Experts and negotiators from the Least Developed Counties (LDC) Group in the UN Climate Change process are gathering in Thimphu from 16-19 May for the first strategy meeting of 2019 under the new LDC chairmanship of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

The meeting will focus on preparing and strategizing on ways to effectively engage at the upcoming UN climate talks in June and the UN Secretary General’s climate summit in September, and will look forward to COP25 in December.

The meeting will also include workshops on priority technical and political issues for 2019, including unresolved and continuing issues following COP24 last December.

Opening the meeting, Sonam P. Wangdi, Chair of the LDC Group, said “The COP24 in Katowice delivered on most of the rules of the Paris Agreement. The important next step now is to focus on raising ambition and implementing climate actions on the ground.”

“This year, we need to see countries step up and submit more ambitious plans for climate action through enhanced NDCs.”

“When it comes to taking action on climate change, we do not have time to delay. Our countries are already suffering from its impacts.”

The LDCs work together under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a prominent negotiating bloc representing the moral voice of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world. This is the first time the LDC Group on climate change is meeting under the chairmanship of Bhutan. The Kingdom of Bhutan succeeds the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in chairing the LDC Group and will lead the Group at the international level until the end of 2020.

For more information contact LDC Group media: ldcchair.media@gmail.com