Climate change is affecting every country on every continent and so there has never been a greater need to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters. Goal 13 strives to do this by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“Climate change is the single greatest threat to a sustainable future but, at the same time, addressing the climate challenge presents a golden opportunity to promote prosperity, security and a brighter future for all.”Ban Ki-Moon
Former Secretary-General of the UN
More than one million species are at risk of extinction by climate change.
The World Bank determined that “there’s no certainty” humans could adapt to a world that is four degrees Celsius warmer.
At Veolia Water Technologies we continue to develop a wide range of innovative solutions to improve the environmental impact of water consumption. By optimizing their water management processes and focusing on water reuse and wastewater recycling, our customers directly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The waterworks in Moos sets standards in economy and drinking water quality
After only three and a half years of planning and construction, the waterworks from Waldwasser in Moos, Bavaria — a drinking water site near Deggendorf, Germany — began operation in 2018 and simultaneously became one of the most modern plants in Europe.
Not only does the facility provide more than 80,000 private households with soft, clean drinking water, it does so with a crystal clear conscience.
The central element is an ion exchange system which softens the drinking water, reduces sulphate, nitrate and chloride, and also uses carbon dioxide (CO2) as a regeneration agent. The CO2 is recovered from an exhaust gas from the chemical industry instead of being emitted directly into the atmosphere.
This reduces energy consumption by 50% compared to other technologies and relieves the atmosphere of 630 tons of CO2 per year — equivalent to the CO2 emissions of 6.6 million kilometers traveled in a car every year.
Due to the large energy savings, the German Ministry of Environment has sponsored the technology used at the waterworks in Moos.
According to NASA, over the past 170 years, human activities have raised atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by 47% above pre-industrial levels found in 1850. This is more than what has happened naturally over 20,000 years.
“Because the future of our children is particularly important to us.” — Hermann Gruber, Federal Construction Manager of Bavaria
“With a globally unique combination of processes, it is certainly one of the most exciting projects in recent years.” — Uwe Sauer, Plant Manager, Veolia Water Technologies Germany
To stabilize (or even reduce) concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, the world needs to reach net-zero emissions. This requires large and fast reductions in emission. — Our World in Data
Borås aspires to create a city free from fossil fuels
Since the Swinging Sixties, Borås, the second largest city in Western Sweden, has been committed to sustainable development.
This dedication paved the way for a SEK 400 million (€42.5 million) contract to design and build an ambitious wastewater treatment plant for the 210,000 residents. The plant came online in late 2018, featuring the latest advancements in sustainable wastewater treatment to produce sludge with the highest possible potential to generate energy in the nearby biogas plant. In addition, phosphorus is recovered, mainly through biological treatment to be reused as fertilizer.
We've worked with Borås Energi och Miljös for over a decade. Together we provide the City of Borås with district heating and cooling, biogas, waste management, water and sewage treatment and energy and waste services.
The joint aim is to convert the energy of the city's waste streams into renewable valuables, and create a city free from fossil fuels.
Swedish Parliament aims to be the world’s first fossil-free welfare state to showcase a prosperous, inclusive and equal society without greenhouse gas emissions. A large political majority introduced a climate policy framework in 2017 to reach net-zero emissions by 2045 at the latest, and thereafter negative emissions.
“We are really proud of the fact that Borås has a wastewater treatment plant of the highest environmental standards.” — Jonas Holmberg, Marketing Director of Borås Energi och Miljö.
Supporting Egypt’s 2030 vision to drive sustainable urban development and economic growth
Cairo Electricity Production Company, an affiliate of the Egyptian Electricity Holding, awarded a consortium — led by our team in Egypt and France — the contract to design, build and set up water and wastewater treatment plants for the Assiut Supercritical and Cairo West power plants.
The mission: to address the ongoing water scarcity and power outages in the country.
A team of approximately 180 engineers from across the consortium enabled both power plants to operate at maximum capacity while meeting each boilers’ feed and high demand for extra-pure demineralized water.
This helps lessen chemical consumption and eliminates chemically- contaminated wastewater, improving the quality of the water being discharged while contributing to ensuring continuous power supply in the region.
As demand for energy rises, the power sector’s water usage is expected to increase even further, straining scarce water resources. Thirty-six countries around the world already suffer from high or extremely high water stress.
“Assiut PowerStation is fully designed and implemented to be operated using natural gas and/or mazout. The power station is designed with an ash handling system to treat the exhausted flue gases to ensure our commitment in keeping our environment safe and clean.” — Eng. Emad Gamal Ragheb, Project Manager of Upper-Egypt Electricity Production Company (UEEPC).
Blue Gold, inspiring, real-life stories about the Sustainable Development Goals in action
Listen now to the episode dedicated to Goal 13.
Visit the Assiut Supercritical Power Plant in Egypt and discover one of today's most modern and efficient systems in generating electricity while meeting environmental standards.
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Our conclusion
Since September 2015, when all United Nations member states adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals, our collective global progress has been slow.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has called for a decade of action to ensure we meet the global targets we set ourselves.
We all need to take responsibility and act today — not tomorrow — to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.