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SDG 13: Climate Action

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
SDG Goal

SDG 13 aims to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Through education, innovation and adherence to our climate commitments, we can make the necessary changes to protect the planet.

How engineering can make it happen

Engineering enables climate-change action. Engineered renewable energy sources with zero carbon emissions include hydroelectric, solar, wind, and wave power, with green hydrogen facilitating energy storage at low cost. Resilient infrastructure addresses the escalating impacts of natural disasters including cyclones and floods. Greenhouse gas reductions through carbon capture, the transformation of waste bio-solids into energy, and timber building from rapid-growth forests are other established actions. Other fast-evolving technologies to absorb carbon dioxide include the chemical processing of carbon from air to re-use as chemical feedstock and the use of low-carbon building materials for housing.

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Film courtesy of the Royal Academy of Engineers

Global progress

  • Climate change is accelerating, with 2024 marking the hottest year on record, at approximately 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. Extreme weather is intensifying, driving the highest climate-related displacement in 16 years and worsening food insecurity, economic losses, and instability. Although one year above 1.5°C does not mean the Paris Agreement has been breached, it serves as a clarion call for increasing ambition and accelerating action in this critical decade, as current global efforts fall far short of what is needed.
  • The annual COP global climate summit is a critical opportunity to course-correct, by advancing agreed climate finance goals, strengthening multilateral cooperation, and delivering ambitious national climate plans across all sectors to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Momentum is growing, including a recent global landmark deal on shipping emissions with a net-zero pathway.
  • The world cannot let up on climate action. To keep the 1.5°C warming limit within reach, urgent investment in adaptation, resilience, and emission cuts must accelerate, especially in vulnerable regions. The cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of action – and the window to secure a liveable, sustainable future is rapidly closing.

Source: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2025/

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