The recently-concluded G20 Summit held in Brisbane, 16-17 Nov, re-confirmed the significance of climate change and the urgency to take collective action to address the climate crisis. Twenty-one points were outlined in the communique, including energy efficiency (No. 18) and climate change (No.19).

 No.19. “We support strong and effective action to address climate change. Consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its agreed outcomes, our actions will support sustainable development, economic growth, and certainty for business and investment. We will work together to adopt successfully a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the UNFCCC that is applicable to all parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris in 2015. We encourage parties that are ready to communicate their intended nationally determined contributions well in advance of COP21 (by the first quarter of 2015 for those parties ready to do so). We reaffirm our support for mobilising finance for adaptation and mitigation, such as the Green Climate Fund.”

World leaders have made progressive steps leading to the Road to Paris, COP21, next year. During the World Climate Summit 2013, at COP19, Warsaw, Poland, a multi-sector representing businesses, finance, and governments agreed to create a bottom-up public-private initiative to provide practical and impactful solutions to address climate change.

A clear roadmap, realistic and comprehensive targets, bottom-up initiatives and commitments, and various other aspects were being called for.  These are presented in details in the Road to Paris action statement. Visit the Road to Paris 2015 portal here.

Link to The Green Journal AU