UNEP Climate Action report released at COP20

The 8th edition of Climate Action, supported by UNEP, was launched at COP20 in Lima last week with ministers of environment, heads of key UN bodies and leaders of the world’s top NGO’s participating.

The publication was first launched in Bali for the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2007 (COP13) as a platform for governments, industry, international opinion leaders, distinguished academics and environmentalists to debate the business case for climate change solutions.

The latest edition was unveiled at the official UNEP Sustainable Innovation Forum 2014 alongside the twentieth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) in the Peruvian capital and was distributed at the official COP venue as well as other key locations and events in the city.

Climate Action is produced in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and their distinguished Executive Director, Achim Steiner (pictured bottom right), opens the new edition with an insightful foreword addressing the latest trends and challenges in the climate change debate.

The President of COP20 and Minister of Environment of Peru, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal (pictured top right) also participated with a detailed feature that looks at the central themes of COP20 and the efforts underway in Peru to address environmental challenges.

Other environment ministers involved in the edition include Izabella Teixeira (pictured top left) of Brazil and Pablo Badenier (pictured bottom left) of Chile.

Key figures from leading UN bodies have also made key contributions including Helen Clark, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator; Dr Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); Dr Joan Clos, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat; and Raul Benitez of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

Participants in the Resilient Cities section of the edition include Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, and Chair, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40 Cities); Erik Jonnaert, Secretary General, European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA); Rob de Jong, Head of the Transport Unit, at UNEP’s Division of Technology Industry and Economics.

The official partners of the edition include C40 Cities and also the Green Climate Fund (GCF), World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), with their respective heads, Héla Cheikhrouhou, Dr Andrew Steer and Jane Henley, all participating with important features.

Climate finance was a central theme at the COP20 negotiations from 1-12 December and the edition has reflected this with contributions from GCF, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Peter Bakker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

With energy security a growing issue in the environmental debate, the Chair of World Energy Council (WEC), Marie-José Nadeau, and Adnan Amin of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) have written enlightening articles in the edition.

Deforestation, illegal logging, and the sustainable management of forests were all key themes at June’s United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya and the edition addresses these topics with the participation of Peter Holmgren, Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

Jukka Uosukainen, former Special Envoy for Climate Change for the Government of Finland and now Director of UNEP’s Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) highlight the importance of promoting accelerated, diversified and scaled-up transfer of environmentally sound technologies for climate change mitigation and adaptation while Mark Radka and John Christensen, of UNEP DTIE have co-author a feature that focuses on the emissions GAP, the vast potential of energy efficiency and the recent Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative.