Climate action: Ministers meet in Paris for last informal discussions ahead of UN climate summit

From 8-10 November, EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete will join the last informal ministerial meeting before the COP21 climate conference in Paris (30 November to 11 December). The landmark UN summit is due to conclude a new global agreement to fight climate change. The informal pre-COP meeting will bring together ministers from all groups represented in the UN climate talks. It will seek to identify key points requiring political discussion and explore compromise routes ahead of the Paris conference. In the margins, Commissioner Arias Cañete will meet the US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius, as well as ministers from the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) and from the African Group. Commissioner Arias Cañete said: “Despite the impressive number of intended national contributions and increasing evidence of political determination to seal the deal in Paris, we have a lot of work ahead of us. What is needed now is the political steer to bring the process to the next level. The EU remains determined to work with everyone involved to ensure that the political momentum we are witnessing around the world will be brought into the negotiating rooms in Paris.” More information on the website of the French Presidency of the UN Climate Change Conference: http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en.