Laurent Fabius: COP21 Negotiations Are Still Not Enough

Summary: COP21 negotiations are still not enough to realize a global warming limit of 2 degrees Celsius, COP21 president Laurent Fabius reports Friday, Dec. 4.

COP 21 president Laurent Fabius, in his role as France's Minister of Foreign Affairs: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At 1:15 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, Laurent Fabius, COP21’s president and executive secretary of COP21’s host organization, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, reported COP21 negotiations are still not enough, with unresolved issues floundering from unwillingness to compromise.

On Thursday morning, the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) presented a new version of the document that the group has been refining since issuing the first draft in October 2015. The working group was created in 2011 in Durban, Africa, with the express mission of producing a viable document, due at noon on Saturday, Dec. 5, from which a final, realistic agreement is hoped to emerge by COP21’s ending date of Dec. 12.

Thursday’s draft comprises 50 pages, with 26 pages of agreements and 24 pages of decisions. The text concerns the agreement’s implementation in 2020 and includes intervening measures prior to 2020.

Negotiators representing 195 countries have been thrashing such controversial topics as climate mitigation finance and emissions cut targets in intensive meetings since the conference’s second day, Tuesday, Dec. 1. COP21’s first week of meetings, which are organized as contact groups and as spin-offs, are meant to be complementary. Spin-offs are detailed and themed, with focuses on such topics as climate change finance and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Contact groups guide discussions and summarize spin-off negotiations. Ministers from the different countries are scheduled to tackle the political aspects of negotiations beginning Monday, Dec. 7.

Despite “slight progress made since Wednesday evening,” Fabius emphasized the urgency of moving forward in crafting a realistic agreement for limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial mean temperature levels. Numerous heavily bracketed entries in the most recent draft reveal underlying difficulties in agreeing to compromise language.

“Let me be clear: this is still not enough. The text remains too long and complex. Not enough compromises have been reached on unresolved issues,” noted Fabius, whose position as International Development Director for the United Nations’ 21st annual climate change conference caps a stellar political career, including current service, since May 16, 2012, as France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Every country is a stakeholder in the climate change agenda unfurling during COP21’s first week. Blending each country’s stake into the global scenario of effectively tackling climate change is the conference’s objective.

“No country, small or large, will be left behind” is the assurance repeatedly maintained throughout COP21 by UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, whose diplomacy skills were honed in early childhood as a First Daughter during the last two of her father’s three terms as President of Costa Rica.

COP21 President Laurent Fabius emphasizes urgency in limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius: C à vous @cavousf5 via Twitter Dec. 3, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Laurent Fabius: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurent_Fabius_January_2015.jpg

COP21 President Laurent Fabius emphasizes urgency in limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius: C à vous @cavous via Twitter Dec. 3, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/cavousf5/status/672476680016044034

For further information:

COP21.
Available @ http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/

C à vous @cavousf5. "#COP21 'On doit aboutir à un texte pour que le réchauffement climatique n'aille pas au dessous de 2°' @ LaurentFabius." Twitter. Dec. 3, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/cavousf5/status/672476680016044034

Lyman, Eric J. "Climate targets may not be enough to avert catastrophes." USA Today > News > World > Dec. 3, 2015.
Available @ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/12/03/paris-united-nations-climate-conference-2-degrees-celsius/76709712/

Marriner, Derdriu. "COP21 Opening Day Showcased World Leaders and Now Negotiations Begin." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/12/cop21-opening-day-showcased-world.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "India Will Reduce Coal Emissions If COP21 Guarantees Financial Assist." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/12/india-will-reduce-coal-emissions-if.html