Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister and the Foreign Secretary’s
Special Representative for Climate Change Nick Bridge are
attending the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco on
13-14 September 2018. Governments, businesses and civil society
have come together to discuss efforts to reduce carbon emissions
and to transition to low carbon economies.
Throughout the summit, the UK has showcased a range of national
and international commitments to tackle climate change, from
driving the development of the zero emissions transport sector,
to our support for small states and vulnerable communities to
adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The Powering Past Coal Alliance has also announced ten new
members from across the US, Europe, and Australasia. Jointly
initiated by the US and Canada, the coalition of 74 governments,
businesses, and other organisations is committed to ending the
use of unabated coal power within the timeframe of the Paris
Agreement.
Minister said:
Climate change is a global problem and one that needs to be
tackled at every level, from international, to national and
local governments, and with a huge role to play for businesses
and individuals.
The UK is looking beyond our strong record on climate action at
home. We are working across the world to help reduce emissions
and create a safer, more prosperous future for all people. We
also want to help UK businesses capitalise on the growing
investment opportunities as countries transition to clean, low
carbon economies.
Nick Bridge, the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for
Climate Change said:
We are delighted that ten new members have this week joined our
international alliance to end the use of unabated coal power.
Rapidly decreasing our dependency on coal is crucial to meeting
our global Paris Agreement commitments.
The UK has committed to ending unabated coal power generation
by 2025 and we want to help other countries and organisations
who share the same ambition.
Earlier this month, Minister Field attended the Pacific Islands
Forum [3-6 September] where climate change was top of the agenda
as an issue urgently facing small islands. The UK is one of the
largest contributors of international climate finance and in the
four years to 2020 will be giving developing countries over £5.5
billion to help them mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate
change.
The visit also follows the UK-hosted international Zero Emissions
Vehicle Summit [11-12 September] which brought together
government and industry leaders to drive forward the development
of the ultra low and zero vehicle emission market, in order to
reduce emissions and improve air quality. In July, the Government
set out its ambition for at least half of new cars to be ultra
low emission by 2030. All new cars and vans will be effectively
zero emission by 2040.
The first ever Green Great Britain Week will be held from 15
October, designed to highlight the opportunities that clean
growth offers and raise awareness of how business and the public
can tackle climate change.
