Brussels, 16/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - It was a message of reassurance for COP 21 (Paris, 30 November - 1 December) that was sent out by Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to the MEPs of the committee on the environment of the European Parliament, on Tuesday 15 September.
Her message was particularly reassuring as to the state of negotiations and the prospects of concluding an agreement in Paris which will “create a wave of ambition” and put the world on track to 2°C, as long as the public financing is up to the task in hand. The exchange of views which followed showed that the MEPs and the UN are on the same wavelength as to the need for the developed countries to keep their promise of making $100 billion a year available from 2020 onwards to support the efforts of the developing countries, and their promise to include international maritime transport and international civil aviation in the Paris agreement - these sectors having remained outside the fight against climate change under the Kyoto Protocol.
“Limiting the rise in temperature to 2 degrees while supporting sustainable development is the aim of the Paris agreement. The Parliament has already presented its plans to allow the EU to work during the second Kyoto period. Post-2020, new money must be found for the Green Climate Fund”, said Giovanni La Via (EPP, Italy), who chairs the parliamentary committee, by way of introduction.
Christiana Figueres thanked the MEPs for their support for the ratification of the second Kyoto period, stressing the importance of this exercise to be carried out by the member states. “At political level, the commitment of all countries which ratify will reflect their commitment to COP 21”, she said.
So far, preparations have focused on drafting 'Project Zero of the Paris agreement', Figueres said. “After a four-year gestation period, we are starting to move towards wrapping up this work”, she said, stressing that a far more concise draft agreement and a draft accompanying decision would be presented in the first week of October.
“You will be amazed by the progress. After the October meetings, a pre-COP is anticipated for November. They will be in agreement in Paris and there might not even be any delay or rebellion”, she said in order to reassure Julie Girling (ECR, UK), who questioned her about the capacity to make swift progress at technical level in the five remaining days of negotiation between now and Paris.
Thanking the EU for having been “very quick” in presenting its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), Figueres said that as of 15 September, 62 INDCs had been submitted to the UN, representing 70% of global emissions. “This is the minimum effort the countries can make. The national plans will lead to a vast range of legislation in all countries. However, these national contributions will not get us to the maximum. Without them, we will be at 4 or 5 degrees by the end of the century. With the INDCs, we will be at 3 degrees, but this is not good enough”.
Answering questions from the MEPs, Figueres said that India was to present its INDC by 27 September, Brazil also by 27 September, and Indonesia “soon”. If we are to create the conditions for a wave of ambition, we must not be satisfied with this minimum, but conclude an “agreement which triggers a process with a multiplying effect to step up the ambition over time”. This will involve: - a revision process to ensure that every four to ten years (probably every five years), a stock-take is carried out of the various countries' efforts to step up their ambitions in the light of science; - a clearly defined objective in the Paris agreement and public money; - a final destination: carbon neutrality by the middle of the century, so that we can measure the gap between the progress made and the final destination.
These three elements constitute the ambitions of the UN. “We still have to confirm them and route them in the Paris agreement. This level of ambition cannot be agreed to by 195 countries without the technical and financial support of the developed countries, as it will call for a complete transformation of the developing countries”, Figueres warned.
She went on to agree with Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Nederlands), who criticised the EU for “always emphasising the mix of public and private funds, whereas in Paris, we will be talking about public funds”. The OECD report on financial flows 2013 and 2014, to see where we are with private and the public, will be very useful, she said. She joined Peter Liese (EPP, Germany) and Matthias Groote (S&D, Germany) in expressing regret that emissions from international maritime transport and international civil aviation are not included in the draft agreement. To encourage IMO and ICAO, she suggests that the technical approach should be encouraged. In response to Anne-Marie Mineur (GUE/NGL, Netherlands), who expressed alarm at the forthcoming wave of climate refugees referred to by Juncker, Figueres said: “In the 'Lost and damage' column of the draft agreement, certain countries have included something which looks like a mechanism to deal with large-scale migration. This is scary, because we need to avoid this scenario at all costs through mitigation measures”. Figueres concluded by calling on the MEPs to take “a unique opportunity” to recognise the role of the regions, the local authorities, civil society, which are acting to help towards the mitigation and adaptation objectives. “Let us agree to work with them to measure their efforts. This will help the governments to meet or even exceed their targets”, she said. (Aminata Niang)