With the COVID-19 pandemic having disrupted plans to
hold the annual international UN climate meeting - known as the COP
- this year, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom have announced that they will
instead co-host a “landmark global event” on 12 December, the fifth
anniversary of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The event is being dubbed “the sprint to Glasgow” by the UN.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the
UK was slated to host this year’s COP in the Scottish City. The
Summit is now scheduled to take place a year later, in November
2021.
The December event will be held amid signs that the world is
off-track to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees above
pre-industrial levels, and that a carbon-free economy is long
overdue.
“The climate emergency is fully upon us, and we have no time to
waste, Mr. Guterres said in a statement. “The answer to our
existential crisis is swift, decisive, scaled up action and
solidarity among nations”.
The aim of the event is to rally momentum and call for much
greater climate action and ambition. National governments will be
invited to present more ambitious and high-quality climate plans,
as well as COVID recovery plans, new finance commitments and
measures to limit global warming to 1.5C.
It will bring together leaders from across all levels of
government, as well as the private sector and civil society, to
present new measures, boosting ambition and action.
High-level climate roundtable
More details of the event will be released on Thursday, during an
online High-level Roundtable on climate, which will feature
addresses from Mr. Guterres and Mr. Johnson, as well as several
other world leaders.
The Roundtable, beginning at 11:30 New York time, features
opening remarks from Mr. Guterres and Mr. Johnson; a discussion
on climate finance from several leaders, including Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the
European Commission, and Sebastián Piñera Echenique,
President of the Republic of Chile, the country originally slated
to host this year’s climate COP.
Discussions on aligning COVID-19 recovery packages and business
plans with the 1.5C and carbon neutrality goals, and on climate
adaptation and resilience will follow.
