Alok Sharma visits South East Asia and South Asia to build support for COP26 climate goals

• COP26 President-Designate to travel to Viet Nam, Indonesia and Bangladesh this week

• Meetings with senior leaders to focus on climate ambition, including a clean energy transition and efforts to help communities deal with the worst effects of climate change.

• Visit follows commitments from G7 nations to end all new finance for coal power by the end of 2021 and to increase support for countries vulnerable to climate change.

The COP26 President-Designate, Alok Sharma, will travel to Viet Nam, Indonesia and Bangladesh to strengthen support for UK COP26 climate priorities ahead of hosting the crucial UN climate change summit in Glasgow this November.

With less than six months to go before COP26, he will meet with leaders from government, business and civil society to press his personal priority for a move to global clean power, critical to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C.

Viet Nam, Indonesia and Bangladesh are fast growing economies with significant renewable energy potential. The visit will highlight their growing leadership and how the UK Presidency will work with countries to support workers and communities to make the transition to good green jobs.

It builds on the recent Climate and Environment Ministerial meeting where, under the UK's leadership, G7 nations agreed to end all new direct government support for international coal power, and to increase support for clean energy alternatives like solar and wind.

G7 nations also agreed to work to increase the quantity of finance for climate action in order to meet the $100bn per annum target to support developing countries. Mr Sharma will discuss the needs of countries most vulnerable to climate change, to ensure they are equipped to deal with its current and damaging effects ahead of COP26.

Preventing deforestation whilst ensuring development and trade is sustainable will also be high on the agenda, as COP26 looks to highlight the protection of nature and biodiversity as a key tool in limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C.

Ahead of his visit, Mr Sharma said:

Last week, the G7 made history with a major step forward towards consigning coal to history and moving to a decarbonised power system. But tackling the climate crisis must be a global effort, which leaves no one behind.

COP26 is our best chance of safeguarding our planet for our children, building a brighter future with greener jobs and cleaner air, and keeping the 1.5C target alive.

I look forward to discussing these shared priorities with friends across Viet Nam, Bangladesh and Indonesia, who will be crucial partners on the road to COP26.

Notes:

1. The UK's COP26 Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue has also taken a significant step today in bringing together countries to commit to protecting the world's forests and natural habitats from destruction.

2. Indonesia has been confirmed as co-chair of the FACT Dialogue with the UK, as 23 countries endorsed a joint statement committing them to working together to protect the world's precious forests while also promoting sustainable trade and supply chains of agricultural commodities.