Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

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

Climate Action


Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, weather events are becoming more extreme and greenhouse gas emissions are now at their highest levels in history. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is likely to surpass 3 degrees centigrade this century. The poorest and most vulnerable people are being affected the most.

Affordable, scalable solutions are now available to enable countries to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies. The pace of change is quickening as more people are turning to renewable energy and a range of other measures that will reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts. Climate change, however, is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. It is an issue that requires solutions that need to be coordinated at the international level to help developing countries move toward a low-carbon economy.

To strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris, which went into force in November of 2016. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees centigrade. As of April 2018, 175 parties had ratified the Paris Agreement and 10 developing countries had submitted their first iteration of their national adaptation plans for responding to climate change.

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

Asian University Network of Environment and Disaster Risk Management

AUEDM F

Asociación Española para el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos

AEDIDH 2004 Luarca Spain G

Asociación Latinoamericana de Agrometeorologia

1997 J

Asociación Latinoamericana de Energia Eólica

2007 Guadalajara Mexico D

Asociación Latinoamericana para la Producción Animal

ALPA 1966 Calgary AB Canada D

ASPAFRIQUE-JICS-HFFUN

1990 New York NY USA G

Aspen Global Change Institute

AGCI 1989 Basalt CO USA G j

Assembly of European Wine Regions

AREV 1988 Brussels Belgium F

Associação SOS Amazonia

1988 Rio Branco Brazil G

Association Dealing with International Travel Facilities for Railway Staff

Vienna Austria F

Association des états généraux des étudiants de l'Europe

AEGEE-Europe 1985 Brussels Belgium F

Association for Emergency Aid and Solidarity Development Cooperation

WADI 1992 Frankfurt-Main Germany G

Association for Environmental Archaeology

AEA 1979 G v

Association for Real Property and Infrastructure

ARPI 1980 G

Association for Safe International Road Travel

ASIRT 1995 Potomac MD USA G

Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East

ASTENE 1997 Duns UK N

Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation

ATBC 1963 Sao Paulo Brazil C

Association François-Xavier Bagnoud

FXB International 1989 Geneva Switzerland G

Association Francophone pour l'Etude et la Recherche sur les Urgences Psychiatriques

AFERUP 1986 Nancy France D

Association internationale de climatologie

AIC 1988 Grenoble France D v

Association internationale forêts méditerranéennes

AIFM 1996 Marseille France D

Association Internationale Pour les Femmes du Karité

2021 Oullins France J

Association internationale villes et ports - réseau mondial des villes portuaires

AIVP 1988 Le Havre France D

Association of Arid Lands Studies

AALS 1977 Lubbock TX USA G

Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils

AASSREC 1973 Canberra ACT Australia D

Association of Charity Lotteries in Europe

ACLEU 2007 Amsterdam Netherlands D

Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific

ADFIAP 1976 Makati Philippines C y

Association of European Geographical Societies

EUGEO 1997 Budapest Hungary D

Association of Hydro-Meteorological Industry

HMEI 2001 Geneva Switzerland D t

Association of International Travel Agents Network

AITAN Miami FL USA D

Association of Language Travel Organizations

ALTO 1998 London UK D

Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe

AMICE 2007 Brussels Belgium D

Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe

Plastics Europe 1976 Brussels Belgium D

Association of Professional Law Enforcement Emergency Vehicle Response Trainers International

ALERT International Sykesville MD USA N t

Association of Southern African Travel Agents

ASATA 1956 Benmore South Africa G n

Association of the Network for International Research on Desertification

DesertNet International 2007 Sassari Italy D

Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts

AVSE Global 2011 Paris France G

Association of Working Communities of the Alpine Regions

AWCAR 1989 Innsbruck Austria E

Association of World Citizens

AWC 1975 Novato CA USA F

Association pisciculture et développement rural en Afrique tropicale humide

APDRA 1996 Massy France G

Associazione A Sud – Ecologia e Cooperazione ONLUS

A Sud 2003 Rome Italy G

Atlas Service Corps

2006 Washington DC USA G

Australasian College for Emergency Medicine

ACEM 1984 Melbourne VIC Australia G

Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine

ASEM 1981 Noble Park VIC Australia G

Australasian Wind Engineering Society

AWES 1985 Brisbane QLD Australia G

Australian Council for International Development

ACFID 1965 Deakin ACT Australia G y

Autre Terre

1982 Herstal Belgium F

Avoided Deforestation Partners

AD Partners 2007 Washington DC USA G

AVSI Foundation

1972 Milan Italy G f

Balkan and Black Sea Petroleum Association

BBSPA 1995 Sofia Bulgaria J

Pages