PRESS RELEASE
President of the UN General Assembly
travels to Marrakech for COP22
14 November 2016
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 14 November 2016 – After launching his strategy to support implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals on Tuesday 8 December, the President of the General Assembly set off on Sunday for Marrakech to impress upon Member States and other stakeholders the urgency with which action is required to tackle climate change and deliver shared prosperity. The President travels to Morocco from 14 to 17 November to participate in the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), taking place in Marrakech from 7 to 18 November 2016.
Parties will strive to scale up climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity, assess the evolution of their commitments, including on climate finance, and review the implementation of the Convention and the Paris Agreement, which entered into force on November 4, 2016.
During his stay, the President of the General Assembly will engage in a series of activities, including the opening of the high-level segment, bilateral meetings with authorities from Member States and the U.N. System, as well as several high-level events.
President Thomson will meet with the new Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Patricia Espinosa. The two will continue discussions on bringing climate change ambition and Sustainable Development Goals implementation work into closer alignment for resilience-building of their common membership.
President Thomson will be accompanied by the Office of the President of the General Assembly’s Chef de Cabinet Amb. Tomas Christensen, Special Adviser on SDGs Implementation Amb. Dessima Williams, Senior Advisers Francella Strickland and Tracy Raczek, Director of Communications Daniel Thomas, and Personal Assistant Harriet Osias. Travel and accommodation expenses for the President of the United Nations General Assembly and accompanying officers will be covered by contributions to the OPGA Trust Fund and the Kingdom of Morocco.