This side event explores the development of climate activities in countries’ first and updated  Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and their relation to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objective of the event is to showcase how countries’ NDCs have developed and to what extent they have strengthened the connection between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, both globally and within selected countries. Such insights are highly relevant for the third phase of the global stocktake and can contribute to improved future NDCs that make simultaneous progress on climate change and sustainable development.

Both NDCs and SDGs are universal and implemented through a “bottom-up” process where  countries set their own priorities and ambitions. Hence, it will be crucial to develop coherent approaches combining sustainable development and climate action and to integrate them into national development plans and policies. Such approaches could contribute to increased synergies and reduced trade-offs between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, foster dialogue on how to meaningfully improve national-level implementation, increase transparency of climate activities, and support innovative learning and partnerships across countries that raise the ambition of future NDCs. Simultaneous progress on both climate change and sustainable development is a prerequisite for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. The global stocktake process provides an opportunity to synthesise how climate action can support sustainable development and vice versa.

During the event, new research data on NDC-SDG Connections, and the updated online data visualisation www.ndc-sdg.info will be presented.

Agenda

Opening remarks:

• Fatima Denton, UNU INRA (tbc)

Presentations

A comparison of NDC-SDG connections over time

• Adis Dzebo, SEI and Gabriela Iacobuta, IDOS

Panel discussion:

• Karina Barrera, Ecuador
• Birgit Strube, BMZ
• Kushal K. Raj, Fiji (tbc)
• Kevin Ossah, Togo/CAN International
• Tri Mumpuni, IBEKA
• Dr. Vong Sok, ASEAN (tbc)
• Dr. İzzet Arı, Social Sciences University of Ankara, Türkiye

Moderation and concluding remarks:

• Richard Klein, SEI