- Title: Climate activists, policymakers set to gather in Milan to pave way for COP26
- Date: 27th September 2021
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 27, 2021) (REUTERS) UK'S HIGH-LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION CHAMPION FOR COP26, NIGEL TOPPING, WALKING ON TO TERRACE TOPPING POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS TOPPING SEATED FOR INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) UK'S HIGH-LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION CHAMPION FOR COP26, NIGEL TOPPING, SAYING: "You know the young leaders and this younger generation have really changed the politics in the last few years and I think, in a very helpful way, have put the pressure on political leaders. But it's also the pre-COP, so this is going to be the last ministerial gathering to build, to converge, and build momentum for a successful landing zone in Glasgow, so I think very important for multiple reasons." TOPPING AT INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) UK'S HIGH-LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION CHAMPION FOR COP26, NIGEL TOPPING, SAYING: "I think there is a real opportunity for this COP to be the one where it's really about implementation, finishing off the negotiations, but it's the first COP that's all about action. And an action that is accelerating whether it's on renewables, on phasing out combustion engines, or accelerating investment in what people had thought would be hard, like green steel and green hydrogen. So I would call it an opportunity, rather than a stumbling block, I think the stumbling block could be to not recognize that the world is actually moving much faster than national plans sum up at the moment." TOPPING AT INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) UK'S HIGH-LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION CHAMPION FOR COP26, NIGEL TOPPING, SAYING: "So in particular it is the 100 billion dollars per annum from the global North to the global South which was committed in 2009 to be delivered by 2020, which have not yet been delivered. And so the incoming (COP26) President Alok Sharma has been particularly clear, he calls it a ‘covenant of trust’, again this is why the G20 is particularly important, that money must be delivered otherwise why should anyone believe that the multilateral system can deliver." BERLIN, GERMANY (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 24, 2021) (REUTERS) CLIMATE ACTIVIST GRETA THUNBERG AT DEMONSTRATION ACTIVISTS AT DEMONSTRATION THUNBERG HOLDING PLACARD ROME, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 27, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) UK'S HIGH-LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION CHAMPION FOR COP26, NIGEL TOPPING, SAYING: "So this young generation of activists have changed the politics and they are still frustrated and angry but they're also in motion in very sophisticated ways and they're coming into their own leadership both politically and in business, so no, I think that they have a really important voice. I think that it's important that voice gets focused because just saying you got to do more doesn't actually, you know it only goes so far, it needs to be focused on Germany you need to phase out coal faster, Japan you need to put an end date on combustion engines, Australia you need to come forward with a more ambitious NDC (nationally determined contribution) so I think there are a lot of very sophisticated, smart activists, who understand the science, who understand the politics and are doing just that. So I think it's really exciting that Italy is convening that youth COP just a month before Glasgow and I hope it increases pressure to drive political leaders to do what only they can do in Glasgow." BERLIN, GERMANY (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 24, 2021) (REUTERS) THUNBERG AT DEMONSTRATION VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATION
- Embargoed: 11th October 2021 14:11
- Keywords: UK's high-level climate action champion for COP26 activists climate change
- Location: ROME, ITALY AND BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: ROME, ITALY AND BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Environment,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001EWHWW93
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of young climate activists, including Sweden's Greta Thunberg, will converge on Milan this week to meet policymakers and help lay the groundwork for the crucial COP26 United Nations climate summit in Glasgow next month.
Speaking to Reuters in Rome ahead of the Milan meeting, the UK's high-level climate action champion for COP26, Nigel Topping, said the pre-COP meeting would be significant in nailing down a detailed framework for the UK meeting.
"..this is going to be the last ministerial gathering to build, to converge and build a momentum for a successful landing zone in Glasgow," Topping said.
Some 400 young people from about 190 countries, in person or remotely, will sit down with policymakers in Italy's financial capital to hammer out proposals to tackle global warming.
Topping said if the pre-COP talks are successful the later COP meeting could be the first one that actually concentrates on implementation, rather than negotiation.
One stumbling block, Topping says, could be the climate finance fund. 100 billion dollars per year were pledged in 2009 in the Paris agreement to be paid by the developed countries to help those less developed. The payment should have been forthcoming in 2020 but has still not been made.
"The incoming (COP26) President Alok Sharma has been particularly clear, he calls it a ‘covenant of trust,’ Topping said.
"....this is why the G20 is particularly important, that money must be delivered otherwise why should anyone believe that the multilateral system can deliver," he said.
Topping said he was energised by the involvement of the youth climate activists at the pre-COP26 meeting.
"...this young generation of activists have changed the politics and they are still frustrated and angry but they're also in motion in very sophisticated ways and they're coming into their own leadership both politically and in business," he said.
But he urged activists not to be only negative in their condemnation of what has been done to avoid the effects of climate change so far.
"I think that it's important that voice gets focused because just saying 'you got to do more' doesn't actually, you know it only goes so far, it needs to be focused on Germany you need to phase out coal faster, Japan you need to put an end date on combustion engines, Australia you need to come forward with a more ambitious NDC (nationally determined contribution)," Topping said.
But Topping said pressure from the young activists could only help the end result.
"I think it's really exciting that Italy is convening the youth COP just a month before Glasgow and I hope it increases pressure to drive political leaders to do what only they can do in Glasgow," he said.
At the pre-COP summit, starting Thursday after the Youth4Climate meeting, some 50 climate ministers will huddle to discuss political hurdles ahead of Glasgow, amid different views on the necessary pace of the transition and who pays for it.
(Production: Cristiano Corvino, Eleanor Biles) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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