Innovating for Sustainability: The Global Climate Hub

Multiple challenges have emerged over the last decades, threatening human, socio-economic and environmental systems. Climate change impacts, degradation of limited natural resources, unsustainable demand, production and consumption practices, diseases, crises in the energy, food and biodiversity sectors, economic recessions, and many more, interconnected dynamic threats, require coordinated and efficient solutions. Under the UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) we developed the Global Climate Hub (GCH), an international initiative for tackling such challenges. After 12 years of SDSN's action, we present the structure and ways of operation of the GCH, along with the principles that allow it to successfully bridge holistic scientific approaches with the society, for implementing fair and publicly acceptable sustainable pathways. The GCH's five innovations are analyzed, namely, the use of integrated 'cutting-edge models', with the support of 'digital AI-driven data-handling infrastructure', for the development of case-specific 'socio-economic narratives' and 'stakeholder engagement' for co-designing solutions. Moreover, the nine units of the GCH are scrutinized in terms of scope, methods, and tools. These cover a wide range of expertise in digital applications, climate science, energy, transport, land, water, food, biodiversity, and marine systems, public health, solutions' application, policy, finance, labour markets, participatory approaches, education and training. This contribution provides a complete picture of a global, developing - and successful so far - vision for a climate-neutral, resilient and sustainable world.