Switzerland to send top level delegation to COP27

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who also holds the rotating presidency this year, will join Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga at the COP27 climate forum in Egypt next week.

Switzerland will “advocate for an effective work programme that leads to firm decisions on climate protection and focuses on the countries and sectors with the highest emissions,” the government stated on Friday.

World leaders will gather in Sharm el-Sheikh from November 7 to thrash out ways to implement the main goal of the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2030.

Another key item on the agenda is a new joint financing target to support climate protection measures in developing countries after 2025.

The forum will also discuss ways to implement a mechanism that allows countries to carry out climate protection projects abroad and have these emission reductions credited to their own climate target.

Switzerland is committed to becoming CO2 neutral by 2050.

Cassis will deliver a keynote speech at the COP27 opening ceremony on Monday. Sommaruga will join the conference on November 16 for talks with global environment ministers and to chair the Environmental Integrity Group, comprising Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Monaco and South Korea.