Climate ambition summit: a new new surge on road to Glasgow Climate Conference [fr]
New York, London, Paris, 12 December — Global climate leaders took a major stride towards a resilient, net zero emissions future today, presenting ambitious new commitments, urgent actions and concrete plans to confront the climate crisis.
Co-convened by the United Nations, the UK and France, in partnership with Italy and Chile, on the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, today’s Climate Ambition Summit marked a major milestone on the road to the crucial UN climate conference COP26 in Glasgow next November.
75 leaders from all continents outlined new commitments at the Summit. This is a clear signal that the Paris Agreement - more than ever before the compass of international action - is working to steeply increase climate action and ambition.
The Summit showed clearly that climate change is at the top of the global agenda despite our shared challenges of COVID-19, and that there is mutual understanding that the science is clear. Climate destruction is accelerating, and there remains much more to do as a global community to keep the global temperature rise to 1.5C.
Despite the global pandemic and one of the worst economic crises of our time, we have shown today that climate action remains at the top of the international agenda. The crisis gives us the opportunity to accelerate our ecological transition and I welcome the announcements made today by more than 70 heads of State and government. This summit has confirmed that the Paris agreement struck under the French COP Presidency five years ago remains, more than ever, the compass of international climate action.
Emmanuel Macron, president of the French Republic
However today’s Summit showed beyond doubt that climate action and ambition are on the rise. The announcements at or just before the Summit, together with those expected early next year, mean that countries representing around 65% of global CO2 emissions, and around 70% of the world’s economy, will have committed to reaching net zero emissions or carbon neutrality by early next year.
These commitments must now be backed up with concrete plans and actions, starting now, to achieve these goals, and today’s Summit delivered a surge in progress on this front.
- Climate ambition summit - Press release
- (PDF - 289 kb)