C

World Federation of United Nations Associations

WFUNA 1946 New York NY USA E

World Food Programme

WFP 1961 Rome Italy F g

World Food Travel Association

WFTA 2003 Portland OR USA G

World for World Organization

WFWO 2001 Rome Italy G

World Future Council

WFC 2007 Hamburg Germany F f

World Geospatial Industry Council

WGIC 2018 The Hague Netherlands C t

World Health Innovation Summit

WHIS Carlisle UK J

World Health Organization

WHO 1946 Geneva Switzerland B g

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