Four Regional Climate Weeks will take place in 2020, including the first-ever Regional Climate Week for the MENA region.
Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, said “2020 will be an extremely important and key year in the climate change process” as this is when NDCs are expected to ratchet up ambition.
The UNFCCC Nairobi Framework Partnership (NFP) will convene four Regional Climate Weeks in 2020 to encourage and facilitate the implementation of ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement on climate change and help deliver on the SDGs. Host country representatives announced the dates and host cities at the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain.
The 2020 Regional Climate Weeks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Asia-Pacific will bring together representatives from the public and private sectors to exchange ideas and identify synergies in discussions, meetings and exhibitions on a diverse set of themes related to climate action and sustainable development.
Mary Goretti Kitutu Kimono, Minister of Water and the Environment, Uganda, said Africa Climate Week will convene from 9-13 March 2020, in Kampala, Uganda, and will be steered by an inter-ministerial committee, led by the Prime Minister.
Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week will take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from 6-10 July 2020, with the aim of strengthening resilience to climate change at the regional level, especially in the Caribbean island States.
Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister for Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced that the first-ever Regional Climate Week for the MENA region will be held in Dubai, UAE, in the fourth quarter of 2020. Al Tayer Saeed, Chairman, World Green Economy Organization, said the Week “aims to foster and speed up the shift towards a new model of sustainable growth and highlight the importance of simultaneously addressing climate change and meeting global development challenges.”
The dates and venue of Asia-Pacific Climate Week are expected to be announced in due course.
Highlighting the role of Regional Climate Weeks in addressing “the wide range of climate issues under one umbrella,” Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, said “2020 will be an extremely important and key year in the climate change process” as this is when NDCs are expected to ratchet up ambition.
The 2020 events will build on the success of the 2019 Regional Climate Weeks in: Accra, Ghana; Salvador, Brazil; and Bangkok, Thailand. [UNFCCC Announcement] [Regional Climate Weeks Website]