12 December 2018: The Presidency of the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC and COP 23 Presidency have issued the Talanoa Call to Action, which calls for the urgent and rapid mobilization of all stakeholders to step up their efforts to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, and a guide explaining how to join the initiative.

The ‘Call to Action’ was issued during the closing session of the political phase of the Talanoa Dialogue on 12 December during the Katowice Climate Change Conference, which is meeting in Poland from 2-14 December. It was delivered by youth champions Timoci Naulusala, Fiji, and Hanna Wojdowska, Poland, and captures a series of “calls” directed at governments, international agencies, non-Party stakeholders, civil society, spiritual leaders and youth, with the aim of fostering greater political will and action, including through enhancing financial, technical and technological cooperation and capacity building.

The Call to Action represents the outcome of a year-long process that saw governments and other stakeholders discuss, in an informal setting, climate policy and ways to increase ambition and actions. It captures “key messages emerging from the Talanoa Dialogue and synthesis report” to governments as they begin to update their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and prepare long-term climate strategies, which are to be submitted by 2020. These key messages are:

• We must fulfill the goals of the Paris Agreement;
• We must achieve a just transformation towards a better world;
• We must unlock the full potential of technology;
• We must demonstrate bold leadership; and
• We must act together.

During the concluding Dialogue session, COP 24 President Michal Kurtyka noted the close alignment of the Dialogue and the main negotiations at COP 24 on the implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement, which both address paths that countries will follow in efforts to ramp up climate actions.

Talanoa Dialogue must now also give way to the Talanoa Call for Action.

COP 23 President and Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, said the “Talanoa Dialogue must now also give way to the Talanoa Call for Action,” emphasizing the need to increase ambition and action five-fold to achieve the 1.5°C target, and exchange ideas and best practices to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Kurtyka and Bainimarama invited all stakeholders, including the general public, to join the Talanoa Call for Action.

The concluding Dialogue plenary followed 21 ministerial roundtables, held on 11 December, during which nearly 100 ministers and over 40 non-Party stakeholders convened to discuss ways to advance global climate action.

The Talanoa Dialogue, based on a Fijian traditional way of conversing to tackle collective issues, gathered views on three guiding questions: Where we are? Where do we want to go? and How do we get there? It aimed to take stock of global efforts since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 and inform the preparation of NDCs. [Guidance on Joining the Talanoa Call to Action] [UNFCCC News Story] [Talanoa Call for Action]