G20 Summit & other topics - Daily Briefing (28 June 2019)

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
G20 Summit
The Secretary-General as you know is in Osaka, Japan, today, where he is taking part in the G20 Summit.
This morning, he held a press conference in which he stressed the importance of taking climate action and implementing the 2030 Agenda, while noting that we are lagging behind on both fronts.
On climate change, the Secretary-General emphasized the need for carbon neutrality by 2050, and for more ambitious nationally determined contributions. He appealed to G20 leaders for a much stronger commitment to climate action, including putting a price on carbon and ending fossil fuel subsidies.
On sustainable development, the Secretary-General emphasized the need to step up the mobilization of resources and the private sector, as well as to enhance international solidarity.
The Secretary-General also held meetings with President Xi Jinping of China and with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.
With the Chinese President, the Secretary-General discussed the Sustainable Development Goals, climate change and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
In his meeting with Prime Minister Abe, the Secretary-General congratulated Japan on its successful presidency of the G20, and also underlined the importance of continued Japanese leadership on climate change.

Climate
On climate, the World Meteorological Organization said today the Earth is set to experience its five warmest years on record from 2015-2019. Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations will fuel the global heat – and accompanying ice melt, glacier retreat, sea level rise, ocean heat and extreme weather for generations to come, the agency said.
This warning comes ahead of this weekend’s meeting in Abu Dhabi, which intends to galvanize initiatives that will be announced at September’s Climate Action Summit, which the Secretary-General is organizing. And as we mentioned, both the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General will be in Abu Dhabi.

Also on climate, the UN Bonn Climate Change Conference wrapped up today. The UNFCCC Executive Director Patricia Espinosa said that while Governments have made progress in several important areas there are still outstanding issues that need to be resolved before the next Conference of the Parties in Chile in order to ensure that ambition is raised to the extent that the worst impacts of climate change can be avoided.
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