Synergistic Approach for Environmental Sustainability and Just Transition: A Follow-up to Think-7 Summit 2023

On 2 December 2023 UNU-IAS will organize a side event at the SDG Pavilion of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP28). The event will follow up on the outcomes of the Think7 Summit and the Global Synergy Conferences by continuing to deepen the evidence base related to synergies. Engaging stakeholders from governments, the private sector, international organizations and academia, the event will discuss practical methods and approaches, governance and institutional settings, and innovative activities supporting climate-SDG synergies through just transition. The session aims to identify actions that support just and sustainable energy pathways, foster systemic change in an inclusive and participatory way, and uncover potential trade-offs affecting vulnerable people, communities and places. This includes policy coherence, prioritization and innovation, as well as practical approaches to integrated planning, implementation and reporting.

Participation

This in-person event will take place at the COP28 SDG Pavilion (Blue Zone B7 Building 88) and will be open to all participants of COP28 with access to the Blue Zone. The session will be streamed live on the UN DESA YouTube channel.

Please note that participants in UNU events may appear in photography, screen captures, videos, and/or audio (see disclaimer).

Language

This event will be held in English.

Programme

17:45–17:55  Opening Remarks

• Edeltraud Guenther (Director, UNU-FLORES)
• H.E. Dr. Alue Dohong (Vice Minister of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia)

17:55–18:55  Panel Discussion

Moderator: Akio Takemoto (Head of Programme & Administration, UNU-IAS): Overview of T7 Tokyo Outcomes

Panellists:

• Minoru Takada (Team Leader [Energy], UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs):
  Update on the Climate Change and SDGs Synergy Conference Process
• Fatima Denton (Director, UNU-INRA; Vice Chair of IPCC WG 2):
  Just Energy Transition, Stranded Asset and Creation of Green Jobs in Africa
• Eric Ponthieu (Strategy Director at the Fair Trade Advocacy Office; Adjunct Professor at Bologna and Firenze Universities; Former Head of Unit at the European Economic and Social Committee of the EU)
• Kohji Mitomori (Director, Office for Sustainability Management [Climate Change, Nature], JICA)
• Philip Osano (Centre Director, Stockholm Environment Institute Africa; Chair, UNU-IAS Board)

18:55–19:00  Way Forward & Closing

Background 

Acting on climate and sustainable development in an integrated and synergistic way is a significant opportunity to achieve the mutually reinforcing the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. This year’s Sapporo Group of Seven (G7) Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Communique and Varanasi Group of Twenty (G20) Development Ministerial Meeting Resolution underscore the pressing need for leveraging synergies as countries pursue climate actions and deliver the SDGs. This emphasizes the critical importance of coordinated efforts to deliver global agendas and just transition while ensuring integration and synergies.