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The eradication of extreme poverty is the minimum ethical floor of the global development agenda. With projections suggesting eradication is possible by 2030, the goal of ‘zero extreme poverty by 2030’ is a compelling objective.
However, climate change could be an obstacle to achieve this goal. It would hit the very poor hardest, making it tougher for those in extreme poverty to escape it, and drawing the moderately poor back into extreme poverty. Countries will need even greater ambition, and great support, to adapt and limit impacts on the poor.

But adaptation to climate extremes becomes increasingly implausible, particularly for the poorest, as we move beyond 2°C global mean temperature rise. Avoiding surpassing 2°C will require zero net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions before the century’s end. To achieve zero emissions, and indeed to peak in the next couple of decades, all countries need to transform their economies.

This report Resource Efficiency: Potential and Economic Implications has been produced by the UNEP’s International Resource Panel in response to a request by leaders of the G7 nations in the context of efforts to promote resource efficiency as a core element of sustainable development.

This report assesses why and how some countries within Asia (referred to in this report as Target Countries) have achieved success in attracting renewable energy investment, what are the critical barriers to furthering renewable energy deployment, and the policy measures and practical interventions that may help to overcome these barriers. The report also highlights how lower technology costs, increased competitiveness of renewable energy, and improved energy storage solutions are making the transition to renewable energy a reality and a priority.

The report Water Resources and Extreme Events in the Awash Basin seeks to better understand and quantify this critical economic vulnerability, as well as draw out the implications of this for water management policies.

Energy issues are also a high priority in the Nordic Council. In light of this, the Nordic Council’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee and Business and Industry Committee established a working group – the Energy Group – in the spring of 2015. The group was tasked with evaluating the need for Nordic co-operation on energy policy and developing proposals for how this co-operation can be developed going forwards. The Energy Group submitted its report in the spring of 2016.

The proposals put forward by the Energy Group are concrete and provide guidance as to how future co-operation on energy could be developed.