Connie Hedegaard wants reform of the UN’s climate summits

There is a need to rethink the UN’s major climate summits.

This is what a number of climate debaters and former UN figures write in an open letter to the UN climate chief.

One of the signatories is former climate commissioner in the EU, Connie Hedegaard.

The letter states, among other things, that there is a need to shift the focus from negotiation to implementation.

– It is intended as a way of strengthening the international process, because otherwise I am afraid that it risks becoming irrelevant, says Connie Hedegaard to DR.

Connie Hedegaard believes, according to DR, that this can be done, for example, by holding fewer of the very large COP meetings, and instead hold smaller and more thematic meetings every two years.

In the letter, the signatories suggest streamlining the meetings. At the smaller meetings, they envision countries providing updates on their progress and being held accountable in line with the latest science.

The letter states that the climate summits have provided a good political framework, but that the current structure cannot work as quickly as is necessary.

Annually, the nearly 200 countries that have joined the UN climate convention gather for a large meeting.

This year’s meeting is number 29 in the series and is called COP29. It’s running rampant in Azerbaijan.

The signatories also believe that there is a need for a strict selection process for the hosts of the climate summits.

They believe that countries that do not support phasing out or moving away from fossil fuels should be excluded.

It has previously received criticism that oil states such as the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan have hosted the climate summits, writes DR.

In total there are 22 names on the list of signatories. Among them are former Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-moon and former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.

/ritzau/