15 May 2018
Hofburg, Vienna, Austria
R20 Austrian World Summit
This annual event is organized by Arnold Schwarzenegger´s "R20 Regions of Climate Action" office in Austria. The summit brings together international leaders from politics, businesses, investors, civil society, academics, start-ups, and climate experts as well as representatives of regions and cities from around the world.
As a member of the Advisory Board, Prof. Dr. Nakicenovic will represent IIASA and participate in the Panel Session on Strategies and Actions to Tackling Pollution for Better Health
About R20
The climate change initiative of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s R20 Regions of Climate Action is to realise climate protection projects as effective as possible. Therefore, R20 has strong partnerships with the United Nations, international financing institutions (World Bank, European Investment Bank, etc.) and with networks of regions such as C40 (Cities Climate Leadership Group) and ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability). R20 Austria & EU, founded by Monika Langthaler in 2014, is the local R20-hub in Austria. This association is an international partner, active in all R20 networks and initiatives around climate protection issues and “brainbows – the information company“ is the organizing agency of the AUSTRIAN WORLD SUMMIT.
Background
On September 25, 2015 the General Assembly of the United Nations agreed on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It consists of a set of 17 aspirational Global Goals (“Sustainable Development Goals“ or SDGs) with 169 targets amongst them. These include ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, combating climate change and pushing sustainable economic growth. 194 Member States of the United Nations agreed to start action immediately in order to reach the goals by 2030.
Furthermore, these nations negotiated the Paris Agreement, the follow-up agreement of the Kyoto Protocol, in December 2015. This is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance (divestment) aims to restrict the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. This agreement went into effect on 4 November 2016.
The SDGs and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are closely connected. Their implementation will drive the economy towards de-carbonisation, which is an important milestone in achieving the SDGs. This can only succeed if partners from business, subnational governments, civil society and others work together to create sustainable projects.
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