The third edition of the Paris Peace Forum brought together heads of state and international organizations and representatives from local and national governments, civil society, youth, the private sector, philanthropy, academia, and other stakeholders to work on the collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and consider ways to improve resilience and rebuild a more sustainable world.

The Forum convened in a virtual format from 11-13 November 2020.

Debates focused on the role multilateral action can play to enhance action in a number of areas, including: addressing challenges posed by climate change, new technologies, migration, and global inequalities; improving biodiversity governance; and strengthening South-South platforms. Dedicated sessions addressed, among other topics, drug policy and public health, conserving nature to avoid pandemics, city action towards a green and equitable recovery, supporting vulnerable populations during pandemics, and education in the post-COVID-19 era.

Addressing the Forum, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for fully integrating climate and environmental action into stimulus packages to rebuild sustainable and inclusive economies and societies. He proposed three “lines of action” to put the world on a trajectory towards limiting the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels:

• Mobilization of a “global coalition for carbon neutrality” in 2021 to “leap forward towards carbon neutrality,” while taking into account “the common but differentiated responsibilities of one and all”;
• More preventive action, including through channeling more finance to adaptation; and
• Enhancing private and public financing for climate action.

The Forum included the Finance in Common Summit where representatives from multilateral development banks (MDBs) explored pathways towards economic and social recovery while redoubling efforts to achieve the SDGs and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Private sector actors joined the business track of the Paris Peace Forum to improve the collective response and resilience to the pandemic, while reforming production and trade systems at the same time.

Several initiatives were launched during the Forum. The Ministerial Meeting of the Alliance for Multilateralism launched the ‘One Health’ High Level Expert Council, which will “aim to gather and disseminate reliable information on the links between human, animal, and environmental health in a context of biodiversity erosion.”

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched the OECD-UNDP Framework for SDG Aligned Finance to help public and private actors identify and prioritize investments that contribute to the SDGs.

The Paris Peace Forum is an annual event that focuses on governance solutions in the areas of peace and security, development, environment, new technologies, inclusive economy, and culture and education. It is organized with support from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the EU, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), among other partners. [Paris Peace Forum Website] [Paris Peace Forum Programme 2020] [Debate Insights]