In the last ten years, we have made progress on the climate transition but it has not been fast enough. When the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, the world was on a path towards a rise in global temperatures by up to 4.8°C by the end of the century. Today, thanks to strengthened policies and growing international commitment, that trajectory has improved, with current estimates pointing to an increase in average global temperature of 2.6°C to 3.1°C by 2100. This is meaningful progress – but it remains well above the 1.5°C degree target set in Paris.
To close the gap between ambition and implementation, we must accelerate our efforts and ensure effective implementation. Yet, the OECD has estimated that in the last three years action to strengthen climate change policies has slowed down, with policy stringency only increasing by 1-2% annually in 2022 and 2023 compared with 10% on average in the previous decade.
This report summarises key insights from the second phase of the OECD’s Horizontal Project “Building Climate and Economic Resilience: Net Zero+”. The report offers governments insights and recommendations to support national and international efforts to meet the climate challenge, including on the design of coherent policy packages, innovative governance, accelerated innovation, citizen engagement, and financing aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Governments will also need to invest in people – through education, skills and robust social protection frameworks. As shown in the report, a people-centred approach can help rebuild trust in governments’ ability to deliver on climate goals, manage the labour market impacts of the transition and empower individuals to engage proactively in climate action.
The report reaffirms that it is still possible to achieve net zero, and demonstrates that climate action, when grounded in sound policy design, can drive economic opportunity and strengthen societal resilience. It draws on the Organisation’s multidisciplinary expertise to offer a practical roadmap to accelerate climate action – helping to meet the climate challenge with the urgency, scale and co-ordination it demands.
Mathias Cormann
OECD Secretary-General