Brussels, 30/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - To save the planet from irreversible global warming, it's now or never. In three minutes each, 151 heads of state or government of the planet kicked off COP 21 on 30 November at Le Bourget, Paris with subtle variations on the same theme.
The desire to give political impetus to the negotiating ministers, who have just 11 days to seal a universal, ambitious, legally binding, dynamic, fair and decisive climate agreement for the future of the planet and the generations to come, seems to be shared. This is precisely the negotiating position of the European Union, which was decided upon on 18 September and added to in November by the finance ministers (see EUROPE 11438, 11428 and EUROPE 11392).
The leitmotifs of climate emergency, a moral duty of solidarity with the most vulnerable countries, the historic responsibility of the industrialised countries, a collective responsibility to act returned again and again to the lips of the decision-makers, who firmly believe that climate change calls for a collective response. The success of this COP will depend on the ability of the negotiators to overcome the North/South divide regarding the financing requirements up to 2020 and beyond, the level of ambition and equity of the agreement, and the right of the developing and emerging countries to develop.
“Addressing climate change should not deny the legitimate needs of developing countries to reduce poverty and improve living standards”, stressed the Chinese prime minister, Xi Jinping.
“We cannot afford indecision, half measures or merely gradual approaches. Our goal must be transformation”, warned the Secretary General of the UN, Ban-Ki moon. “You have the opportunity, in fact the responsibility, to finalise an agreement that enables the achievement of national climate change goals, that delivers the necessary support for the developing world and that catalyses increasing ambition and action by all”, added Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCCC), who stressed that the eyes of millions of citizens are riveted on COP 21.
The 184 national contributions (INDC) published so far and representing more than 95% of global emissions are a remarkable turning point, “but the task is not done”. It has already been confirmed that these contributions will not contain the increase in the global temperature below the 2°C mark.
The conference of hope. “Your presence raises an immense hope which we have no right to disappoint. Because there are entire populations and billions of human beings who are counting on us”, said François Hollande, the President of France, the country chairing COP 21. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 13 November which hit Paris, Hollande sees this global assembly on “the future of the planet, the future of life” as a conference of hope, in total opposition to the bloodthirsty plans of “a group of fanatics”. The president also stood as an advocate for “climate justice”, because “no country, no region is safe from the effects of climate change caused by human activities, but how can we accept that the poorest countries, the ones which emit the least greenhouse gas, are the most vulnerable?”
He went on to call for action to resolve the climate crisis. “On 12 December, a universal, binding and differentiated Paris Agreement must be concluded”, he said. He argued that “Paris must be the starting point for a profound energy, economic and societal transformation (…). This transformation is both a moral obligation and a global opportunity”. He gave three conditions for success: - sketching out “a credible trajectory allowing us to keep global warming below 2°C, or 1.5°C if possible”, with a long-term objective, regular evaluation of progress in light of the latest conclusions of science and a “mechanism to increase the commitments upwards, with revisions every five years”; - providing “a response of solidarity” to the climate challenge; - mobilising all societies. In the view of Laurent Fabius, President of COP 21, the hardest thing will be: “in just 11 days, to reach a universal and ambitious, differentiated, fair, sustainable, dynamic and legally binding climate agreement”. In order to do this, “climate solidarity needs to progress further; the mobilisation of financing and technology in favour of the countries of the South needs to progress as well. The Paris agreement must also be a pact for justice and against inequality”. The text on the table contains “some 50 points of disagreement, 200 brackets on 50 pages” (compared to 300 pages in Copenhagen, when COP 15 broke down). On the French radio station France Inter on Monday morning, he announced that he wanted to see a simplified and pared-down text, to allow the environment ministers of the entire world to “get to business”. The president of the United States, Barack Obama, who is known to be unlikely to secure the support of the American Congress for a binding agreement, called for a low-carbon future. Jagoda Munic, president of the NGO Friends of the Earth International, pointed out that “the people urgently need a low-carbon present”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)