Minister for Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera reminded nations across the world of the need to reinforce climate action and elaborate proposals for the upcoming 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24), in order to achieve results in the less amount of time possible to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
During a meeting in Krakow in preparation for the COP24, Ribera stressed that Spain “has paved the road towards COP24. It has identified the points of agreement and disagreement between nations with regards to the most important subjects on the negotiating table for this upcoming summit.”
The main subject matters assessed by the government prior to this summit are the mitigation and adaptation of climate change; the transparency of the system to inform on the compliance with the country’s commitments, and climate funding.
Ribera insisted on the need to reinforce climate action, given that the efforts made so far are insufficient. She recalled that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report that shows how unlikely it is that nations can prevent global temperatures from rising over 2°C above pre-industrial levels if current conditions remain unchanged.
Rule Book to reinforcing climate action
The COP24 is a key event on the path to meeting climate action goals. The 200 countries that form the UN Climate Change convention agreed to set 2018 as the deadline to establish the conditions that will rule the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
In this sense, she talks about creating a rule book that establishes the proceedings required to meet the objective of keeping climate change in check.
The minister indicated that “approving this rule book in the COP24” is a priority for Spain that. But beyond the creation of this document, she demands that it must be “credible” so it can be upheld.
In order to achieve this, Ribera expects to see cooperation in this multilateral process. To this end, she has held bilateral meetings with ministers from Poland, Sweden, Norway, France; New Zealand, and the Marshall Islands, as well as the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Miguel Arias Cañete.
Hopes for the COP24
The COP24 will be held on December 2-14 in Poland. This will be one of the last opportunities for nations to reach an agreement to reinforce climate action in the next years and set the course for the Paris Agreement.
The meeting will be aimed at creating a “set of rules” for the Paris Agreement, which has not been implemented yet. Several governments have manifested their discontent with regards to some measures that would need to be implemented to make the pact feasible.
The United States is one of the nations opposing the deal’s implementation. In 2017, Donald Trump announced that the country would withdraw from the agreement. Nonetheless, due to reasons related to the pact’s internal regulations, its exit will not take effect until 2020.
The absence of the world’s largest economy from the multilateral efforts to boost climate action further complicates the deal’s implementation.
For its part, Spain has been a big promoter of climate action, especially after Teresa Ribera was named Minister for Ecological Transition.
The COP24 will be a great opportunity to bring proposals prepared by the Spanish government; especially given the current context regarding the creation of a new Environment Law in the country.
Ribera awarded for her fight against climate change
Prior to the meeting in Krakow, the Spanish minister received an international award for her environmental actions. The Climate Reality Project, an initiative created in 2006 to combat climate change, organized a ceremony in Spain and announced that Teresa Ribera had been awarded in the category of “Public Personality.”
The award ceremony will be held on November 7 at 19:00 at the Kinepolis in Ciudad de la Imagen (Madrid). Another eight awards will be announced that night: Non-profit, Research Project, Business, Media or Communications Program, Start Up, Emissions Reduction Project, Local Administration, and Personality under 18.
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