The Government of Papua New Guinea hosted the First National Climate Change Summit (#Summit22) on 12-13 September 2022, which culminated in the Port Moresby Communique on climate change informed by national stakeholders in the country. The Summit22 saw more than two hundred (200) representatives of international and regional development partners, universities, private sector, financial institutions, non-government organizations (NGOs), civil society and community-based organizations attend the Summit. The ‘Port Moresby Communiqué’ calls for all local actors to take greater ownership of climate action at home, including on mitigation, adaptation, access to climate finance, inclusion of woman, youths and persons living with disabilities. The #Summit22 reaffirmed PNG’s stand on climate change as the greatest existential threat in the PNG and the Pacific Region, underscoring the urgency to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees through rapid, deep, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In this respect, and backed by the latest scientific evidences and the daily lived realities in PNG communities the Government declared that the country is facing a climate emergency that threatens the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of its people and ecosystems.
In September 2023, the Government of Papua New Guinea, will bring together, for a second time, all actors to share, discuss and engage with the Government on its commitment to fully implement the Paris Agreement, including a collective aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at the Second National Climate Change Summit 2023 (#Summit23). This Summit will host more than three hundred (300) participants on the theme of ‘Promoting Climate Justice and Social Inclusion’.