1. The “One Planet Summit” took place in Paris, France, on December 12 to mark the second anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Climate Change Agreement; and to muster the international community’s commitment to respond to climate change and to accelerate the efforts to raise funds therefor. Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun represented the Republic of Korea at the event.

※ Among the Korean participants in the event, co-hosted by President Macron of France, President Kim Yong of the World Bank Group and UN Secretary-General Guterres, were Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

° The Summit, the focus of which was on drawing participation of various actors related to climate funds, brought together some 4,000 people, including government leaders of Canada, the UK and other 50-odd countries; such heads of international organizations as Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Chairman Lee Hoe-sung of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and Executive Director Howard Bamsey of the Green Climate Fund (GCF); Bill Gates and other entrepreneurs; and Governor Jerry Brown of the US state of California.

2. The Summit consisted of four panel discussions on “scaling up finance for climate action,” “greening finance for sustainable business,” “accelerating local and regional climate action,” and “strengthening policies for ecological and inclusive transition,” as well as a high-level segment.

° In the high-level segment, President Macron highlighted the importance of commitment of state actors, provincial governments and diverse other stakeholders; welcomed the initiatives and pledges (for phasing out coal and for clean transportation) announced by governments and private sectors at the Summit; and spoke of the plan to set up an on-line platform where stakeholders can share among themselves progress in the implementation thereof.

° UN Secretary-General Guterres underscored the need to fulfill the pledge to raise 100 billion US dollars in climate fund by 2020; pointed out that proper policies should be put in place in order to attract private capital to climate fund coffers; and stressed that the GCF should become an effective and flexible system.

° Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, mentioning that the world had entered a new era in the wake of the adoption of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, stressed that the international community should double efforts to build a sustainable future and, particularly, be more united in raising and employing climate funds to facilitate the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

3. The “One Planet Summit” is seen to have served as an opportunity for the international community, as it had done at the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in November, to express its shared political commitment to faithfully implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement. In addition, with central and provincial governments as well as private sectors having shared among themselves relevant experiences and announced initiatives, the event is seen to have played a role in prompting diverse actors to take climate action.


* unofficial translation