UN Climate Change: Ministers Meet in Milan for pre-COP 26 Discussions

The pre-COP was opened in Milan, Italy today to prepare for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to be held in Glasgow, Scotland in November this year. With the opening of COP26 in 4 weeks time, Ministers are gathering in Milan to develop a better understanding of how to resolve some of the remaining crunch issues.

The pre-COP is being jointly hosted by the Government of Italy and the incoming UK COP26 Presidency and aims to lay the foundation for a successful outcome in Glasgow.

The meeting is taking place just weeks after a report by UN Climate Change found that nations must urgently redouble their climate efforts if they are to prevent global temperature increases beyond the Paris Agreement’s goal of 2C – ideally 1.5C – by the end of the century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had earlier confirmed that that unless there are rapid, sustained and large-scale reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C will be beyond reach.

“We still have this window of opportunity. But every day, every moment that passes, the window is smaller. And this is why COP26 is so important,” Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change explained.

“The impacts of missing the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C goal will likely result in widespread death and destruction throughout the world. Climate change recognizes neither borders or ideologies. It’s here, it’s impacting millions and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t take urgent action in 2021 and make significant progress at COP26,” she added.

A successful outcome at COP 26 will entail a balanced package of decisions and actions reflecting expectations, concerns and needs of all stakeholders in multiple areas—all set against a backdrop of ambition.

In this context, the hosting of the meeting by the Government of Italy and the tireless efforts by the incoming COP26 UK Presidency are greatly appreciated.

The issues under discussion in Milan include:

Increasing ambition in reducing emissions to ensure that the 1.5C goal remains within reach
Increasing ambition on the provision of finance and support to developing countries to enable them to act on climate change
Improving approaches to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage from climatic extremes
Establishing a global goal on adaptation to decrease vulnerability, boost resilience-building through adaptation planning and the implementation of adaptation actions
Advancing the technicalities needed for countries to transparently report on their climate actions and support needed or received
Advancing the detailed rules for the market and non-market mechanisms, through which countries can cooperate to meet their emission reduction targets.