Open to all participants to the HLPF 2019 and to all officials with a UN Ground Pass. No registration needed.

Side Event at the High Level Political Forum 2019

2019 is a strategic year to take bold action on climate and justice. The review of SDG 13 and SDG 10 at the July HLPF and the SDG and Climate Summits organized back-to-back in September provide a strong opportunity to showcase a leap in ambition and push for greater integration between the Climate and SDG agendas to drive just transitions.

Co-hosted by the Governments of Peru, Uganda and Spain, the World Resources Institute and the Overseas Development Institute, this high-level event will discuss how to achieve greater social equity through climate action.

There is strong need to better reconcile the imperative of scaling up climate action and the imperative of prioritizing poverty and inequality reduction. Climate change hits the poorest the hardest. Low-carbon transitions could also put a disproportionately large burden on the most vulnerable if distributional impacts of climate actions are not sufficiently assessed and adequate measures to minimize and offset socially regressive impacts are not taken.

The discussion will share WRI and ODI findings on concrete implications of the pledges to ‘leave no one behind’ and ensure ‘just transition’ for climate policy-making, and frequent pitfalls and key opportunities countries face in managing impacts of climate action on the least well-off. The panel discussion will showcase experiences and good practices that countries could take up in their development and climate plans, especially in revised NDCs. This event will contribute to build a common narrative for the SDG and Climate Action summits on ways to foster equitable and just transitions.

Panelists

  • Ms. Sylvia Cáceres, Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion, Peru
  • Mr. Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, Secretary of State for International Cooperation and for Ibero-America and the Caribbean, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spain
  • Ms Martha Delgado Peralta, Vice Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Mexico
  • Mr. Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries,, European Union
  • Dr. Tom Okurut, Executive Director, National Environment Management Authority, Uganda
  • Mr Julius Cainglet, Vice President, Federation of Free Workers, Philippines

Moderator: Ms. Helen Mountford, Vice President for Climate and Economics, WRI