Prime minister António Costa, his environment minister João Pedro Matos Fernandes and UN secretary-general António Guterres are all in Paris today taking part in a conference on climate change called by French president Emmanuel Macron, designed to firm-up commitments of the Paris Accord – signed two years ago and since officially ‘dropped’ by the United States and largely ignored by other countries where fossil-fuel exploration continues apace.
Says Observador, more than 2000 “key players” are taking part in the One Planet Summit, from billionaire businessman Bill Gates to ex-US governor and Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger and world politicians of all persuasions.
Matos Fernandes was due to take part in an ‘intervention’ this morning, while António Costa will be on a panel for ‘decarbonisation of the economy’ in the afternoon. The panel will also involve UK prime minister Theresa May, and Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy.
António Guterres is expected to close the conference, say reports.
A source for the Elysée Palace confirmed that the objective of this anniversary event (the Paris Accord was signed on December 12, 2015) is to “dynamise”global movers and shakers as well as propel projects connected to the battle against climate change “in a concrete way”.
Photo: https://twitter.com/govpt
