Press Release

MPs to galvanise parliamentary action on climate change


Geneva, 26 November 2015
Scientists predict an increase in flooding and extreme weather events as the effects of climate change start to bite. ©Reuters/Beawiharta

More than  500 parliamentary delegates, including close to 300 MPs from across the world, will seek to galvanise parliamentary action on the global threat posed by climate change by implementing a potentially landmark global agreement after they meet in Paris next week.

Organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the French Parliament, the meeting on 5-6 December is expected to adopt an outcome document and endorse a parliamentary action plan on climate change to support solution-focused global measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.
With a global deal on the issue hanging in the balance, the MPs will urge world leaders at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP21/CMP11) taking place in parallel to the parliamentary event, to agree specific means by which their pledges will be turned into reality.

The MPs from more than 80 countries, including 26 Speakers and Deputy Speakers of Parliament, are expected to stress the urgency with which the climate change threat must be addressed and the vital role of parliaments and parliamentarians in delivering change on the issue. 

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Hollywood star and Founding Chair of Regions of Climate Action (R20) Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Professor Nicholas Stern are among a wide range of high-level speakers and experts at the parliamentary meeting, which takes place at the French National Assembly on 5 December and the French Senate on 6 December.

IPU President Saber Chowdhury, Speakers of the French Parliament Claude Bartolone and Gérard Larcher, as well as Chair of COP21 Laurent Fabius will officially open the meeting with the UN Secretary General.

During the two days, MPs will cover issues relating to the green economy, green energy, moving from climate science to parliamentary action and priorities for global action.

“There has been no time to lose on climate change for a long time. More than ever, the world needs a binding agreement to come out of COP21. And it needs parliaments to take that agreement and translate it into effective laws, properly resourced for implementation and follow-up,” says IPU President Saber Chowdhury.

“A successful COP21 will mean the new sustainable development agenda States signed up to just a few months ago will have a greater chance of delivering the results the world needs,” he adds. The MPs will urge COP21 to add the outcomes of their meeting to those of the UN summit. The parliamentary action plan on climate change is also expected to be formally adopted by the IPU membership at its next Assembly in Lusaka in March 2016.


The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. It works to safeguard peace and drives positive democratic change through political dialogue and concrete action.

Media accreditation – separate accreditation will be required for each location.

To cover the event at the National Assembly on 5th December, accreditation requests must be sent no later than 1800 CET, 3 December to presse@assemblee-nationale.fr   Entry for press will be at 33 Quai d’Orsay, Paris.

To cover the event at the Senate on 6th December, accreditation requests must be sent no later than 1800 CET, 4 December to presse@senat.fr   Entry for press will be at 15 ter rue de Vaugirard, Paris.

The following information will need to be sent with the request:

For French press – a recto verso scanned copy of the 2015 press card issued by La commission de la carte d’identité des journalistes professionels

For foreign press - a recto verso scanned copy of the foreign press card 2015 issued by the French Foreign Affairs Ministry

For cameramen and technical crew members – a recto verso copy scanned copy of a valid ID card and a letter from the Editor of the media company.

 

Broadcast images and webcast

Live broadcast quality images from each day will be available through SERTE from the National Assembly and the Senate respectively, or by fiber for those media who already have that facility with the National Assembly.

Recorded proceedings from the National Assembly will be available at:  http://videos.assemblee-nationale.fr/

Proceedings from the Senate will be webcast live in English, French and natural sound at http://videos.senat.fr/video/seance_direct_flash.html and viewable after at http://videos.senat.fr/video/index.html

Social media - Join/follow the debate on Twitter using #UIP_COP21

For further information, please contact

IPU, Jemini Pandya, Director of Communications
Tel: +41 22 919 41 58/+41 79 217 33 74
email: jep@ipu.org

French National Assembly,  Francois-Xavier Carabelli
Tel: +331 40 63 64 38
email: fxcarabelli@assemblee-nationale.fr

French Senate, Kate Dunkley
Tel: +33 1 42 34 2513
email: presse@senat.fr