Global summit to boost clean energy momentum
International energy and climate leaders from the world’s largest economies will take part in the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Conference of the Parties 26 (COP26’s) Net Zero Summit later this month to accelerate the momentum behind clean energy and examine how countries could work together more effectively to reduce their greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to net zero in line with shared international goals.
Co-hosted by IEA executive director Fatih Birol and COP26 president Alok Sharma, the Net Zero Summit is a critical milestone on the road to COP26 in Glasgow in November.
The summit, to be held on March 31, will include a dynamic dialogue between the world’s major economies, which are also large emitters, with the participation of US Presidential Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Chinese Special Envoy on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua, European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Indian Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh.
“The world’s growing clean energy and climate ambitions are sending an unmistakable signal. Over 120 governments have announced their intentions to bring emissions to zero by the middle of this century. A tremendous amount now needs to be done to turn ambitions into reality: long-term targets by themselves will not suffice, as the recent rebound in global carbon dioxide emissions shows,” says Birol.
He emphasises the importance in identifying how to work together to turn targets into meaningful near-term energy actions to cut emissions and put the world on a sustainable path toward 1.5 °C.
“To keep our climate goals within reach the next ten years must be a decade of delivery, not deliberation. This is why the UK, as host of COP26, is pushing for much stronger international collaboration on climate change as one of its top priorities,” says Sharma, adding that the summit will be “an important opportunity for the world’s major economies to agree how they can work together to make the transition towards net zero by 2050 faster, cheaper and easier for all”.
High-profile energy and climate leaders attending the summit will represent countries that together account for the vast majority of global energy demand and GHG emissions, including Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and Spain. Global figures from business and civil society will also take part alongside youth representatives.
Following the opening sessions, a series of Ministerial Panels will address key issues for global clean energy transitions, covering topics such as, inter alia, ensuring people-centred transitions and catalysing near-term implementation.
The panels will be co-chaired by Ministers from governments including Canada, China, Denmark, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and the US.
During the closing plenary session, leaders will reflect on the major priorities for action in the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow and the subsequent IEA Ministerial Meeting, and on how to strengthen the international clean energy architecture going into 2022 and beyond.
The summit is intended to provide a unique forum for dialogue among governments on how to implement their emissions pledges.
Additionally, in an effort to help countries turn their ambitions into coherent real-world action, the IEA will, on May 18, publish the world’s first comprehensive roadmap for the global energy sector to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Commissioned by the UK government’s COP26 presidency, the IEA analysis will be “a vital foundation” for building a global consensus on reaching net-zero emissions, informing discussions at COP26 in November and beyond.
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