Page 12 - index

iN Focus: cop21

paris will Not

be the eNd, but

the eNd oF the

begiNNiNg

“ Our goal is to arrive at a ‘Paris Alliance’ comprising four objectves, four pillars… the frst pillar ”

must be the agreement itself, one that is universal and legally binding. That agreement must
be fair, by which I mean that it must provide for eforts that are diferentated according to
country, go hand in hand with fnancial and technological solidarity for the poorest countries,
and take greater account of the efects of climate change.

The agreement must be sustainable, and must neither ignore the period up to 2020 nor stop suddenly
in 2030; it must include immediate acton and be open to extension because it is not possible for us to
renegotate the common rules and principles every ten years. It will need therefore to include a “review
mechanism” that regularly invites States to assess the inital commitments and upgrade them. Indeed, a
sustainable agreement is a necessary conditon for an ambitous agreement: COP21 must be more than
simply an achievement; it must also and above all be a point of departure for a further period and a
renewed efort.
The second objectve is the presentaton by all countries, before the COP even takes place, of their
“intended natonally determined contributons”, or INDCs. For the frst tme in the history of climate
negotatons, all States have undertaken to give commitments on the reducton of their greenhouse gas
emissions.
The third pillar is formed by those actons that require fnancial and technological resources… where the
climate is concerned – the two domains are not unconnected – we need to guarantee fulflment of the
commitment given in Copenhagen in 2009 to raise every year over the period to 2020, as a priority for the
beneft of the poorest and most vulnerable countries, 100 billion dollars in public and private fnance –
part of which will be channelled through the Green Climate Fund.
More generally, we must put in place the rules and incentves for a radical redirecton of public and private
fnancial fows towards a low-carbon economy. Positve signs do exist but once again they need to be
amplifed further. At a tme when ratng agencies are beginning to take the fnancial aspects of “climate
risk” into consideraton, when major investment funds are deciding to divest from coal, when increasing
numbers of leaders are considering practcal ways to ensure more funding for innovaton, when certain
groups in the oil industry are themselves asking for a carbon price to be set, when more and more
countries are reducing their subsidies to fossil fuels, this means that things are moving positvely in that
directon.
The fourth and last pillar – and this is a novelty in climate negotatons – is the mobilizaton of non-State
actors: local government, private enterprise, non-proft associatons, civil society. What we have termed
the “Agenda of Solutons”. Since the New York Summit held in September 2014 by the United Natons
Secretary General, more and more actors are developing “exemplary” climate initatves. COP20 in Lima
last December put forward a “Lima-Paris Acton Agenda”.

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