ABOUT PRE-COP

The informal ministerial “Pre-COP” meeting was held from 17-18 October 2017 on Denarau Island in Nadi, Fiji. With less than three weeks left before the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) in November, the Pre-COP meeting presented Ministers with the opportunity for an honest exchange of views on key issues of the COP23 agenda before the negotiations begin in Bonn.

The meeting took place in the immediate aftermath of a number of devastating weather events in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America and the Pacific. These extreme events reminded participants of the urgent need to make rapid progress in the intergovernmental negotiations and for all parties to commit to ambitious climate action in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the more ambitious target of the Paris Agreement.

As the first small island state to be chosen to preside over the climate negotiations, Fiji took every opportunity to reinforce this sense of urgency. The Pre-COP brought together Ministers, Heads of Climate Change Delegations and Chief Negotiators from 68 countries. Current COP22/CMP12/CMA1-1 President Salaheddine Mezouar, Secretary of State and Climate Minister Pawel Salek of Poland, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa and many other political leaders and ambassadors joined the meeting. Also present were the presiding officers of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) subsidiary bodies: SBI, SBSTA and APA. In total, more than 300 participants gathered in Fiji, making this gathering the largest Pre-COP in the history of the UNFCCC.

The incoming Fijian COP23/CMP13/CMA1-2 President, Frank Bainimarama, and the Fijian COP23 Presidency team were honoured by the large attendance, perceived as an expression of strong support for the Fijian Presidency and its priorities.