Provision of adaptation support and resilient building for the most vulnerable and developing countries must be prioritised at the ongoing climate change talks in Lima, Peru, says UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.
He therefore wants tangible progress made by the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) to the UNFCCC in solidifying the climate finance regime.
The Secretary-General describes the initial capitalisation of nearly $10 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as a positive step but he is concerned that “our collective action does not match our common responsibilities”.
“I call on countries that have not yet pledged to the Green Climate Fund to consider making an ambitious financial commitment in Lima,” he said. “We must also clearly define a pathway for achieving the goal of $100 billion by 2020 in support of developing countries.”
Ban Ki-moon also urged the private sector to leverage on the $200 billion commitment at the Climate Summit in New York last September.
According to him, issues of climate finance should not be treated separately from development finance since “combating climate change is an essential part of the foundation of sustainable development; we cannot treat it as a separate issue or we risk losing all hard won development gains of the past decade”.
The Union of Concerned Scientists wants Ministers of States arriving for the talks to exert their influence and provide much-needed political guidance to negotiators over the coming days.
“These include the need to make sure that national emissions reduction pledges are put forward every five years, starting for 2025, so that climate action is scaled up frequently, as well as setting clear expectations for countries putting forward fair but differentiated climate action contributions that reflect their varying capacities and responsibility for causing climate change,” said Director of Strategy and Policy, Alden Meyer.
Ban Ki-moon wants Lima to deliver a balanced, well-structured and coherent drafted text that provides a solid foundation for the 2015 negotiations on agreements to be reached in Paris. A common understanding must also be reached on the scope and status of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
He says by acting now, “We can build more resilience, prosperous and healthy societies” and urged all societies to be part of the solution to lower global warning below 2oC.
By Kofi Adu Domfeh
