Climate talks hosted by the French government this week achieved significant progress on key issues ahead of a proposed global pact later this year, say participants.
Ministers from 46 countries converged on Paris for the two-day summit, aimed at speeding negotiations that were recently described as travelling at a “snail’s pace” by Ban Ki-moon.
Critically, there appears to be a better understanding of how the responsibilities of slashing greenhouse gas emissions will be balanced between rich and poor countries.
Giza Gaspar Martins, a diplomat from Angola, told RTCC governments will “self-differentiate” and evaluate their capacity to contribute to a UN deal.
“We are moving away from attempting to develop lists of countries and where they fit in terms of a category,” said Martins, who leads the world’s poorest countries in the UN’s climate negotiations. “Because we are self-differentiating, countries will describe where each ought to be in a pecking order.”
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As falling renewable energy costs and a shadow carbon price are making coal power investments unviable the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is making a decisive shift to clean energy, according to bank energy chief Yongping Zhai.
The Global Climate Action Summit has created a subtle, yet resonating effect on international climate diplomacy. Arguably, its biggest contribution lies in reaffirming the active role of the US in climate action – a refreshing sign of political maturity and environmental responsibility in Trumpian times.
Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro has named an anti-globalist diplomat to lead foreign affairs and his country’s relationship with the Paris Agreement. Ernesto Araújo, a relatively junior diplomat, accuses the left of using the environmental cause ‘to serve their political project of total domination’
Linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Latin American landmass has often been presented as one of the holy grails of development for the region. While China’s idea of a ‘Nicaraguan Canal’ has made headlines globally, another major infrastructure project is in the works further south: the Bi-Oceanic Railway. The idea has already spurred transboundary environmental cooperation, but the public is still in the dark.