Marrakech, Morocco – (November 15, 2016) President David Granger has supported the call for increased climate financing, particularly for adaptation, and based on vulnerabilities of countries and not their economies measured by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Head of State made these remarks, during his address at the High Level Session (HLS) of the 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP 22) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Morocco.
He said that as a small state, Guyana has made conditional and unconditional commitments to contribute to achieving this goal of reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment.
“Guyana calls for consideration to be given to the particular vulnerabilities of Small Island developing states and low-lying coastal states, especially those of the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean… Guyana supports global partnerships in order to ensure implementable actions to keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius… We support the appeal of small states for partnerships to realise their respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),” the President told world leaders.
Guyana, being the seventeenth state to deposit its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change, to the United Nations plans to honour its obligations through the development and implementation of a comprehensive Emissions Reduction Programme.
This programme will see the establishment of a ‘Green State’, characterised by a low-emission pathway by economic development, conservation of an additional two million hectares of territory and preservation of the country’s rainforests in order to contribute to 48.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, to the global climate mitigation effort through avoided deforestation.
In addition, President Granger informed of Guyana’s decision to position itself to move more quickly towards full renewable energy use by 2025 and to protect its biodiversity and ecosystems and partner with other countries to establish an international institute specialising in education and research in biodiversity.
King of the Kingdom of Morocco and host of COP22, H.M. King Mohammed VI’s led the call for tangible change and financing to support the implementation and advancement of the Paris Agreement. He said, “I urge all parties to work on translating our commitment to the values of justice and solidarity into actions, by providing the countries of the South, especially the least developed, as well as insular states, with such urgent financial and technical support as will enhance their capacities and enable them to adapt to climate change [and] advanced countries honouring their commitments and mobilising $100 billion at least, by 2020, which was the key to the Paris Agreement.”
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, while noting that the current International Nationally Determined Contributions will not get the world out of the danger zone advanced that progress is critical to the safety and security of many of the most vulnerable in the world.
“The mechanisms within the Paris Agreement to continuously raise ambition based on the best available science [are] critically important. We need to get on a global emissions pathway that limits warming this century to well below two degrees Celsius and as close down to 1.5. This means that global emissions need to peak by 2020 and decline rapidly from then on. 2015 was the warmest year on record. This year is virtually certain to be even hotter. Today, more than 150 million people live on land that could be submerged – or suffer chronic flooding – within this century, possibly causing massive waves of migration and instability. The choices we make today and in the coming decades could lock in catastrophic climate impacts for thousands of years to come.
President François Hollande of France, seeming to reference questions about the policy position of the incoming United States’ administration called for respect for the commitment made at COP21. He said, “I salute the commitment of Barack Obama, which was crucial for agreement in Paris, particularly in the context of were taken with China. It is essential that the United States, the leading economic power the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, respect the commitments that have been made. It is their interest, that of the population, which is hit by climate disturbances, is the US companies that are engaged in the transition.”
President of the United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA), Mr. Peter Thompson noted that defining a clear roadmap for meeting the $100 billion target by 2020 is critical. He said, “To achieve the scale of transformation needed, much more needs to be done, including through the mobilisation of resources from a broad range of investments, and from public, private, blended and alternative sources. Balancing financial support to both mitigation and adaptation efforts is critical particularly to enhance developing countries’ resilience to the impacts of climate change, including the loss of life and infrastructure, to address loss and damage, and to improve disaster risk reduction.”
Mr. Salaheddine Mezouar, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco and the President of COP22 called on the leaders, who attended the meeting to clearly define direction for the success of the Paris Agreement. “Today we need to highlight the models of Innovations that are transforming all the economies of the world. The world looks at us and asks us for clarity on initiatives,” he said.
The Paris Agreement was aimed at limiting the emission of greenhouse gases. It represented a collective global effort to safeguard the environment and secure a better life for future generations. Guyana is one of a few countries, which are net carbon sinks. Its rainforests cover more than 85 percent of its land space. Those rainforests sequester more carbon than the country’s human activities generate.
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