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Informal meeting of the Climate Change Working Group

  • Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning
The Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Andrej Vizjak, addressed the participants of the two-day informal online meeting of the Climate Change Working Group. The purpose of the event was to present the work programme of the Working Group on International Environmental Issues in the area of climate change in the second half of 2021. Important items on the agenda included climate change adaptation, strengthening climate finance and finalising the Paris Rulebook.

Discussions were held on individual thematic areas which will also be the subject of international negotiations at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26 UNFCCC) to take place in Glasgow in November as well as the expectations and visions of the United Kingdom holding the COP26 Presidency. Minister Vizjak outlined the key milestones on the path to the COP26 session which will allow for the convergence of positions among the parties, whereby he expressed his hope that a compromise will be reached in Glasgow on some of the key elements of the negotiations, such as the finalisation of the rules applying to international carbon markets and thus also the finalisation of the Paris Rulebook. In this respect, the minister stressed that "climate change, together with international negotiations, is one of the priorities of the Council Presidency". Adding that "we are committed to the successful implementation of the climate change conference in all areas of climate negotiations – mitigation, financing, adaptation and international cooperation".

At the end, Minister Vizjak thanked the working group and emphasised that we have experts who cover all aspects of climate policy and negotiations. He also pointed out that the preparations for COP26 will be the focus of one of the discussions at the upcoming Informal Meeting of Environment Ministers to be held from 20 to 21 July.