Get ready for the first world summit following the Paris Agreement of December 2015 to assess progress on climate change. COP22, the annual conference of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, begins on Monday, November 7, 2016 (the day before the US presidential elections) in Marrakesh, Morocco. You can watch the COP22 proceedings online here.
NOORo1 CSP solar power plant, Ouarzazate, Morocco (ACWA Power)
The first meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement (the World Climate Pact, or “CMA1”) will open a week later, on November 15. The Agreement specifies global action to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to 2°C or well below (1.5°C) by cutting back greenhouse gas emissions. It involves emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance and starts in 2020.
Some national governments have yet to ratify the agreement, but a majority (100 countries) representing about 70% of the world’s anthropogenic carbon emissions have signed on. The treaty went into force on Friday.
From the World Resources Institute:
“Holding CMA1 less than one year after the adoption of the Agreement itself is not only symbolic but also largely unprecedented for international agreements of this importance. The commitment shown by countries in driving rapid entry into force demonstrates the huge political will to tackle climate change.”
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa and Salaheddine Mezouar, President of the COP22 Conference and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco, praised the extremely rapid international response.
CMA1 will now develop an action plan for future talks and a treaty rulebook. The two documents should answer important questions like these:
- What level of support will industrialized nations give developing countries in the years before 2020, when the Agreement terms come into effect?
- Who will write the Paris rules for carbon markets?
- How will the upcoming 2018 global review into climate targets and plans work?
From Espinosa and Mezouar:
“We expect the Marrakech COP22 conference to accelerate work on the rulebook and to see emerge a definable pathway for developed countries to materialize the flow of USD $100 billion per year by 2020 in support of climate action by developing ones.
“To fulfill these investment needs, we will need to look at creative funding options beyond the traditional ones and in which both public and private sector flows are aligned and scaled up. This, too, is happening but needs to speed up.
“UN data show global financial flows over the past few years ratcheting up to the point where one trillion dollars a year should be achievable in the near future. This means governments, the multilateral, and the private sector raising and allocating tens of billions of dollars at a time towards climate investments.”
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