The World Cooperative Monitor (WCM) is a project promoted by the ICA with the scientific support of Euricse aiming at maintaining an up-to-date database on large cooperatives to monitor and demonstrate the impact of the large cooperatives, from both an economic and social perspective. Not only has it been a crucial tool to raise the profile of cooperatives to policymakers and industry professionals, but it has also provided an essential starting point for researchers and academics. This group will use the WCM to support and add value to ICETT. The 2020 WCM edition particularly focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Climate Action.
SDG 13 urges everyone to take action to combat climate change and its impacts. SDG 13 targets specific issues including the need to increase countries' resilience to natural disasters, and the need to improve education and raise awareness on climate-related issues.
Climate change is an increasing disaster risk, causing grievous impacts on people's livelihoods, particularly in the remote rural areas of developing countries.
Effective climate change adaptation and mitigation will be best achieved through collective action.The cooperatives' wide-range membership places them in a unique position to raise members' awareness about the importance of reducing their carbon footprints through capacity-building programs and lobbying governments in an aspiration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. Cooperatives in the agricultural sector, agroforestry, renewable energy, and waste management have actively engaged in green transition and circular economy to mitigate climate change effects.
The Cooperatives for Climate Action theme was chosen for the 2020 International Day of Cooperatives to address cooperatives' contribution to combating climate change and support SDG 13.
