OECS, Caricom celebrate Paris outcome
PARIS, France (CMC) – Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Dr Didacus Jules has hailed the Caribbean’s contribution to the new climate change agreement reached at the just-ended 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris as a testament of Caribbean unity.
“Never before has the Caribbean been as united and as single-minded in an international conference of that importance before. We had all of the Caribbean countries working very closely together, the Caricom (Caribbean Community) structures worked effectively, we had all of the Caribbean countries represented,” Jules told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
On Saturday night, after two weeks of intense negotiations at Le Bourget on the outskirts of the French capital, 196 countries adopted the historic Paris Agreement – a new accord which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the impact of global warming.
Under the deal, developed and developing nations will need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while working towards a limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Countries will also be required to conduct stocktaking every five years of their efforts to cutting their emissions, as well as monitor, verify and report their emissions.
The agreement, which is expected to take effect in 2020, calls for a “Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency” to be set up to assist developing nations provide a regular national inventory report of man-made emissions, and monitor their progress in meeting national goals.
There are also calls for developed countries to bear the cost of financing the move towards green economies.
“As part of a global effort, developed country Parties should continue to “take the lead in mobilising climate finance from a wide variety of sources, instruments and channels, noting the significant role of public funds, through a variety of actions, including supporting country-driven strategies, and taking into account the needs and priorities of developing country Parties,” the document said.
“Such mobilisation of climate finance should represent a progression beyond previous efforts.”
For the first time, provisions have been made for “loss and damage”, one of the demands of Caricom and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
“Parties recognise the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of loss and damage,” the document stated.
Chairman of Caricom’s Task Force on Climate Change, Saint Lucia’s Sustainable Development Minister Dr James Fletcher, welcomed the inclusion.
“The separated treatment of Loss and Damage in the Agreement is also a most welcome development. While I pulled these two elements out for special mention, we view this agreement not as a combination of separate articles, but as a total package that will provide us with the legal framework for protecting our ecosystems, our islands, our people, our cultures and our planet,” Fletcher told the last plenary session of the conference.
The agreement, which was reached a day after Friday’s deadline, is regarded as a victory for Caribbean countries, whose leaders, ministers and diplomats stressed throughout the conference the region’s vulnerability to climate change.
Jules also thanked the Regional Council of Martinique, whose diplomacy, he said, played a critical role in getting larger countries to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to below two degrees Celsius, and also “because they were able to get for the Caribbean a very strategic location, a Caribbean pavilion in the conference itself and the fact that we were so well located in the overall structure of the conference meant that the Caribbean pavilion became a sort of magnet point”.
“Equally important, it served as a base for the ministers from the region and the negotiators from the Caribbean to meet on a daily basis, sometimes twice daily, reviewing positions and strategising as to where next we were going to go,” Jules said.
COP21 began on Monday, November 30.