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

Comité européen de normalisation

CEN 1961 Brussels Belgium D y

Comité permanent inter-Etats de lutte contre la sécheresse dans le Sahel

CILSS 1973 Ouagadougou Burkina Faso D g

Comité Regional de Recursos Hidraulicos del Istmo Centroamericano

CRRH 1966 San José Costa Rica E g

Commission du Danube

CD 1948 Budapest Hungary E g

Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in South-West Asia

SWAC 1964 Rome Italy E g

Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region

CRC 1965 Cairo Egypt E g

Commission for Environmental Cooperation

CEC 1994 Montréal QC Canada E g

Committee of the Trade in Cereals, Oilseeds, Pulses, Olive Oil, Oils and Fats, Animal Feed and Agrosupply of the EU

COCERAL 1958 Brussels Belgium E yt

Committee on Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols

CNAA 1965 Helsinki Finland C cv

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

COPUOS 1959 Vienna Austria E g

Common Fund for Commodities

CFC 1980 Amsterdam Netherlands F fgy

Common Ground Research Networks

1984 Champaign IL USA F

Common Seas

Totnes UK G

Commons Network

Berlin Germany J

Commonwealth Engineers' Council

CEC 1946 London UK C

Commonwealth Forestry Association

CFA 1921 Craven Arms UK C

Commonwealth Foundation

CF London UK F fg

Commonwealth Heritage Forum

2020 London UK G

Commonwealth Human Ecology Council

CHEC 1969 C

Commonwealth Law Ministers' Meeting

CLMM 1965 London UK S cg

Commonwealth Secretariat

1965 London UK C g

Commonwealth Youth Climate Initiative

2009 London UK E

Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities Network

CDAC Network 2009 London UK F y

Community and Family Services International

CFSI 1981 G

Community Forests International

CFI 2006 Sackville NB Canada G

Community Media Forum Europe

CMFE 2004 Brussels Belgium F y

Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies

CER 1988 Brussels Belgium F v

Community of Sahel-Saharan States

CEN-SAD 1998 Tripoli Libya D g

Community Plant Variety Office

CPVO 1995 Angers France E g

Community-COST Concertation Agreement on a Concerted Action Project in the Field of Physico-chemical Behaviour of Atmospheric Pollutants

1980 T g

Complementary Protocol to the Agreement on Regional Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Southeast Pacific by Oil and other Harmful Substances in Cases of Emergency

1983 T g

Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia

CAADRIA 1996 Hong Kong Hong Kong D

Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants

CEWEP 2002 Düsseldorf Germany D t

Confederation of Fire Protection Associations

CFPA Europe 1974 Henggart Switzerland D

Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe

CLAIRE 2018 The Hague Netherlands D

Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry

CONEBI 2014 Brussels Belgium D t

Conference of Commonwealth Meteorologists

CCM Exeter UK C c

Conference of Directors of the Ibero American Meteorological and Hydrological Services

2003 Madrid Spain F

Conference of Directors of the West African National Meteorological and Hydrological Services

AFRIMET Madrid Spain E

Conference of European Churches

CEC 1964 Brussels Belgium F y

Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations

CONGO 1948 New York NY USA E y

Conflict Prevention Centre, Vienna

CPC 1990 Vienna Austria K g

Connect4Climate

2009 Washington DC USA E

Conseil européen de l'industrie chimique

CEFIC 1972 Brussels Belgium D yt

Consensus for Sustainable People, Organisations and Communities

CSPOC 1983 Geneva Switzerland G

Consortium of Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia

NTS-Asia 2007 Singapore Singapore F y

Consultative Committee on Industrial Change

2002 Brussels Belgium E gt

Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Convention/Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Protocol

1975 London UK F g

Convention Internationale Relative au Contrat de Voyage

CCV 1970 Rome Italy T g

Convention of Independent Financial Advisors

CIFA 2001 Geneva Switzerland G f

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