French President François Hollande and Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), are expected to participate in the World Summit Climate & Territories in Lyon on 1-2 July, organisers announced today during international climate negotiations in Bonn.
Some 800 delegates from around the world, including elected officials and representatives of other non-state entities, will take part in the event. Hosted by the Rhone Alpes Region of France, the World Summit Climate & Territories will be the main gathering of subnational and local governments and civil society before the COP21 Paris Climate 2015 conference in December.
“The World Summit Climate & Territories is not just another climate summit,” said Bernard Soulage, Vice President of the Rhone-Alpes Region. “Local and subnational governments and civil society will come to Lyon with specific proposals and concrete commitments resulting from in-depth collaborative work. These commitments will be conveyed to the States, which are tasked with negotiating a bold, new climate agreement. Non-state actors are committed to playing a key role for a successful COP21.”
Taking place six months before COP21, the World Summit Climate & Territories will be a unique opportunity for all the major groups of non-state actors (subnational and local governments, NGOs, business, trade unions, indigenous peoples, youth, women, and the scientific community) to make their voices heard and highlight the importance of taking a territorial approach to climate challenges.
“Without mobilisation at the local and regional levels, States will not be able to implement their greenhouse gas reduction commitments,” said Ronan Dantec, UCLG’s spokesperson for climate issues. “Cities, states, regions and provinces around the world are playing a key role in the fight against climate change: they are the first to feel its impact and they are already taking innovative measures to tackle it. The World Summit Climate & Territories will contribute to developing a credible roadmap for limiting global warming to 2°C.”
The Summit heeds the call of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda, announced in December 2014 at COP20 in Peru, to accelerate climate action throughout 2015 and beyond.
Nick Nuttall, UNFCCC Communications Coordinator and COP21 spokesperson, said: “Support of government action on climate change by cities, companies, subnational regions and investors is growing daily. The Lyon Summit will be the next high-profile event to showcase this momentum and another key milestone on the road to COP21. We invite all participants to register their commitments on the NAZCA portal, and to support the Lima- Paris Action Agenda.”
Speaking on behalf of youth, Leslie Tourneville, Community and Skills Management Director at international student-led ‘think-and-do tank’ CliMates, said: “The challenge for civil society, especially for youths, is to promote a vision and actions for the long term, which take into account general interests and are different from those typically discussed at international climate conferences. In Lyon, we will defend the aspirations and initiatives of global youth for a fair, low-carbon future.”
The proposals and commitments presented in Lyon will be based on workshop findings on 10 themes (low carbon economy and jobs, forests, agriculture, mobility and transports, climate finance, etc), managed by the Summit’s organising networks. They will be conveyed to COP21’s French presidency, as well as to all States taking part in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the aim of adopting a new, universal and ambitious climate agreement in Paris in December.
Further information
List of speakers at the Summit
Complete Lyon Summit programme
Watch the press conference video
Read the UNFCCC Newsroom article
Source: UNFCCC press release from 08.06.2015
French President François Hollande and Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), are expected to participate in the World Summit Climate & Territories in Lyon on 1-2 July, organisers announced today during international climate negotiations in Bonn.
Some 800 delegates from around the world, including elected officials and representatives of other non-state entities, will take part in the event. Hosted by the Rhone Alpes Region of France, the World Summit Climate & Territories will be the main gathering of subnational and local governments and civil society before the COP21 Paris Climate 2015 conference in December.
“The World Summit Climate & Territories is not just another climate summit,” said Bernard Soulage, Vice President of the Rhone-Alpes Region. “Local and subnational governments and civil society will come to Lyon with specific proposals and concrete commitments resulting from in-depth collaborative work. These commitments will be conveyed to the States, which are tasked with negotiating a bold, new climate agreement. Non-state actors are committed to playing a key role for a successful COP21.”
Taking place six months before COP21, the World Summit Climate & Territories will be a unique opportunity for all the major groups of non-state actors (subnational and local governments, NGOs, business, trade unions, indigenous peoples, youth, women, and the scientific community) to make their voices heard and highlight the importance of taking a territorial approach to climate challenges.
“Without mobilisation at the local and regional levels, States will not be able to implement their greenhouse gas reduction commitments,” said Ronan Dantec, UCLG’s spokesperson for climate issues. “Cities, states, regions and provinces around the world are playing a key role in the fight against climate change: they are the first to feel its impact and they are already taking innovative measures to tackle it. The World Summit Climate & Territories will contribute to developing a credible roadmap for limiting global warming to 2°C.”
The Summit heeds the call of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda, announced in December 2014 at COP20 in Peru, to accelerate climate action throughout 2015 and beyond.
Nick Nuttall, UNFCCC Communications Coordinator and COP21 spokesperson, said: “Support of government action on climate change by cities, companies, subnational regions and investors is growing daily. The Lyon Summit will be the next high-profile event to showcase this momentum and another key milestone on the road to COP21. We invite all participants to register their commitments on the NAZCA portal, and to support the Lima- Paris Action Agenda.”
Speaking on behalf of youth, Leslie Tourneville, Community and Skills Management Director at international student-led ‘think-and-do tank’ CliMates, said: “The challenge for civil society, especially for youths, is to promote a vision and actions for the long term, which take into account general interests and are different from those typically discussed at international climate conferences. In Lyon, we will defend the aspirations and initiatives of global youth for a fair, low-carbon future.”
The proposals and commitments presented in Lyon will be based on workshop findings on 10 themes (low carbon economy and jobs, forests, agriculture, mobility and transports, climate finance, etc), managed by the Summit’s organising networks. They will be conveyed to COP21’s French presidency, as well as to all States taking part in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the aim of adopting a new, universal and ambitious climate agreement in Paris in December.
Further information
List of speakers at the Summit
Complete Lyon Summit programme
Watch the press conference video
Read the UNFCCC Newsroom article
Source: UNFCCC press release from 08.06.2015