UN Climate Change secretariat & Climate Group join forces

PRESS RELEASE: UN Climate Change secretariat and The Climate Group join forces to encourage government and business leadership on climate change read the release on our website: http://unfccc.int/files/press/press_releases_advisories/application/pdf/pr20120512_mfc_climategroup.pdf

(Doha, 5 December 2012) – The UN Climate Change secretariat and the Climate Group today announced a strategic partnership which aims to encourage the mutually reinforcing leadership of business and of government at all levels by combining the efforts of their respective global initiatives to help raise awareness: the Climate Group's "Clean Revolution" campaign and the UN Climate Change Secretariat's" "Momentum for Change" initiative.

The Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres, said: "We need to show that action on climate change, both adaptation and mitigation, is already happening, on the ground, in real life, where it is making a difference for people and for the environment. These low carbon success stories need to be told in a far more vocal way, to a much wider audience so they can motivate further action at greater scale, with faster pace. I believe that our partnership with The Climate Group, an organization with a clear focus on the role of leadership, can help us achieve this."

The Climate Group's CEO Mark Kenber said: "We are delighted to be joining forces with the UN Climate Change Secretariat; their inspirational Momentum for Change initiative wants to cut through the ongoing pessimism around climate negotiations and show how low-carbon, clean revolution leadership is transforming the lives of millions around the globe. Together, we want to make sure that this happens faster, better and for more people."

With the help of the partnership, the Secretariat and The Climate Group intend to support each other to successfully deliver the Momentum of Change and Clean Revolution campaigns. Specifically, the two organizations will work together to secure commitment for transformative low carbon action from corporate and government leaders, encourage stakeholders to submit their most successful climate-related projects under the Momentum for Change initiative, share and disseminate information and other content and promote their respective initiatives at high-profile international events.

The Momentum for Change Initiative, led by the UN Climate Change Secretariat, is designed to create a public platform for raising awareness about broad-ranging mitigation and adaptation actions that are already achieving tangible benefits on the ground. The Initiative also seeks to correct misperceptions concerning action on climate change.

The Clean Revolution campaign was launched during the Rio+20 Summit last June. It is a partnership of international statesmen and governments, business leaders and corporations, thinkers and opinion formers, coordinated by The Climate Group. It calls for a swift, massive scale-up of clean energy and infrastructure, and of climate-smart technologies and design. The initiative aims to create a tipping point for change by inspiring government and business leaders and presenting them with evidence of low carbon economic opportunities. It also explains how innovative leadership is already transforming policies and markets around the world.

About Momentum for Change Momentum for Change aims to create a public platform that raises awareness about concrete mitigation and adaptation actions being implemented by a wide range of stakeholders at regional, national, or local level. Momentum for Change seeks to demonstrate the multiple benefits of addressing climate change and to transform misperceptions surrounding taking action on climate change. Momentum for Change was successfully launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa at the end of last year. Activities showcased in Durban included providing farmers in the Horn of Africa with micro-insurance against crop failure, the distribution of clean cook stoves, and the use of solar "bottle lights" in the Philippines. More information: http://unfccc.int/secretariat/momentum_for_change/items/6214.php

About the UNFCCC With 195 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 193 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly industrialized countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to a market economy, have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

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