By Fatima Saka
Executive Secretary, United Nations Climate Change, Simon Stiell has emphasized overcoming the climate crisis by taking proactive measures, saying that it is not business-as-usual.
Thereby calling on the governments and negotiators to pick them up and put them to work.
He added at the Sharm el-Sheikh “I said we would do things differently. So over the last year, on loss & damage, we opted for an innovative approach – a Transitional Committee – which drove forward progress much faster. ”
The Executive Secretary made this assertion during an interview with the newsmen, on Wednesday in UAE
“The win on Loss and Damage here in Dubai gave this COP a spring in its step. But it is just a start.
‘Now all governments must give their negotiators clear marching orders: we need highest ambition, not point-scoring or lowest common denominator politics.
“The Global Stocktake is the vehicle to get climate action on track.
“Finance is the great enabler for climate action. The negotiations must put it front and center.
“Loss and damage was a win, but we’re kidding ourselves if we think it’s a tick in the box for finance and support at this COP; more is required.
“We need enhanced transparency, and to deliver our promise to fund climate action across the world.
“Let’s be honest – good intentions won’t halve emissions this decade or save lives right now. Only serious progress on finance can deliver frontline results.
“We’ve said we’ll double adaptation finance – now we have to deliver, including on the details, and set ourselves up to go much further.
“We must not lose any focus on the Global Goal for Adaptation.
“Eight billion people are on the frontlines. Right now only 50 countries have National Adaptation Plans.
“On the Global Stocktake, we have a starting text on the table… But it’s a grab bag of wish lists and heavy on posturing.
“The key now is to sort the wheat from the chaff. If we want to save lives now and keep [the] 1.5 goal within reach, the highest ambition COP outcomes must stay front and center.
“At the end of next week, we need COP to deliver a bullet train to speed up climate action. We currently have an old caboose chugging over rickety tracks.
“But the tools are all there on the table, the technologies and solutions exist.
“UN Climate Change will be working with Parties every step of the way, as the honest broker and convenor. We’ll make sure all countries have a seat at the table and can use their full voice.
“Well I’m not able to provide that precise definition for you here, but it is one of the options. There are many options that are on the table right now which speak to the phasing out of fossil fuels. It is for Parties to unpick that, and come up with a very clear statement that signals the terminal decline of the fossil fuel era as we know it.
“Dr Sultan addressed the media a couple of days ago, and all of these questions were put to him strongly and he gave his response.
“My focus right now is ensuring that these negotiations, and the facilitation of these negotiations, produce the strongest possible outcomes coming out of this COP.
“There’s a spectrum of positions, but right now it’s in negotiations. The negotiators are all engaging constructively. That is the key thing right now.
“In terms of where we need to be going and the signals that this COP needs to send to signal that this is actually a turning point, going from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’, that is the focus. That is what negotiators are focused on, and what that final text is going to look like, and what those decisions are going to looks, is in the hands of Parties.”
