Converting COP21 commitments into action, COP23's main challenge
19/10/2017
Withdrawn from the United States, reduced presence of heads of state: the COP23 Bonn, which opens in November, looks less decisive than the COP21 media in Paris. But for its organizers, it is equally crucial for the future of the planet.
Two years after the COP21, which led to the signing of the Paris agreement, climate negotiations are now at the heart of their least glamorous phase, which is also the most technical: the implementation of commitments made in 2015. Converting words into action: this is the challenge at COP23, which will run from 6 to November 17 in Bonn, Germany.
"COP23 aims to build bridges between the advances made in Marrakech [at the COP22, Ed] and the next stage of implementation of the Paris agreement at the COP24 in 2018 in Poland," says Frank Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji Islands and President of the Bonn COP. It is indeed next year that the implementing measures of the Paris Agreement must be adopted and the actions of each country will be evaluated and what remains to be done. But as noble as it is, the task does not seem to unleash the passions and the event would be almost "sub-COP".
And for good reason, almost no head of state or government will attend the technical negotiations and will not "hands dirty". Most countries will just send a delegation. "French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel must make an appearance to deliver a speech, but the political window will be much shorter than at previous COPs," warns Lucile Dufour, head of international negotiations and development for the Network Climate Action (RAC).
The latter, however, does not see a bad sign: according to her, less politics and less powder in the eyes will allow to leave room for real concrete and technical progress on the negotiations. In sum, a COP may be more discreet, but a more effective COP.
COP emergency for the Pacific Islands
Recognizing that the political and diplomatic aspect will occupy a lesser place, the Fijian President of the COP Frank Bainimarama hopes to use this political void to give voice and defend the inhabitants of the Pacific, particularly vulnerable to climate change and the rising level of oceans.
FRANK BAINIMARAMA, PRIME MINISTER OF THE FIJI ISLANDS AND PRESIDENT OF THE COP23
"The stakes for us are extremely important, especially for our friends in the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Karibati, whose very existence is under threat. Implementing the Paris agreement is crucial, but not enough to save us. We must also convince the rest of the world to go even further, "said Frank Bainimarama at the opening address of a preparatory meeting for the October 16 COP. Experts and NGOs estimate that global warming will have to be limited to 1,5 ° C to prevent the most endangered islands and coastlines from being wiped off the map. The signatories of the Paris Agreement agreed on a threshold of only 2 ° C.
http://www.france24.com/fr/20171018-cop ... -programme
