Private sector expected to play key role in the lead up to COP 25

NEW YORK, 12 November 2019 — The United Nations Global Compact today hosted a special briefing for companies in follow-up to the UN Climate Action Summit and looking ahead to COP 25 in Spain this December. Hosted via the UN Global Compact Academy and streamed live via UN WebTV, the session focused on how corporate leaders can keep the ambitious climate momentum going looking ahead to 2020, when — for the first time — countries will need to raise their ambition and submit their revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in line with the Paris Agreement.

From left: Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact; Ambassador Luis Alfonso De Alba, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Climate Action Summit; Dan Thomas, Chief of Communications at the UN Global Compact.

Referencing the important role the business community plays in addressing the climate crisis, Ambassador Luis Alfonso De Alba, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Climate Action Summit, said, “The fact that I would like to highlight is that we need to do this in partnership. There is full recognition that no Government can do this alone.”

Reflecting on the outcomes of the Climate Action Summit in September, he added, “We need to raise the ambition urgently, we need to be in line with the scientific goal of 1.5°C, and I think that has also been an achievement of the Summit: everyone is already seeing that science-based targets are the only ones we can follow.”

Providing specific examples of how the business community is already stepping up, Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, said, “Companies joining the Business Ambition for 1.5°C — Our Only Future campaign are sending a very clear signal that we are reaching a tipping point for what responsible climate action looks like.”

“This is a very practical way of working together and inspiring each other: Governments making sure the right regulatory frameworks are there, while companies offer their innovative ideas to raise the ambitions at a national level,” she added, highlighting the importance of positive “ambition loops” where companies and Governments work together to rise to the challenge.

The 25th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 25, will be held in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to 13 December 2019 under the presidency of the Chilean Government. More information on business-relevant events taking place in Madrid will be available on the UN Global Compact website in the coming days.

Watch the session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oM7hfJd46I&feature=emb_title

Take action and join the “Business Ambition for 1.5°C” movement: www.unglobalcompact.org/OurOnlyFuture

Learn more about the UN Global Compact Academy: www.unglobalcompact.org/academy

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Contact:

Matthew Hunter
UN Global Compact
Email: media@unglobalcompact.org