UN, France and Peru showcase climate action ahead of COP 21

Bonn/ Paris/ Lima, 17 September 2015 - The UN and the governments of France and Peru have launched a new website to demonstrate how momentum for climate action is building ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP 21), at which governments will conclude a new universal climate agreement. The website showcases the scope of this mobilization under the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA), which brings both state and non-state actors together on the global stage to accelerate cooperative climate action now and into the future in support of the new agreement. The Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SEforALL) is the lead organization for the action area on Energy Access and Efficiency under the LPAA, and is co-organising the thematic Energy Day during COP 21. Cooperative climate action is essential for the international community to keep the global average temperature rise below 2°C degrees, the internationally-agreed defense line against the worst impacts of climate change. On this website more initiatives are being added and will be added as information is gathered from the many groups which have come together to take cohesive and concrete climate action. The action areas covered are agriculture, forest, transport, renewable energy, energy access and efficiency, resilience, cities and sub-nationals, private finance, business, innovation, building and short-term pollutants. The website complements the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) launched last year at the UN climate change conference in Lima by the COP 20 Presidency of Peru together with the UN, which registers individual and cooperative commitments to action by companies, cities, subnational regions, and investors to address climate change. Anyone who registers in NAZCA is also encouraged to join one of the many transformational initiatives under the Lima-Paris Action Agenda. The Lima-Paris Action Agenda is a joint undertaking of the Peruvian and French COP Presidencies, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the UNFCCC Secretariat. It is aimed at strengthening climate action now and beyond the Paris COP 21 conference in December by taking robust global action towards low-carbon, climate-resilient societies; encouraging action and commitments by non-state actors and providing enhanced support to existing initiatives such as those launched during the UN Secretary General’s Climate summit in September 2014; and mobilizing new partners and providing a platform for the visibility of their actions, commitments and results in the run up to COP21. Photo credit: Passivhaus Institut (Wikimedia Commons)