COP22 kicks off in Marrakech

Climate negotiations have begun at the COP22 conference in Marrakech with calls for "more clarity" on the details of the landmark Paris climate agreement. 

Climate negotiations have begun at the COP22 conference in Marrakech | Photo credit: Press Association

By Martin Banks

Martin Banks is a senior reporter at the Parliament Magazine

07 Nov 2016


The Paris agreement formally entered into force last week.

Under this, 197 countries worldwide have committed to limit global warming to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to stay below 1.5°C.

Many of the detailed rules and procedures that are needed to implement the Paris agreement will be discussed and adopted at the two-week conference. 

Speaking ahead of the event, BusinessEurope Director General Markus Beyrer predicted, "It will be tough work for governments negotiating in Marrakech to agree on all details needed to make the Paris agreement a success. 

"But we urgently need these details and clarity on the global rules for our business community to step up actions to avoid climate change."

Negotiators, he said, "should work closely together with our business community and other stakeholders to develop the rules and procedures that underpin the actions to be taken."

He added, "This will reinforce the signal that the world is moving towards a low-carbon future and encourage increased investment from the business community."

The Paris agreement was the culmination of many years of work to prepare a treaty that could be signed by as many nations as possible. 

Countries committed to setting plans and undertaking actions to control and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. 

As delegates converged in Morocco for the conference, Beyrer said transparency on the COP21 results is 2urgently needed" as well as developing common rules to measure, report and verify commitments. 

He added, "We need improvements in the design and development of market and non-market mechanisms to help achieve and potentially increase emissions reductions, while preserving a global level-playing field and maintaining open trade. 

"Business has relevant expertise to contribute to these actions and other topics under the implementation of the Paris Agreement, which would not have been brokered without the role of business. 

"All countries and business sectors need to support developing new skills and capacity to respond to climate change challenges."

As representatives of all nations made their way to Marrakesh for the next round of international climate change talks, new research from the UN's environment programme shows the world is on track to reach 3.4 degrees of global warming, with what Friends of the Earth Europe call "devastating" climate impacts worldwide.

Susann Scherbarth, climate campaigner for the NGO, said: "One year on and rich industrialised nations are showing no signs of kicking their fossil fuel addiction. 

"Signatures and good-will are not enough - we're on a collision course with climate change and Europe needs to end the exploitation and use of fossil fuels and other dirty energy, now."

The talks in Marrakech will focus on the implementation of the Paris agreement just a few weeks before the EU's new renewable energy and energy efficiency targets for 2030 will be published. 

Scherbarth continued: "If we're to have any chance of limiting dangerous climate change, the EU must do its fair share to keep global warming below 1.5°C. This means binding higher targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy and a true push for a citizen-centred energy transition."

Further comment came from Greens/EFA group MEP Reinhard Bütikofer, who said, "With the entry into force of the Paris agreement, we are effectively beginning a very ambitious new age of shared climate responsibility. The clock has been ticking for many years, while climate change was running away from us, threatening the very fundaments of human civilisation."

The German deputy added, "Now the international community must start doing what it promised last year: To energetically start a race of catching up and redirecting economic development towards sustainable and resilient parameters."

 

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