In the final straight in Marrakesh on Friday 18 November, COP 22 saw the 196 parties to the Paris climate agreement unhesitatingly confirm their determination to forge ahead with implementing the universal agreement, without waiting for Donald Trump, much to the joy of the EU.
Testament to their resolve is the Marrakesh Action Proclamation for Our Climate and Sustainable Development, adopted on Friday by the heads of state, ministers and delegations taking part in the African COP.
Disdaining the climate-change scepticism of the US president-elect and the uncertainties that this may bring, all the participants at COP 22 state their “urgent duty” to address the global warming, with the Earth’s climate warming “at an alarming and unprecedented rate”.
Hailing the “extraordinary momentum on climate change worldwide, and in many multilateral fora” this year, they state that “this momentum is irreversible”. The text does not say that the Paris Agreement is irreversible.
“Our task now is to rapidly build on that momentum, together, moving forward purposefully to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster adaptation efforts, thereby benefiting and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals”, the proclamation continues.
The heads of state “call for the highest political commitment” to combat climate change and “strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change”. They “call for urgently raising ambition (…) to close the gap” between current emissions trajectories (which would deliver average warming of between 2.5 and 3 degrees Celsius by 2100) and the pathway needed to meet the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement (staying 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 and continuing to work to keep the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius).
The developed countries which are party to the Paris Agreement “reaffirm (their) US $100 billion mobilisation goal” for climate finance.
The proclamation also calls on all parties to the Paris Agreement to “strengthen and support efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure food security and to take stringent action to deal with climate change challenges in agriculture”.
Jo Leinen MEP (S&D, Germany), who headed the European Parliament delegation in Marrakesh immediately expressed his joy. “The global community is committed to climate action and is willing to control the problem of global warming – regardless of the intentions of President-elect Trump. With the Marrakesh Action Proclamation, the states show unity and solidarity among each other. The UN climate conference leaves no doubt: moving towards a low carbon economy is the only way forward”, he stated. Peter Liese (EPP, Germany) expressed the same line: “The representatives of the 200 states attending the COP 22 will leave the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, out in the rain”, he said late in the afternoon of Friday. He is delighted that China confirmed its commitments. “For China, protection is not only a moral obligation. It is also an economic opportunity”, he said in a press release. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)