The Minister of Environment, Conservation and Climate Change, Simo Kilepa yesterday announced the Second National Climate Change Summit at a press conference in Port Moresby.
The summit will bring together leaders, experts, and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds engage in substantive discussions centered around the theme “climate justice and social inclusion”.
“Papua New Guinea is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rising sea levels, more frequent and severe weather events, and changing rainfall patterns are already affecting the country’s both coastal and highlands communities, agriculture, and infrastructure,” Kilepa said.
“There is a need to clearly amplify the voices of our most vulnerable in a socially inclusive manner, to make the case for a justified response to the adverse impacts of climate change”, he added.
Minister Kilepa said there is also a greater need to accelerate access to climate finance to meet the country’s climate change priorities.
He said that exploring climate finance at the domestic and international level, through bilateral and multilateral sources, private and public, will be a key agenda at the summit.
Hosted by Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) about three hundred participants are anticipated.
Minister Kilepa said the outcome of the summit will help the country prepare its response to build community resilience, accelerate access to climate finance, reaffirm the country’s international commitments on climate change and strengthen stakeholder collaboration on climate action in PNG.
The Summit is set to take place on the 12th to the 13th of this month in Port Moresby.
