In order to meet a wide range of goals for the world to become climate-neutral, resource-efficient, technologically advanced, and socially fair, high-level political engagement and action are needed.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by all United Nations Member States, provide a common plan for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. The goal is to end all forms of poverty and achieve global sustainable development in its three dimensions—economic, social, and environmental—by 2030.

The Paris Agreement, a result of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21), calls for zero carbon dioxide emissions, setting +2ºC as the upper limit of the increase in the average global temperature.

Both frameworks call for deep transformations in every region and require complementary actions by all parts of society: governments, citizens, scientists, and businesses. The UN SDSN, in order to make it more clear how the SDGs could be implemented, suggested six broad transformations in 2019: 1) Education, Gender and Inequality; 2) Health, Wellbeing, and Demography; 3) Energy Decarbonisation and Sustainable Industry; 4) Sustainable Food, Land, Water, and Oceans, 5) Sustainable Cities and Communities; and 6) Digital Revolution for Sustainable Development. Each one lists investments and regulatory problems that need to be dealt with first and asks certain parts of the government to work with business and civil society to find solutions.

Acting as a leading example for the rest of the world, the European Commission introduced in 2019 the European Green Deal (EGD), a comprehensive framework for decarbonizing the European economy, reducing pollution and waste, and placing sustainable development at the center of the European policy agenda. The overarching goal of the Commission is for Europe to be the first territory globally to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. It covers many different economic sectors, such as construction, biodiversity, energy, transport, and food, and a broad range of policy areas, such as clean energy, sustainable industry, buildings and renovation, farm to fork, eliminating pollution, sustainable mobility, biodiversity, and sustainable finance. Both the EGD and the 17-SDGs have similar goals, which means that putting EGD policies into place would help actions that would help reach a number of SDGs.

In order to help with all of these things, the SDSN Global Climate Hub will work, among other things, on the following:

• Identifying and promoting cutting-edge technological and policy pathways that will result in global decarbonization by 2050;
• Identifying and promoting global adaptation pathways that include everyone and “leave no one behind” – applying these pathways to all continents;
• Calling on experts in the field to help rewrite policies for clean energy supply that cover all parts of the economy, such as industry, transportation, construction, food industry and agriculture, private consumption, etc.;
• Collaborating with national governments and respective SDSN National Hubs to co-design national and subnational pathways for the transition to a climate neutral and resilient world;
• Using the SDSN global networks to get stakeholders involved and support the policies that come from the above frameworks.