On June 30 and July 1, 2019, the United Nations and the UAE, represented by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), will host the ‘Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting’, a precursor to the UN Climate Action Summit, set to run in New York on September 23.
The Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting will serve as the stepping stone in laying the groundwork for the high-level Summit, the most significant political forum on climate action in 2019. The UN Secretary General António Guterres’s aim with the two events is to build political momentum to achieve the ambitious goals committed to by the world’s leading nations with the Paris Agreement.
Through ministerial and executive roundtables and plenary sessions, the Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting has been designed to strengthen the initiatives, commitments, and achievements set to be launched at the Climate Action Summit in New York, as well as to discuss the most important emerging political barriers and opportunities in global climate action.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres will offer an overview of the Meeting’s objectives and projected outcomes at the opening ceremony. A Leaders’ Roundtable on Raising Ambition will provide an opportunity to hear from ministers and global leaders on their plans to accelerate climate action to overcome the roadblocks to achieving the scale and speed mandated by the Paris Agreement- underscored by the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
A Leaders’ Roundtable on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Enhancement will also take place to analyze the lessons learnt from the first round of the NDCs and to identify best practice for their enhancement, including involving the government in their design and implementation.
Furthermore, the Leaders’ Roundtable on Energy Transition will evaluate the viability and political requirements of pursuing transformative reductions of greenhouse gases in the energy sector.
In partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting will host the world’s first Climate and Health Ministers’ Meeting. It will convene health and climate ministers, as well as non-government representatives, to identify the top actions in combatting climate change that can collectively save billions of dollars in human health costs, as well as change the narrative on the rationale for action.
The Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting will involve the participation of representatives from both the public and private sectors, at the local, regional and international level, with a strong emphasis on youth. In addition to the inclusion of youth representatives in the government delegation, the UAE is sponsoring the attendance of youth delegates from civil society and private sector.
Given its large youth contingent, the agenda of the Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting includes two events tailored for young people. The Youth Circle will offer youth delegates the opportunity to interview the Secretary-General and the Meeting’s headline speakers. Her Excellency Shamma Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs, and Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, will moderate the session. The second event – the Youth Consultation Session – will feature a dialogue between youth delegates and the chairs of the roundtables to discuss the Climate Meeting’s key deliverables.