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High-level inaugural event of the Carbon Neutrality Coalition

By 17 September 2018September 27th, 2018No Comments

Heads of Governments, Ministers and Senior officials from 19 countries participated in a high-level event at the United Nations on September 27 officially inaugurated the Carbon Neutrality Coalition, under the leadership of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine.

The Carbon Neutrality Coalition (CNC) was created at the occasion of the One Planet Summit in December 2017. It brings together 19 pioneering countries, committed to developing ambitious long-term climate strategies well ahead of 2020, in support of the Paris Agreement’s collective goal of achieving carbon neutrality in the second half of the century.

With key negotiations on the implementation of the Paris Agreement about to take place at COP24 this year, and with carbon neutrality emerging as the rallying cry from the Global Climate Action Summit, the UNGA Leaders’ Week was a key opportunity to promote increased ambition and lay the groundwork for the 2019 UN Secretary General Summit.

At this decisive moment for the negotiations, the members of the CNC reaffirmed their support for ambitious long-term climate action and formally adopt the CNC plan of action to advocate for more countries to follow suit.

The event was also a platform to announce and welcome new members of the CNC: Canada, Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Participants included:

  • Ms Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, co-convener.
  • Ms Hilda Heine, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, co-convener.
  • Ms Epsy Campbell Barr, First Vice President of Costa Rica
  • Mr Mark Field, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom
  • Ms Ellen Trane Nørby, Minister for Health, Denmark
  • Ms Brune Poirson, Secretary of State for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, France
  • Mr Luis Videgaray, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico
  • Ms Patricia Fuller, Ambassador for Climate Change, Canada
  • Mr Mark Watts, Executive Director C40
  • Mr Mark Crane, COO Pegasus, B Team Champion

The event was by Ms Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat and convenor of Mission 2020.

For more information, please email secretariat@carbon-neutrality.info