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Posted: Monday 9 March, 2015 at 11:34 AM

OAS Member States Receive Reports on the Negotiations for a Binding Global Agreement on Climate Change

Sherry Tross, Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI)
By: OAS, Press Release

    March 9th, 2015  --  The Permanent Council and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) of the Organization of American States (OAS) today received in an special joint session two reports on the results of the meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima in December (COP 20), and the status of the negotiations for the 2015 edition of the meeting (COP 21), to be held in Paris later this year.

     

    At the Paris meeting is expected that the 195 countries of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will reach for the first time in more than 20 years of negotiations, a universal binding agreement on climate change. At COP 20 the"Call of Lima for Climate Action", a document on which the negotiations toward an agreement in Paris are already being based.

    In his presentation, the Minister of the Environment of Peru, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who chaired the COP 20, highlighted the important role that the OAS, as an eminently political body that encompasses all the states of the Americas, can play in the debate on global climate change and development. "A political approach is needed so that at the end of this year, when the COP 21 meeting in Paris is held - we can fulfill the goal of reaching a global agreement that is binding and applicable to all and that allows us to address the consequences of climate change," he said.

    Minister Pulgar-Vidal stressed the complexity of the climate debate, due in large part to the fact that the 195 countries participating "do it from different perspectives, based on their different needs, recognizing their own realities and raising their own issues." Therefore, he argued, it will be very important for the OAS to reach "a common hemispheric position" to submit to the COP 21.

    The agreement it is hoped will be reached in Paris, he continued, must answer "questions that have been posed since the meeting of the COP 15 in Copenhagen: how many resources are required for adaptation, how should we deal with the most vulnerable and poorer countries, how will resources be spent and how will results be measured," he added.

    In addition, added the Peruvian Minister, at COP 21 countries should continue committing resources to the Green Climate Fund, whose foundations were laid at COP 15 in Copenhagen, with the aim of supporting developing countries in adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change. "In the COP 20 in Peru, a first mobilization of resources for the climate fund of US$ 11.2 billion was received. However, if we remember that the commitment under the Copenhagen Accord was US$ 100 billion annually from 2020, is very clear that we are still far from the goal. In any case, it a positive step that this first mobilization of resources is a political signal to tell the world, 'here are the resources, now clearly define how they will be used.'"

    Ambassador Laurence Tubian, the French government’s point person for the climate negotiations for COP 21, said the purpose of the meeting is to establish "an important milestone to ensure that a viable global climate change regime is established."

    Ambassador Tubian said that "it is time to renew our economies" in a way that their operation does not harm the environment. In this regard, she said that the countries of the Americas have much to contribute to this debate, which aims to reach an agreement so that they can set the parameters of a new development "that can be more respectful of our natural resources."

    For her part, the Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the OAS, Sherry Tross, recalled that on October 22 and 23, 2015, under the auspices of the OAS, there will be a meeting of ministers and senior officials of the Americas on Sustainable Development in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The purpose of the meeting, the first ministerial in the area that has taken place since 2010, is to update the Inter-American Program for Sustainable Development (PIDS) for the next five years, which will not only serve to define support for countries and sub-regional and regional institutions in their efforts to respond to the adverse effects of climate change, but could serve as a basis for a common position of the region in COP 21.

    Executive Secretary Tross expressed her belief that it is possible to work with a common agenda "if there is political commitment" from member countries, and warned that "on this issue of climate change we cannot afford to fail." That work, she added, should receive a significant boost at the Summit of the Americas that will bring together the 35 Heads of State and Government of the region in April, and during which the debate on climate change and sustainable development will be present.

    The joint session of the Council and the CIDI was held pursuant to a mandate from the OAS General Assembly held last year in Paraguay, which agreed to "STRENGTHEN our efforts towards the achievements of commitments made in the area of sustainable development and climate change to counter the adverse effects of climate change" in accordance with the principles, objectives and provisions of the CMNUCCI. The mandate of the Assembly called for supporting the dialogue and cooperation of the COP 20 held in Lima in December 2014, and urged all member states of the OAS to work together to ensure success in COP 21.

    During the meeting, the delegations of Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Chile, the United States, Suriname, Paraguay, Bolivia, Canada, Honduras and Ecuador took the floor.

    A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

    The video news of the event is available here.

    For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

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