Time: 14:00 - 15:45 CEST

Type: Open

Format: Panel discussion with public broadcast, with Q&A sessions


Description:

Decision 1/CMA.2 (Madrid, 2019) re-emphasized with serious concern the urgent need to address the significant gap between the aggregate effect of Parties’ mitigation efforts in terms of global annual emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020 and aggregate emission pathways consistent with holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Through their decision 1/CP.21 (Paris, 2015), Parties agreed to prepare new/updated NDCs and communicate these to the UNFCCC secretariat by 2020. This represents a major opportunity for closing the ambition gap referred to above.

At present, many countries are working on preparing their updated or new NDCs to respond to the mandate of decision 1/CP.21; some submissions have already been made and are available on the UNFCCC website in the interim NDC registry (https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/Pages/Home.aspx). Technical work and/or public consultations on NDC-related aspects, in both mitigation and adaptation, are well on the way. However, this work now happens at a time in which many countries across the world have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the virus represents an additional challenge for climate action in general and for the preparation of new or updated NDCs in 2020 - but it may also become an opportunity.

The objective of the event is to provide a space to share experiences and lessons learned with the preparation of new or updated NDCs in 2020 pursuant to paragraphs 23-34 of decision 1/CP.21.

The event will be moderated by Ms. Shyla Raghav, Vice President of Climate Change, Conservation International.

Agenda:  

• Opening and welcome by Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC
• Keynote by H.E. Carolina Schmidt, Minister of the Environment of Chile, COP25/CMP15/CMA2 President (video message)
• Panel discussion: support to the preparation of updated/new NDCs in 2020
  Participants:
  - H.E. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica, Co-Chair of the NDCP Partnership; ­
  - Mr. Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund;
  -­ Ms. Cassie Flynn, Head of the Climate Promise and Advisor to the Administrator, United Nations Development Programme.
• ­Q&A session
• Presentations on Support:
  NDC Partnership
  UNDP
  GCF
• Panel discussion: preparation of updated/new NDCs in 2020 – experiences, challenges, opportunities
  Participants:
  - Mr. Carlos Fuller (Belize), International and Regional Liaison Officer of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, AOSIS Lead Negotiator for Climate Change;
  - Ms. Carolina Urmeneta (Chile), Head of Climate Change Office, Ministry of the Environment;
  - Ms. Visnja Grgasović, Croatian Presidency of the EU Council and Mr. Jacob Werksman, Lead Negotiator, DG Climate Action of the European Commission (European Union);
  - Mr. Henrik Hallgrim Eriksen (Norway), Chief Negotiator, Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment;
  - Ms. Juliet Kabera (Rwanda), Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority.
• Q&A session
• Closing remarks: Mr. John Murton (United Kingdom), the COP26 Climate Envoy