Sustainable Development Goals

COPA’s contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals

In September 2015, all United Nations member states agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the centrepiece of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the SDGs are an urgent call for developed and developing countries to work in a global partnership towards a sustainable economic growth that is compatible with social justice within ecological limits. Additionally, the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed the same year to ensure compliance with the SDGs in this area. The treaty provides a roadmap for emission reduction measures and building climate resilience. More information on the Sustainable Development Goals can be found here: The 17 Goals.

The Alliance’s climate actions contribute to 7 SDGs of the United Nations, with some SDGs more strongly linked to COPA than others. Strongly COPA connected SDGs are SDG 12, 13 and 17, as detailed below:

	gg	Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns If refrigeration systems are not disposed of properly, the materials get lost and climate-damaging refrigerants are released. COPA supports the goal to achieve environmentally sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle and to significantly reduce their release into air, by accelerating mitigation measures needed to address banks of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). COPA aims a shift to sustainable refrigerant management by implementing a circular economy in the cooling sector.

		Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts It is estimated that the refrigeration sector will account for around 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The Alliance members take measures to implement actions to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and ozone-depleting substances (ODS). It aims to contribute to the target of mobilizing 100b USD/ annually for dedicated climate action.

		Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development With COPA, we build an Alliance whose members come from different stakeholder groups from all around the world. The joint commitment and exchange of knowledge between civil society, public entities, and the private sector promote a global shift to sustainable refrigerant management. The alliance enables partner countries to receive financial support and to implement specific climate protection measures or pilot projects on site.

		The work in COPA is contributing indirectly to the SDGs 9 and 11 as described below:
		Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation The COPA Alliance aims to encourage a sustainable management of climate-damaging refrigerants. By partner countries, receiving technical and financial support from Alliance members, a faster innovation in the sector can be enabled and the use of environmentally sound management of ODS and HFC gases integrated in industrial processes increase. This results in the increase of a global, sustainable refrigerant and gas bank management.

		Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Due to a growing world population, urbanisation, increasing prosperity and the global temperature rise, the demand of air conditioning systems and refrigerants in cities grows. At the same time, the number of old appliances that are not disposed properly is increasing. The Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) of the Montreal Protocol estimates the global stock's greenhouse gas potential at 16-18 GT CO2eq. COPA helps develop long-term climate action in this sector - an important and complementary step in building sustainable cities.