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US convenes ministerial meeting on Energy, Climate

WASHINGTON, Jan 28(KUNA) -- The United States (US) convened late Thursday a ministerial meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), chaired by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. The MEF Ministerial Meeting Chair's summary said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened the meeting by noting that Glasgow "achieved significant progress and, importantly, that COP26 was not an endpoint but a starting point for accelerated climate action in this critical decade." "Moving forward, Secretary Blinken urged an "implementation plus" approach, calling on countries and other actors to implement goals and commitments they have undertaken and to pursue significant further efforts to keep within reach a 1.5-degree limit on temperature rise," the summary added.
Furthermore, he affirmed that the Forum "provided an opportunity for Ministers to reflect on the outcomes of COP26 in Glasgow; set out priorities for COP27 and 2022 more broadly; identify their plans for implementing climate action and explore possible concrete initiatives on which MEF countries might work together to accelerate climate action." The agenda centered on the MEF's twin objectives of "facilitating closer high-level alignment on core political issues and providing a platform for concrete, collective actions." Participants underscored "the urgency of building on the progress made at COP26 and the importance of countries following through on the next steps identified in Glasgow across a range of issues, including the call to Parties to revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) this year as needed to align with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement." Participants began the discussion of "potential avenues for concrete, collective action in areas such as methane, zero-carbon power, electric vehicles, and deforestation." Kerry was joined at the virtual, closed-door gathering by "Ministers and other senior officials from MEF and other G20 countries, as well as from other countries bringing critical perspectives." "Senior representatives of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat and the UN Secretary-General also participated," according to the summary. (end) si.gaa