For the first time in the historyClimate Change Summit is going to be online. The event will be held on November 22, 2018 and will unite the leaders of the countries with the help of modern means of communication. This was announced on June 27, 2018 by Hilda Hein, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the future Chairof the Climate Vulnerable Forum.
The group ofvulnerable to climate change countries consists of 48 states that are at risk from the effects of climate change. The fact is that for some countries, especially for island territories, the temperature rise above the level of 1.5 degrees threaten imminent death due to the rise in the level of the World's oceans.
"My country consists of more than a thousand islands just a few meters above sea level. Warming can raise the level of the Pacific Ocean much higher. Today our people live in fear that big tides can flood our homes, taking lives even when we are asleep"- said Hilda Hine. Thus, we see that the adoption of immediate measures to fight the climate change has already become a matter of life and death for many countries.
The representatives of the government, civil society, as well as scientists have already expressed their concern about the forthcoming Summit.
The President of France Emmanuel Macron:
"I would like to thank the President of the Marshall Islands for her urgent appeal to all heads of states. Together we must solve the problems caused by climate change, which threaten all parts of the World and save the future for mankind. France is happy to respond to this call. We are ready to strengthen our climate goals. We don't have another planet".
The Governor of California Jerry Brown:
"This year the President Hein will help to carry the flame of climate action from the Global Climate Summit in California to the UN Climate Conference in Poland in December this year".
Hoesung Lee – the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC:
"The IPCC is using all efforts to complete a special report on global warming within 1.5ºC, which will be released in early October, subject to approval by all parties. As the Chairman of the IPCC, I am pleased to hear that the Group of Climate Vulnerable Countries (CVF) is organizing the first Non-carbon Summit in November. I hope that our report will provide a valuable scientific basis for your discussions, as well as inform the participants of climate negotiations at COP24 a couple of weeks after the Summit. "
In other words, representatives of all countries accepted the idea of holding a Virtual Climate Summit. Such an event will help to discuss measures to achieve the targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to develop renewable energy before the next climate negotiations in Katowice (Poland) in December 2018. However, the organization of the summit will not entail any additional carbon footprint. And this is an important step, because in order to achieve the main goal of the Paris Agreement – keeping warming below 1.5 °C, it is necessary to start acting today.
Useful links:
www.twitter.com/TheCVF& www.twitter.com/President_Heine