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Near-Term Responses in a Changing Climate
Section 4
Climate Resilient Development
Emissions reductions
Adaptation
Sustainable Development
Multiple interacting choices and actions can shift 
development pathways towards sustainability
Sustainable Development 
Goal (SDG) achievement
IPCC AR6
2030
Present
world
Past 
conditions
There is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity 
to enable climate resilient development
Prospects for climate 
resilient development will 
be further limited if global 
warming exceeds 1.5°C and 
if progress towards the SDGs 
is inadequate
Early action and enabling 
conditions create future 
opportunities for climate 
resilient development
Past conditions 
(emissions, climate 
change, development) 
have increased warming 
and development gaps persist
opportunit
ies mi
ssed
Illustrative ‘shock’ that 
disrupts development
warming limited to be
low 1.5°
C 
Low emissions
System transitions
Transformation
Low climate risk
Equity and justice
SDG achievement
High emissions
Entrenched systems
Adaptation limits
Maladaptation
Increasing climate risk
Reduced options 
for development
Ecosystem 
degradation
Outcomes characterising 
development pathways
Civil 
society
Governments
Private 
sector
Conditions that enable 
individual and collective actions
• Inclusive governance 
• Diverse knowledges and values
• Finance and innovation
• Integration across sectors 
and time scales
• Ecosystem stewardship
• Synergies between climate 
and development actions
• Behavioural change supported 
by policy, infrastructure and 
socio-cultural factors
Conditions that constrain 
individual and collective actions
• Poverty, inequity and injustice
• Economic, institutional, social 
and capacity barriers
• Siloed responses
• Lack of ﬁnance, and barriers 
to ﬁnance and technology
• Tradeoffs with SDGs
2100 
& beyond
Figure 4.2: The illustrative development pathways (red to green) and associated outcomes (right panel) show that there is a rapidly narrowing window of 
opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all. Climate resilient development is the process of implementing greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation 
measures to support sustainable development.