Cast a glance at the international stage of climate action!

Here is an overview of the most recent climate related announcements and developments:

– Global: The President elect of the United States, Joe Biden, promised to join again the Paris Agreement, aiming at strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

– UNFCCC: Due to the current health and safety measures put in place worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, COP 26 has been postponed to 2021. Nevertheless, in order to keep the momentum, COP 25 (Chile) and COP 26 (UK) Presidencies have launched a series of virtual events, „the UN Climate Change Dialogues“, taking place between 23. November and 4 December 2020. These virtual Climate Dialogues should help to advance work under the subsidiary bodies and the COP, thereby paving the way for a successful COP 26.

– EU: The European Commission proposed a reduction of greenhouse gases by at least 55 percent until 2030, compared to 1990. In addition, the first European Climate Law has been proposed. It aims to write into law the goal set out in the European Green Deal – for Europe’s economy and society to become climate-neutral by 2050. This means achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by cutting emissions, investing in green technologies and protecting the natural environment. The law aims to ensure that all EU policies contribute to this goal and that all sectors of the economy and society play their part.

Coming soon for the Alps: At the XVI. Alpine Conference on 10 December 2020 the ministers of the Contracting Parties will adopt the Climate Action Plan 2.0, summarizing and prioritizing the implementation pathways that the Alpine Climate Board and many more experts have developed.

For the time being, we are working on building our community of implementers and organizing follow-up Workshops. The next one will be a Webinar on Financial opportunities on 26 January 2021 to support the implementation process towards climate neutral and climate resilient Alps 2050.