Themes

Electricity generation, heat production and transport rely heavily on fossil fuels and together account for around 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, nearly 750 million people do not have access to electricity, and 1.2 billion people lack access to clean cooking. The demand for energy in low-income countries and lower-middle-income countries will continue to grow significantly. The SDC therefore promotes access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy and the productive and efficient use of clean energy. The latter is key to achieving SDG7, the goals of the Paris Agreement and, according to the IEA, can make the largest contribution to global emissions reductions.

In an rapidly urbanised world, where the building stock is expected to double in Asia and Africa, the building sector is directly and indirectly responsible for 38% of global energy-related CO2 emissions (UNEP 2020), making the global decarbonisation of the building and construction sector a key priority. At the same time, the resilience of settlements and buildings is becoming a pressing issue due to the increasing risks associated with climate change and natural hazards in urban areas, such as rising sea levels, storm surges, heatwaves, flooding or earthquakes. In the humanitarian context, it is equally important to ensure that the environmental and climate footprint of humanitarian operations is as small as possible (greening humanitarian aid) and that a build-back-better (BBB) approach is applied.

Environmental pollution poses a major threat to ecosystems, agricultural productivity, and human health in all countries, and affects vulnerable groups the most. In addition, some pollutants – methane, tropospheric ozone, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons – are responsible for up to 45% of current global warming. Thus, reducing environmental pollution offers a multitude of potential co-benefits, and the SDC supports initiatives that have the potential to generate substantial co-benefits for health, food security, the environment and the climate. These initiatives include raising the profile of pollution on policy agendas and testing and sharing effective approaches to reducing environmental pollution.

Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRM) focuses on safety from extreme events such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, glacier lake outburst floods, heatwaves, droughts, fires, and slow-onset events such as sea level rise or glacial retreat. Some elements of IDRM show potential for synergies with entry points to climate change adaptation (see “Climate-resilient and sustainable management of natural resources”). Such synergies need to be exploited where appropriate, for example by strengthening climate services and setting up early warning systems. In addition, working in IDRM may open other interfaces with humanitarian work. On IDRM, the SDC promotes a focus on the stages that typically occur before, during and after disasters caused by natural hazards (prevention, preparedness, response management, and recovery). The focus on preparedness and prevention is particularly important given that every USD invested in prevention can save up to $15 in post-disaster recovery. This approach has the potential to include new considerations such as the losses and damages discussed under the UNFCCC .

The adverse impacts of climate change, natural hazards, and environmental degradation threaten to drag vulnerable communities into poverty and trap them there. Moreover, they can lead to or exacerbate conflicts over scarce resources and undermine development gains. Adaptation to changing climatic conditions and the sustainable management of natural resources have therefore long been recognised as key elements of the SDC’s work. As C/D/E-related risks and other risks increasingly interact, however, the resulting complex, cascading risks are calling for a more comprehensive approach. Such an integrated approach, with a particular focus on the Water-Energy-Food-Environment (WEFE) nexus, is of paramount importance in many regions.

Healthy, biodiverse and resilient ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide are the foundation of life on Earth, and thus also the basis of human health, well-being, livelihoods and economies. Yet, many of these ecosystems are increasingly overexploited and rapidly degrading. The preservation, restoration, and sustainable management of ecosystems, including forests, wetlands and fragile mountain ecosystems, and the service they provide is vital. Furthermore, since healthy and sustainable ecosystems depend on the interaction of a wide variety of micro-organisms, plants, and animals, the promotion of biodiversity is crucial. The SDC’s work in this thematic area follows a holistic, people-centred landscape approach with a special focus on biodiversity, and favours nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation and disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR).