CLIMATE ACTION 2016 Washington, DC

Since COP21 in Paris last December, many follow-up meetings have convened to ensure that what was agreed to in Paris, is being put into action. One such summit is the Climate Action 2016  scheduled to take place May 5 – 6 in Washington, DC at the Mayflower Hotel. An estimated 700 representatives are expected to attend the summit – key players from government, business, finance, academia, philanthropy, academia and civil society. Speakers and key addresses will be by Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Segolene Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy & President of COP21, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group and Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change and Founding Partner, Compact of Mayors. Climate Action  2016 will also have several hands-on side events including Companies and Climate Change , MAY 5, 2016, 2:30-5:30, to discuss the Legal Liability and Human Rights Challenges After Paris/COP21. This side event is hosted by The International Bar Association, Washington College of Law’s Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law. Another interesting side event is “Human Rights and Climate Change: What You Need to Know.” Speakers include Greenpeace Litigation Counsel Kristin Casper, David Estrin from the Senior Research Fellow Center for International Governance Innovation, Irit Tamir from Oxfam America. The Moderator for this event is Chris Jochnick, President and CEO of the Landesa group.The Climate Summit is hosted by a group of seven organisations, including the UN and World Bank Group. Last month the World Bank Group announced plans to mobilize more than $40 billion in clean energy and climate-friendly investments by 2020. The group also pledged to put into place several different measures to help developing countries meet their international pledges to curb climate change