UN Climate Change News, 29 November 2018 – United Nations Climate Change today announced partnerships for the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP24 in Katowice (2–14 December) which showcase and help drive climate action in support of the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The COP24 partnerships promote the increased involvement of non-Party stakeholders as foreseen in the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA).

The MPGCA was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP22 by the Conference of the Parties, explicitly welcoming climate action of all non-Party stakeholders, including the private sector, to help implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

All entities of society and business are strongly encouraged to scale up their efforts and support actions to reduce emissions, as well as to build resilience and decrease vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.

The initiatives led by COP24 partners include promoting sustainable urban mobility, inspiring young people to create climate solutions, developing energy efficient technologies, investing in renewable energy generation, fostering sustainable consumption, among other initiatives to lead the transition to a low carbon future.

“We need greater coherence and collaboration to build a strong multilateral system that can reach the turning point in global emissions”, said the Deputy Executive Secretary of United Nations Climate Change, Ovais Sarmad. “By cooperating with non-Party stakeholders, we are joining forces to encourage climate action at all levels of society.”

Collaborating with innovative, environmentally responsible partners, United Nations Climate Change aims to access key resources such as knowledge, expertise and broad outreach support to unleash the full potential of the Paris Agreement and accelerate progress towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The selected partners have all demonstrated willingness to exercise social and environmental responsibility, often engaging the public, cities, regions, businesses and civil society in their climate-friendly initiatives. Many have also committed to reducing emissions in their operations while embracing more sustainable business practices.

Examples of partners’ support at COP24

• Outreach: United Nations Climate Change has collaborated with WPP agencies to create the "People's Seat" initiative, which combines digital technology, social polling and climate advocacy to have the voice of millions of citizens around the world heard and encourage engagement and climate action through social media.
• Virtual engagement: Facebook will host an area in the United Nations Climate Change pavilion dedicated to facilitating ‘Facebook Live’ interviews aimed at expanding virtual engagement with the public.
• Climate-friendly transportation and mobility: A partnership with energy company Iberdrola focuses on raising awareness about climate-neutral mobility by engaging COP24 participants in a cycling expedition from Vienna to Katowice.
• Climate finance: A partnership with Visa has enabled the creation of a social giving kiosk to demonstrate the power of collective action through charitable donations to the Adaptation Fund, which finances projects and programs that help vulnerable developing countries build resilience and adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change.
• Sustainable conference: The Secretariat has furnished its partnerships pavilion at COP24 with sustainable items provided by IKEA and Viennese company Papertown. Furniture produced by Papertown is made of cardboard, a recyclable material which enables energy and CO2 emissions reductions during transportation and storage.  
• Knowledge and expertise: Several of the UN Climate Change partners will be involved in discussions regarding climate action throughout the conference.

The United Nations Climate Change partners for COP24 are:

• Facebook: the social network company is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 75% and powering its global operations with 100% renewable energy by the end of 2020.

• GEIDCO: a non-governmental international organization, registered in Beijing, made up of enterprises, institutions and individuals dedicated to promoting large-scale development, transmission and consumption of clean energy worldwide.

• Google: the technology company reached 100% renewable energy for its global operations in 2017 and is focused on creating efficient data centres that consume less power.

• Iberdrola: an international power utility present in Spain, the US, the UK, Mexico, Brazil and other countries which is committed to generating energy from renewable sources. Two-thirds of Iberdrola’s installed capacity is emission-free.

• Ingka Group: the largest franchisee of furniture retailer IKEA with 367 stores in 30 markets. IKEA is encouraging its customers and suppliers, along with governments and other partners to work together to tackle climate change. It has adopted science-based targets for 2030 that include reducing the emissions from Ingka Group stores and other operations by 80% in absolute terms, compared to 2016.

• Itaipu Binacional: a hydroelectric power company with a plant located on the border of Brazil and Paraguay, a leader in clean and renewable energy generation.

• Papertown: a company based in Vienna that works with cardboard as a sustainable construction material to design products for the event and trade fair business.

• Signify: a world leader in lighting with expertise in the development of energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies. The company intends to become carbon neutral by 2020 by saving energy in factories and offices, optimising logistics and its supply chain, reducing business travel and increasing the use of renewable energy.

• UITP and UIC: UITP (the International Association of Public Transport) and UIC (International Railway Union) are global transport associations which are encouraging public transport actors to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement.

• VISA: one of the world’s largest payment networks, Visa is a company that puts strong emphasis on sustainability and is committed to using 100% renewable energy in its operations.

• WPP: a worldwide advertising agency network which has several campaigns on sustainability issues in its portfolio.

About partnerships between UN Climate Change and non-party stakeholders

More information about partnerships between United Nations Climate Change and non-party stakeholders is available here.

For further information, please contact:

Claribelle Poujol, Head of Resource Mobilization and Partnerships: +49 228 815-19 45, cpoujol@unfccc.int