Climate change does not hold a passport - Paris diary: the week of decision

An inspiring speech by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ("Climate change does not hold a passport") kicked off the second week of talks in Paris. The draft agreement is already in the hands of the representatives of the countries, and now they must bridge the gaps and reach agreements by Wednesday * Meanwhile, severe travel restrictions were announced in Beijing due to the severe air pollution

Angle System - a news agency for science and the environment

After a day of rest on Sunday, discussions resumed on Monday at the Paris Climate Change Conference, when ministers and heads of state gathered to negotiate the 48-page draft agreement that was delivered to them on Saturday after last week's preliminary discussions, with the hope that it will mature in the coming days into a comprehensive agreement.
During the day, a meeting was held that was broadcast to the general public, in which the environment ministers from each country declared their countries' commitments. In parallel with the statesmen's statements during the day, meetings and discussions on the issue of energy were held throughout the day, focusing on the important issue of renewable energy - one of the main goals that each country was required to set as a mechanism for reducing emissions, as well as on issues of energy efficiency and ensuring available energy.

Renewable energy for the masses

At a press conference that took place at the beginning of the day, Adnan Amin from the IRENA organization for renewable energy said that they are "satisfied with the central place that renewable energy occupies in talks on reducing emissions. This is an element that characterizes this year's conference, which gives us room for hope."

Amin said that in preparation for the conference, the organization prepared an analysis of the 30 countries with the highest energy consumption in the world, to assess whether it is at all possible to reach a level of renewable energy use that will take us in the right direction to reduce dependence on fossil energies. "We had very positive findings: we found it possible to double the level of renewable energy use by 2030, which would allow us to reduce half of the required emissions. Together with the issue of energy efficiency, we believe that this is the most effective, political and economic way that will allow us not to exceed the 2 degree threshold."

Amin also said that during the day the organization will present a platform for investing in renewable energies (sustainable energy marketplace), the purpose of which is to be a kind of "matchmaking platform" that will connect renewable energy ventures with developers, investors, and technology companies. The service is already live, and features projects located in Africa and small island nations. Amin said that they "expect to host about 2016 renewable energy projects on the site by the end of 100. In this way, we expect to transfer to the renewable energy market economic investments in the amount of about 10 billion dollars during the next three years."

"Climate change does not hold a passport"

Later, at noon today, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, gave an inspiring speech:

"In Paris we have a golden opportunity to redefine our future," he said. "We are on the threshold of one of the most important agreements of our time - the opportunity to make peace with our planet. Outside the walls of the negotiation halls, there is a global tide of support and desire for a strong and substantial universal agreement to deal with climate change. From Lagos to Los Angeles, from Berlin to Beijing - people want clean air and a prosperous future for their children and future generations, and for a healthy planet.

"The national interest of each of the countries will be promoted in the best way if we work together for the same common goal - the common good. Climate change does not hold a passport, it does not respect political borders. We must support the vision from a global point of view and show solidarity. The global thermostat continues to rise. Last year was the hottest in recorded history. We have no time to lose - science warns us that the window for possible action to prevent irreversible change may close soon.

On the progress of the conference, the Secretary General said: "I feel encouraged by the progress we have seen so far. But we only have four more days until the end of the negotiations, and there are difficult issues that still need to be discussed and agreed upon. Such political momentum may never return. I urge all our statesmen gathered here not to waste this opportunity: Paris can be a turning point in our history for a cleaner healthier, more sustainable and more prosperous future.

"Although the received text (the draft agreement - MP) still has many gaps, it can certainly be considered the best effort so far," he added, "and yet there are still many decisions ahead of us. The president of the conference told me today that there will be a new text by Wednesday, and it is hoped that next Friday a new agreement will be laid before us - ambitious, universal and strong, which will cover everyone's concerns and aspirations."

Red flag in Beijing

And while in Paris the conference continues to take place in March, today the Beijing Municipality issued a red flag warning about air pollution in the morning - the most serious warning that exists. Beijing announced that schools would be closed and restrictions on "open air" activity would be imposed. The warning will go into effect tomorrow (Tuesday) morning and will last until Wednesday afternoon.

Air pollution in China currently stands at close to 300 mcg of particles per cubic meter - hundreds of percent above the level defined as safe by the World Health Organization. This is the first time that Beijing has issued such a warning to its citizens, even though last week the pollution was 666 mcg per cubic meter. Could it be that the Chinese draw inspiration and motivation from the talks at the conference?

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On Sunday, there were no discussions as part of the conference. On Monday the second week begins - what awaits us there?

Monday-Tuesday, December 8-7
Senior level: On Monday, the heads of national delegations and ministers will begin delivering the statements of the countries participating in the conference. Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbay will speak on behalf of the Israeli government at 14:00-13:00 Israel time, approximately five minutes after Saudi Arabia's oil minister.

In addition to them, heads of international organizations (OECD, European Union, etc.) and non-governmental organizations will speak. The presentation of these statements will continue on Tuesday as well. The informal consultations of the delegations will also continue. These consultations are the place and time to achieve progress in the emerging agreement.

Wednesday, December 9
Senior level: Wednesday will be devoted entirely to informal consultations of the countries and delegations.

Thursday-Friday, December 11-10
Senior level: During these two days there will be discussions on the adoption and drafting of the final decisions and conclusions of the conference. At the end, the final climate agreement, if reached, will be presented.

Additional events:

At the same time as the high-level events, there will be discussions bringing together the representatives of the countries and representatives of non-governmental bodies (companies, NGOs, etc.) on the subject of renewable energy, energy efficiency, climate change at the city and district level, and innovation. There will be discussions in the field of electric vehicles, how to do business in a changing climate, climate finance, leveraging climate change to rescue citizens and countries from poverty, and climate change communication.

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Despite the optimism prevailing at the conference because there is a good chance of reaching a climate agreement, experts believe that even if an agreement is reached, it will be a "fur" agreement. too little and too late.

One of the decisive speakers is James Hansen, former head of the Goddard Center of the American space agency NASA, who raised global awareness of the issue of climate change in a hearing in the US Senate in 1988. He claims that drafting an agreement that tries to limit global warming to two degrees, that is, one that would allow for future emissions that would cause an increase of up to two degrees in the global average, is a gross error because such an increase is dangerous in any case.

Hansen says that the current agreement will call on countries to reduce emissions without creating real mechanisms to ensure this, after all, even in the Kyoto Treaty signed in 1997, it was agreed to reduce emissions, but since then their amount has only increased. That's why the big countries need to impose ever-increasing carbon pricing, which will weigh the external costs of climate change with the prices of services and products. A significant price increase of services and products that emit greenhouse gases will reduce their use and accelerate the promotion of other solutions.

Miguel Arias Kenta, head of the climate department in the European Union, claimed on Friday that despite the commitments of the heads of state to reach a climate agreement, there is not much progress in the technical discussions between the delegations. Instead of the technical matters being closed before the conference in each delegation, the delegates left the main issues open. Developing countries defined as such in 1992 are not ready for serious restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, and expect assistance from the developed countries. The thing is that many of them are no longer really considered developing countries (the Israel of 20 years ago is not the Israel of today). On the other hand, big countries like the USA and China are not ready to commit to significant enough goals. Kante estimated that the agreement would only be reached at the last minute, on Friday.

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