Nick Henry, CEO of Climate Action, has released the following statement regarding the attacks in Paris on 13 November and the forthcoming COP 21 and Sustainable Innovation Forum to be held there.
''As organiser of the Sustainable Innovation Forum at Stade de France, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to all those who were affected by the hideous attacks that took place in Paris on Friday 13 November. Such violent acts of terror against innocent people are incomprehensible and abhorrent, and my thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones or are caring for the many injured.
“Laurent Fabius, France's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, and Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Forum Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), have already confirmed that COP21 will proceed as planned. We support them in the decision not to let terrorism derail what will be one of the most important environmental conferences of our lifetimes.
“We can confirm that the Sustainable Innovation Forum will go ahead as planned on 7-8 December. An important reason for choosing Stade de France as our event partner was its excellent security record. This was confirmed on Friday when three terrorists were denied entry to the stadium.
“France has reinstated border controls and will increase police deployment during COP21, so we feel assured that security in Paris will be appropriate to the level of threat. We are currently reviewing event security with Stade de France in the light of events to ensure the safety of all participants.''
The main objective of the annual Conference of Parties (COP) is to review implementation of the UNFCCC. This year COP 21 is expected to attract more than 50,000 participants including 25,000 official delegates from government, intergovernmental organisation, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.
