Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Paragraph: 25
The US Climate Summit and COP15 (the biodiversity COP) will be two key moments where...
Recommendation
The US Climate Summit and COP15 (the biodiversity COP) will be two key moments where the UK will need to take stock of progress and push for increased ambition. As the COP26 President, the UK should play a leading role in both the preparations for the US conference and during the conference itself. We recommend that the UK works closely with the US administration to align the objectives of the US climate summit on 22 April with the objectives of COP26. The United States’ unquestioned importance in the pledging of climate commitments should not replace the UK’s diplomatic role in bringing together other partners. It will be important for the FCDO to find ways to build bridges between both processes as well as pushing for ambitious commitments from the USA and China at COP26.
Paragraph Reference:
25
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
7.1 The Prime Minister and President Biden agree on the crucial importance of combating climate change and have shared their objectives for the G7 and COP26. The COP President Designate Alok Sharma has frequent meetings with US Special Presidential Envoy on Climate John Kerry, both in person and virtually to ensure that our diplomatic efforts are aligned. 7.2 Officials in the COP Unit are in close contact with their counterparts in the Biden Administration supporting this aim. This high level of cooperation and coordination helped contribute to the success of the US Leaders’ Summit on Climate on 22 April and will continue through to the G7, COP26 and beyond. First Special Report of Session 2021–22 9 7.3 In addition to working closely with the US, we also need them to show leadership through their actions. We were pleased to see the US commit to reduce their emissions by 50–52% by 2030—and we will continue to press them to lead by example by taking ambitious climate action and increasing their climate finance contribution. 7.4 As the world’s largest emitter and investor in renewable energy, China also has an important role to play. The PM and President Xi have agreed that the UK and China should work together as respective hosts of UNFCCC COP26 and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15, to achieve mutually supportive outcomes at both summits. We look forward to working with our Chinese counterparts, and with the UN Secretariats of the climate (UNFCCC), biodiversity (CBD) and desertification (CCD) conventions to strengthen the links between these conventions to deliver key outcomes for nature. The COP President Designate also met with the Environment Minister Huang and the Special Envoy for Climate Change, Xie Zhenhua. 7.5 We welcome China’s commitment to achieve net zero before 2060 and encourage China to announce a scaled up NDC and provide more detail on how it will reduce its coal consumption to keep 1.5 degrees within reach.