UNESCO Intersectoral Platform and Strategy for Action to Address Climate Change

• © Martin Warren, Butterfly Conservation

The Intersectoral Platform for Action to Address Climate Change is tasked to oversee UNESCO’s Strategy for Action on Climate Change as approved at the Organization’s 179th Executive Board in April 2008. Subsequently an Enhanced Plan of Action to implement the Strategy has been prepared at the Board’s request. The Platform reports to the Executive Board each autumn session on its progress.

UNESCO’s work is currently built around three strategic objectives:

• building and maintaining the climate change knowledge base: science, assessment, monitoring and early warning;
• promoting mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, including through enhanced education and public awareness; and
• moving towards a climate-neutral UNESCO.

Climate change is affecting our environment, our societies, and our common natural and cultural heritage. Finding solutions to mitigate the negative impacts and adapt to changing conditions requires an approach that unites sound, unbiased science with a range of environmental, economic, informational, social, attitudinal and behavioural factors. All sectors of the Organization and many Field Offices, Centres and Institutes are addressing climate change. Therefore UNESCO and in particular through its Intersectoral Platform, provides a unique forum for addressing climate change and its impacts on the environment and human society. These activities are incorporated into the UN system-wide strategy, “Acting on Climate Change: The UN System Delivering as One”. The UNESCO Director-General established an Inter-Sectoral Task Force on Global Climate Change in early 2007.

Related links:

::  UNESCO Strategy for Action on Climate Change (180 EX/16 Rev.)
::  Enhanced plan of action for the UNESCO strategy for action on climate change (2009 and 2010-2011) (182 EX/INF.7 Annex)

::  2009 Brochure on the UNESCO Strategy