Summary of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change

Conference
Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing our world. It is not just a threat
to the environment. It is also a threat to national and global security, poverty eradication
and economic prosperity.
A global agreement is the only way we can deliver the scale of action required to reduce
global emissions. Securing an ambitious global climate deal in Paris is a UK
Government priority and we are working with other countries to push political ambition.

What is the Paris Conference?

The 21st UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) Conference of
Parties* (COP21) will be held in Paris from 30 November until 11 December and its aim
is to agree the first truly global agreement to tackle climate change.

Who is attending?
Over two weeks, around 130 Leaders (including the Prime Minister), environment
Ministers and Government officials will be in attendance, as well as a wide range of
representatives from civil society and business. Secretary of State for the Department of
Energy and Climate Change, Rt Hon Amber Rudd will lead the UK delegation.

What are the prospects for a deal?

The UK government is cautiously optimistic and is working hard with other countries to
resolve outstanding issues, but it will be a challenging negotiation.
Over 160 countries, covering 90% of global emissions and representing over 90% of the
global economy have come forward with their proposed national commitments to reduce
emissions (known in the UN as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or
INDCs).
These are unprecedented and a significant move forward from business as usual.

What to look for in the Paris deal?

The UK and EU (who lead on climate negotiations on behalf of EU member states) are
pushing for:

Ambitious mitigation commitments from all Parties (developed and developing),

and a plan to implement them;

A mechanism to review mitigation ambition every five years to bring Parties back
to the table to further reduce emissions in line with a long term goal to keep the world
moving towards the below 2C goal;

A robust, legally-binding rules framework to ensure transparency and

accountability around climate action and to help track progress; and

Climate finance to support the poorest and most vulnerable countries to take
action to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

How is the UK playing its part?

The UK is playing a key role in the negotiations alongside global partners, including the
US, Germany and France.
As part of our committed aid budget, the UK is supporting the poorest and most
vulnerable to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. In September, the
Prime Minister announced a significant increase in the UKs climate finance of at least
50%, with a further 5.8 billion over the next 5 years.

What are other countries doing?

In Antalya (Turkey), the G20 issued a communique confirming a collective agreement
that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and that 2015 is a
critical year that requires effective, strong, and collective action on climate change and
its effects.

In August this year, President Obama confirmed the details of his Clean Power Plan to
reduce emissions from power plants, which are the largest single source of emissions in
the US, by 32% by on 2005 levels by 2030. China has also made commitments to peak
emissions around 2030, and to implement a nationwide emissions trading scheme in
2017. In his visit to the UK in October, President Xi and the Prime Minister agreed that
Paris was a pivotal moment for the global effort to tackle climate change.
In his recent visit to the UK, Prime Minister Modi, confirmed that India is committed to
developing in a low carbon and sustainable way. India is taking great steps to expand
their clean energy supply, including ambition for a five-fold increase in renewable
energy by 2022.

What will happen after Paris?

Paris will not be the end of the road, or the last COP, but it will mark a major turning
point. As countries implement their commitments in 2016 and beyond, Governments
and business will work to turn these pledges into climate action.
*Parties refers to states or regional economic integration organisations (such as the
European Union) that agree to be bound by a treaty.