Nations meet in Bonn, Germany on Monday to kickstart a pivotal year in the world’s efforts to curb climate change.
Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s International Climate Lead, said the Talanoa Dialogue, where countries will begin to review and strengthen their Paris Agreement commitments, is crucial in making the Paris accord fit for purpose.
He said: “This is the year that the Paris Agreement comes to life. The Talanoa Dialogue is what turns the accord into a living thing that evolves and strengthens over time to meet the needs of a changing world.
“The national plans within the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 still delivers a world of between 2.7 and 3.5 degrees of warming. To close the gap to the 1.5 degrees goal, we need to see countries engaging with the Talanoa Dialogue and offering to do more.”
Mr Adow said the other main thing on the to-do list in Bonn was agreeing the Paris ‘rulebook’ which puts flesh on the bones of the Paris Agreement.
He said: “The rulebook is an essential set of guidelines that puts the Paris Agreement into practice and establishes how countries will implement their actions. The world has decided on the destination we need to reach but we now must work out the map that takes us there. At COP22 in Marrakech countries set 2018 as the deadline for this rulebook to be finalised so there is much work to be done in Bonn.”
Adow added that Bonn should be the place to help resolve the finance question. He said: “Rich countries need to honour their promise of delivering $100 billion a year to poor countries to help them reduce their emissions and cope with a changing climate. This will have the double benefit of making these countries more resilient and also helping close the Paris ambition gap.”
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