Paris Climate Conference/IPCC Chair
Paris, October 15, 2015
The President received Mr Hoesung Lee, newly-elected IPCC Chair, and Mme Valérie Masson-Delmotte, elected Co-Chair of the IPCC’s [Working] Group I, for a meeting today, extending his sincerest congratulations to them.
Indeed, the election of this great South Korean scientist last week to head the IPCC signals the start of a new cycle. The election of our compatriot, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, as Co-Chair of Working Group I, the highest level ever reached by a French scientist within the IPCC, testifies to the French scientific community’s contribution to climate science, and France’s strong commitment to international climate governance.
The President expressed his total confidence in and support for Mr Lee in running an extremely important institution whose work will be crucial for implementing the future climate agreement. With fewer than 50 days to go before the start of COP21, the newly-appointed IPCC Bureau and the election of a candidate to lead it, who is supported among others by the developing countries, sends a strong signal.
He expressed the high expectations placed on the IPCC to continue communicating on the results of the latest published reports up to and during COP21, in order to disseminate them more effectively and make them accessible to everyone.
Finally, the President invited Mr Hoesung Lee to participate in the climate seminar which will be organized during his visit to South Korea on 4 November./.
