Ahead of the UN Sustainable Development Goals summit, The Elders call on world leaders to agree on a common approach that yields a “radical and sustainable” plan to tackle climate change.

In a letter to heads of state and government attending the launch of the new UN Sustainable Development Goals in New York on 26 September, The Elders told leaders:

The Sustainable Development Goals are the successors to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals which ran from 2000 to 2015. The COP 21 summit in Paris in December is seen by scientists as the last opportunity to commit to meaningful action to prevent a future climate catastrophe.

The Elders warned:

Specifically, they urged leaders attending the launch of the SDGs to:

• Inject a new sense of urgency into the Paris negotiations to secure an international binding agreement that would limit the increase in average global temperature to less than two degrees Celsius;
• Establish a goal for all nations to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and agree a timetable to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, with early action on coal;
• Commit to mechanisms within the Paris agreement that can assess progress and ratchet up the commitment of all signatories on climate mitigation and adaptation efforts every five years;
• Approve a financial package that increases investment in clean energy and supports climate adaptation by poor countries.

Even at this late stage, The Elders believe that transformative leadership can yield radical and sustainable results, telling heads of state and government:

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