COP President continues push for meaningful climate action ahead of COP27

COP26 President Alok Sharma will take part in two key climate events in Sweden this week to continue the drive for countries to turn pledges made in the Glasgow Climate Pact into action ahead of COP27 in Egypt.

Tomorrow, (Tuesday 31 May) Mr Sharma will speak in Stockholm at the Ministerial on Climate Action (MOCA), co-hosted by Canada, the EU and China, which is focussed on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Mr Sharma will then take part in Stockholm +50, which is organised by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate 50 years since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, and meet ministers at related side-events.

At MOCA, the COP President will reflect on the achievements made at COP26, which kept the goal of global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees alive, while cementing progress on finance for climate action, adaptation and loss and damage. Mr Sharma will also discuss the outcomes from the May Ministerial on Implementation, co-hosted by Egypt and the UK in Copenhagen two weeks ago, which renewed political focus on the necessity of delivering on the Glasgow Climate Pact, and the clear steps that must be taken to achieve this.

Mr Sharma will echo the May Ministerial’s consensus that countries should revisit their 2030 emissions reductions targets before COP27 and strengthen them with workable plans if they do not align with the temperature goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

He will outline the need for scaling up and providing timely access to finance for countries working to adapt to the effects of climate change, as well as delivering on scaling up resources for loss and damage, and ensuring that finance is flowing to climate action.

Mr. Sharma will also meet with a delegation of parents from around the world to talk about the impacts of burning fossil fuels on children’s health. This follows a meeting between the COP President and a group of mothers at COP26 in Glasgow, where they presented a letter on behalf of nearly 500 parents’ organisations – representing millions of members from 44 countries – calling for an end to new fossil fuels. The parents attending the meeting with Mr. Sharma are from the UK, India, Poland, Sweden and Colombia.

Speaking ahead of his visit to Sweden COP26 President Alok Sharma said:

At COP26, countries seized the opportunity to act. We showed leadership, worked together and embraced progress to agree the historic Glasgow Climate Pact.

Six months on from COP26, the world has changed. These events in Sweden are taking place against the backdrop of Putin’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Inflation, debt, and food insecurity are growing challenges. Many across the world are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

So once again, we have must demonstrate that these threats have increased, not diminished, our determination to deliver on the Pact. Let us now pick up the pace on delivering a net zero, climate-resilient transition ahead of COP27.

We must accelerate progress on phasing down coal and ending inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, on our NDCs, finance, adaptation, and loss and damage. We must turn the promises and commitments of the Glasgow Climate Pact into action.

The COP President will chair a ministerial meeting on climate, forests and land use in the margins of Stockholm +50 on Wednesday, focusing on delivering the commitments made at the COP26 World Leaders Summit on Forests and Land Use, including the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. This declaration was endorsed by 143 countries at COP26, and if delivered upon will provide 10% of the emissions reduction needed by 2030 to keep 1.5C alive. Minister for the Pacific and the International Environment Lord Goldsmith will be the Minister representing the UK at the meeting.

Increasing the scale and pace of delivery of adaptation finance and accelerating action on the ground will be the focus of the second Stockholm +50 side event Mr Sharma will be taking part in. Ministers at the “Fast-tracking resilience building and adaptation” event are expected to emphasise that developed countries must deliver on the commitment to double the levels of finance for adaptation to the effects of climate change by 2025, as well as improving the quality of and access to adaptation finance.

Background:

In the first jointly led event by the UK and Egypt as COP26 and COP27 Presidencies, the May Ministerial Meeting on Implementation took stock of action and implementation across key elements of the Glasgow Climate Pact signed at COP26, the Paris Agreement and other international climate agreements and decisions.