Bonn, 8 June 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."
Confirmed speakers at the Summit include:
Janos PASZTOR, Assistant UN Secretary-General for Climate Change; Laurent FABIUS, French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, President of COP21; Carole DIESCHBOURG, Environment Minister of Luxemburg; Maros SEFCOVIC, Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union; Manuel PULGAR VIDAL, Environment Minister of Peru, President of COP20; Hakima El HAITE, Environment Minister of Morocco, President of COP22 (candidate).
Among elected officials, speakers include:
Nomusa DUBE-NCUBE, Member of the Executive Council, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa); David HEURTEL, Environment Minister of Québec (Canada); Anne HIDALGO, Mayor of Paris (France); Patricia IGLECIAS, Environment Secretary, State of São Paulo (Brazil); Diriba KUMA, Mayor of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Gustavo PETRO, Mayor of Bogota (Colombia); Matthew RODRIQUEZ, Environment Secretary, California (United States); Kadir TOPBAS, Mayor of Istanbul (Turkey); Jay WEATHERILL, Premier of South Australia (Australia).
For more speakers: http://en.rhonealpes.fr/1256-speakers.htm
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.
