United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres called on governments meeting in Tianjin, China, to accelerate their search for common ground to achieve strong action on climate change.
With less than two months to go before the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, Figueres says a concrete outcome in December was urgently needed to restore faith in the ability of parties to take the negotiations forward.
‘Governments have restored their own trust in the process, but they must ensure that the rest of the world believes in a future of ever increasing government commitment to combat climate change,’ she says. ‘Governments need to agree on what is doable in Cancun, and how it will be achievable in a politically balanced manner.’
Figueres added there is a growing convergence in the negotiations that Cancun could deliver a balanced package of decisions that define the pillars of action to address climate change.
Such a politically balanced package of decisions could include a new global framework to help countries adapt to the already inevitable changes to the climate system, the launch of a new mechanism to drive faster deployment of technology to developing nations, a decision to establish a new fund to oversee the long-term money raised for the specific climate needs of developing nations, and a decision on early and large-scale action to protect forests and the livelihoods of those who live in them, according to Figueres.
However, she acknowledged there were political disagreements, mainly over how and when to agree on a fair share of responsibilities of present and future action on climate change, but added they were not insurmountable.
Government delegates will discuss negotiating text under the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention at the climate change meeting, which ends Saturday. This negotiating group, comprising all 194 parties to the UNFCCC, is tasked to deliver a long-term global approach to the climate challenge.
The Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol is meeting in parallel to discuss the emissions-reduction commitments for the 37 industrialized countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol for the period beyond 2012.
SOURCE: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
