30 December 2014: UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Sam Kutesa has announced that a high-level event on climate change will take place on 29 June 2015, to contribute to building momentum towards a 2015 agreement on climate change. Kutesa is hosting the event approximately midway between the Lima and Paris Climate Change Conferences, with the intention of complementing and advancing the UNFCCC negotiations.

According to Kutesa, during the event UN Member States will exchange views, share experiences and take stock of progress toward an agreement, with government ministers, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders all taking part.

Speaking at the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the UNFCCC in Lima, Peru, in December 2014, Kutesa stressed that “The world is watching with anticipation and justified anxiety. We need to do whatever it takes to reach a binding and ambitious climate change agreement in December next year.” He added that “If we do more mitigation today, we can reduce the cost of adaptation tomorrow.”

The event also builds on the Climate Summit 2014, which was another major gathering of high-level officials outside the UNFCCC negotiations. It was hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 23 September 2014. [UN Press Release] [UN and Climate Change Website]