The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Advancing climate action. Building resilience.
The decisions we make today will impact generations to come. It’s critical we get it right.
Infrastructure for climate action
In a landmark finding, new research reveals that infrastructure is responsible for 79% of all greenhouse gas emissions – and 88% of all adaptation costs.
Climate change is impacting communities in every country, across every continent. Rising sea levels. Extreme weather events. Disrupted economies. Food and water insecurity. Resource scarcity. Conflict. We need urgent action, new partnerships and ambitious ideas.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called the findings of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, “a code red for humanity.”
We believe infrastructure is central to addressing climate change and is key to climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The infrastructure decisions made today will impact generations to come because it’s built to last. But without radical change to how infrastructure is planned, delivered and managed, we will not achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our latest report – Infrastructure for climate action – published together with the UN Environment Programme and the University of Oxford, explores the role infrastructure will play in defining our climate. The landmark study calls for radical changes in the way governments plan, design and manage infrastructure to support a low-emission and resilient future.
As countries begin to plan for a post-COVID-19 recovery, we have a unique opportunity to make the right infrastructure decisions. But the clock is ticking.
At COP26, parties came together to accelerate action.
UNOPS hosted a special high-level panel event, at the New York Times Climate Hub, focused on the role resilient and sustainable infrastructure will play in helping to tackle the climate crisis. Find out more and watch the discussion.
On the ground
Around the world we're working with partners on projects that help tackle some of the biggest challenges posed by climate change, providing our expertise and experience in delivering resilient infrastructure, sustainable procurement and more.
We face an uncertain future, impacted by a changing climate and pandemics, but we have a unique opportunity to get it right, if we act now.
10 ways we’re helping build resilience to climate change
Initiatives
Initiatives
To mitigate the global impacts of climate change and deliver on the 2030 Agenda, partnership and collaboration are critical. Explore some of the different initiatives we're supporting below.
Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT)
ICAT works to provide policymakers around the world with tools and support to measure and assess the impacts of their climate actions. The initiative, managed by UNOPS, was founded to respond to the critical need to support improved transparency and capacity building under the Paris Agreement.
South East Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP)
The ETP is a multi-stakeholder platform that aims to accelerate energy transition in Southeast Asia and deliver the Paris Agreement targets on climate change by bringing together government, donors, philanthropies and partner governments.
Climate Vulnerable Forum & Vulnerable Twenty Joint Multi-Donor Fund
We’re proud to support the Climate Vulnerable Forum and Vulnerable Twenty Joint Multi-Donor Fund to help build stronger, climate-resilient and low carbon economies, as our world recovers from this pandemic.
To support the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, UNOPS Water and Energy Cluster supports projects in the areas of transboundary water management, integrated water resource management, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and environmental conservation.
Built on the premise of collective action, the NDC Partnership brings together 117 developed and developing countries and 84 institutional members to create and deliver on ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions that help achieve the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
