Climate disruption/COP21/informal ministerial climate consultations

This first informal ministerial climate consultation, organized by Peru and France, Presidents of COP20 and COP21, has allowed progress to be made with a view to the adoption of an ambitious climate agreement in Paris at the end of the year.

With the COP 132 days away, the aim of this informal consultation at ministerial level was to increase political momentum on the major issues of the future agreement.

I welcome the presence of around 40 foreign delegations – including 26 at ministerial level – belonging to all the negotiating groups. I welcome the substance of the discussions we’ve had over these two days.

The meeting was constructive. All the participants are committed to finding compromises on the major political issues. The discussions focused on several delicate points – for example, how to put together a plan to remain below 1.5 or 2ºC and how to reflect the differences between countries. Each country recalled its commitment to doing the maximum to make COP21 in Paris a success – i.e. to build a new, universal, legally binding agreement enabling us to remain below 1.5 or 2ºC, strengthen adaptation capabilities and mobilize means of implementation (finance, technologies, capacity-building) that will enable us to achieve these targets.

The target is ambitious, but I’m confident. We’re all conscious of what is at stake and resolutely geared towards searching for the essential solutions.

I shall prepare the French presidency with the watchwords: transparency, ambition, compromise./.