Davey unveils UK’s climate vision for Paris 2015 UN summit
UK’s Energy and Climate Change chief has warned that governments are facing a "pivotal moment" in the struggle against climate change
Ed Davey, the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, has warned that governments are facing a "pivotal moment" in the struggle against climate change in the build up the UN Climate Summit on 23 September.
Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has called the meeting of world leaders on the back of the UN's annual general assembly and the summit will take place at the UN headquarters in New York City.
The summit is being billed as a prelude to the major UNFCCC COP21 climate talks in Paris in 2015 at which a new legally binding global agreement on the climate is due to be signed.
Davey was speaking at the UK government's launch of its vision for a global deal on climate change and called on the G7 and the G20 groups of industrialised states to collaborate further and show similar commitments to carbon emissions reduction.
Davey said: "Our business community has recognised that decarbonisation and securing long-term prosperity go hand in hand, from the savings that can be made through energy efficiency to the growth prospects through the supply chain. A strong, vocal and committed network of NGOs, pressure groups and activists have been instrumental in sustaining political will and public acceptance. We must show the rest of Europe and the rest of the world that we speak with one voice on this."
A report from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) released on Tuesday sets out the UK’s approach to climate change in the build up to the summit including the benefits of reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency.
The summit’s potential to make a significant impact has been damaged in recent days after it emerged Chinese President Xi Jingping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not be attending.
Xi and Modi oversee the first and third-leading greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting countries on the planet respectively and their presence was seen as important by UN officials and the international community.
The report outlines the government's new vision for a 2015 Paris deal and underlines the scientific and political consensus on the urgent need to tackle global temperature rises.
The document warns that the world is now "playing catch" up as a result of the failure to agree a comprehensive deal on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009.
The report highlights the growing opportunities for businesses to invest in low carbon technologies and the fact that investment in renewable energy has outpaced that in fossil fuels for four consecutive years.
