Global climate talks approached crunch time on Friday, the final scheduled day of negotiations that are expected to go past their deadline as chances of a deal still looked unclear.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres flew to Sharm El-Sheikh on Friday after attending the G-20 meeting.
Addressing the ministers engaged in the final negotiations, the UN chief said that the difference between North and South is very clear.
This division has become whetted between developed and rapidly developing countries. But now it’s time to stop the blame game, the UN chief added.
He called on all countries to act on three urgent issues — loss and damage to restore lost hope and to reach an acceptable agreement with developed countries on financing. In this context, he said, the time to talk about loss and damage is over. Now it’s time to work.
“We are witnessing the horror of loss and damage all over the world. There is no way to deny it. So a decision on this issue must be taken here at the last meeting.”
Injustice cannot continue to countries that are emitting less carbon and struggling to survive, he said. Now is the time to show compassion to them.
In climate negotiations, loss and damage refers to the idea that rich nations, which have historically done the most to contribute to climate change, should compensate the developing countries most impacted.
Limiting global warming to 1.5C is not just a goal, it is the key to saving the people of the world.
Therefore, the 27th Climate Conference decision must confirm the commitment in this matter as proof of political will. We want the Climate Solidarity Act. This allows developed countries to take the lead in reducing carbon emissions. International financial institutions must accelerate the financing of renewable energy. This is essential to achieve the 1.5-degree target.
The UN Secretary-General also said that countries need to be more proactive in the question of financing. Developing countries must provide $100 billion annually and an acceptable roadmap is needed to scale up adaptation financing.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury Mp, a member of the Bangladesh delegation and president of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, told UNB that although progress has been made on many issues, progress is still lagging behind on complex issues such as reducing carbon emissions, loss and damage and finance.
He said the most surprising thing is that the results of the speeches given by high-level world leaders on November 7 and 8 are not beingreflected even in the final meeting at the ministerial level.
He also said that the United Nations and the host country are seeking reflection of that moral goodwill in the last meeting of the ministerial level to bring out effective and fruitful decisions from the conference. In this regard, the president of the 27th climate conference, the foreign minister of Egypt is talking separately with the ministers of developed and developing countries.
They are discussing to reach an agreement on complex issues. But not a single positive reflection of this discussion can be seen in the ministerial level meeting.
The discussion on the mitigation work program to reduce carbon emissions to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 has not reached the desired level. The adaptation issue is caught in the process of nowhere. No consensus has been reached so far on financing. The ministers are reluctant to take a political decision on loss and damage, he added.
He said that the issue of assistance to the countries affected by climate change has been put on the agenda of this climate conference by the host country Egypt for the first time. It came to the agenda for the first time mainly due to the pressure of African countries. Now the entire LDC countries are speaking on this issue. But developed countries are opposing it, he added.
Source: United News of Bangladesh