22 November 2018: The Climate Vulnerable Summit, convened by the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), an international cooperation group of developing countries on climate change, called on governments around the world to raise the ambition of their climate targets by 2020 to keep global warming to the 1.5°C limit and save vulnerable nations. The Summit was the first intergovernmental Summit to take place entirely online.

Over 40 government leaders participated in the virtual Summit, with many urging increased action on climate change. Summit Chair and President of the Marshall Islands, Hilda Heine, said the virtual Summit shows that “more can be done with tools and means on hand than we might think.” The Marshall Islands announced a new, enhanced nationally determined contribution (NDC) during the Summit, stressing vulnerable countries’ commitment “to move from words to action.” President of France Emmanuel Macron also called for countries to present new, more ambitions NDCs and “increase the pace of their implementation.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the Marshall Islands and the co-chairs for using new technologies to deliver a high-level carbon-free summit. He underscored the need for more creativity along these and other lines to limit global warming to as close to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels as possible, and called on all nations to ensure that the Katowice Climate Change Conference is a success. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet described strengthening mitigation commitments and NDCs as “a human rights obligation.”

Strengthening NDCs is a human rights obligation.

In the Jumemmej Declaration, over 40 government leaders commit to strengthen the level of their national climate efforts by 2020 in order to “trigger increased national contributions from all nations by 2020 to keep the 1.5°C warming limit within reach” as well as safeguard human rights, people everywhere, fragile ecosystems and the planet’s natural wealth. They urge the Katowice Climate Change Conference to act on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15) and send a strong signal for all nations and non-State actors to contribute to generation of new ambition and enhancement of all NDCs by 2020. Leaders further call for, inter alia, urgent, further action to enable greater flows of international climate finance to be delivered more rapidly and effectively to facilitate enhanced climate ambition among capacity-constrained developing countries, particularly least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS). ‘Jumemmej’ is Marshallese for “a call to action of vigilance, keeping watch against threats.”

In a Communique, leaders elaborate that the “entirely online format” of the Summit demonstrates their determination to reduce emissions through the creative application of readily available means and to increase inclusivity and transparency while conserving scarce resources. The Communique also states the Forum’s five-point vision of surviving and thriving in a world, where, by 2030 to 2050 at the latest: 1) climate change dangers are kept to an absolute minimum; 2) maximum advantage is taken of the benefits of climate action; 3) maximum resilience is achieved for people, indigenous groups, livelihoods, infrastructure, cultures and ecosystems; 4) the SDGs and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) targets are achieved and, where possible, exceeded or accomplished ahead of schedule; and 5) LDCs and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) emerge as wealthy nations through strong economic growth. [CVF Communique] [Jumemmej Declaration] [CVF Press Release] [UN Secretary-General’s Statement] [Summit Website]