To mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the EESC and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) organise an online event bringing together the EU Institutions, COP26 UK Presidency, High-Level Climate Champions and climate actors to discuss opportunities to strengthen engagement and climate action.

As the climate emergency intensifies, the world also experiences a health and economic crisis following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the European commitment to a transformation towards a resource-efficient, resilient, climate-neutral, and sustainable economy must be reaffirmed. Realizing such a transformation will require unprecedented engagement by citizens, non-state and local actors, such as businesses, workers, local governments, researchers, youth, and other communities.

Following a high-level opening plenary, participants will join break-out sessions to discuss with leading experts the following themes:

• Mobilizing non-state and subnational actors for EU climate neutrality
• Strengthening youth voices: engaging the underrepresented/affected
• When climate action bites: conflicts between sustainable development and climate goals and the need for a ‘race for resilience’
• Strengthening climate action through the COVID-19 crisis response: finance, technology and capacity