We must leave behind outdated conflicts and discriminations aimed to keep temperature rise under 2°C; we all share the responsibility, Minister of State János Fónagy said at the 20th annual Conference (COP 20) of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 10th annual Conference (CMP10) of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The meeting held in Lima on 1-12 December, 2014 focused on shaping a new agreement on global climate protection.
In his speech delivered to the ministers of the Parties, head of the Hungarian delegation János Fónagy outlined the major achievements of Hungarian climate policy and encouraged further steps and international cooperation. Mr Fónagy emphasised it was important that countries should meet their commitments and therefore any increased ambition to reduce emission should be supported by appropriate economic and financing measures. He underlined that flexibility on the population’s part was also required in the joint learning process of the transition to a low-emission economy.
At the roundtable focusing on shaping the agreement of 2015, the Minister of State pointed out: “The new agreement must be legally binding and applicable to all, in the form of a protocol, if possible. The agenda coordinated in Warsaw should be kept and the road towards Paris should be followed in cooperation so that the agreement could be approved next year”.
At the multilateral assessment held for the first time at the meeting, 17 countries had the chance to present their climate policy achievements attained so far. In addition to the European Union and its 13 member states, the United States of America, New Zealand and Switzerland delivered papers. The aim of the presentations was to facilitate mutual confidence-building between developed and developing Parties.
The major achievement of the conference was the “Lima call for climate action” decision, passed after a long debate. The European Union, New Zealand and Japan made significant compromise, mainly in the fields of financing and adaptation. Developing countries insisted on their preferential allowances and demands all the way through, which would thus be included in the core elements of the new agreement. According to the decision passed, Parties must elaborate their intended nationally determined contributions making the 2°C target attainable in a clear and easy to understand way and submit it well before the end of the year 2015. The annex to the decision presents in detail the potential elements of the agreement draft, which may thus serve as a flexible basis for next year’s negotiations.
The Lima Agreement makes it possible to keep the agenda approved at the Warsaw conference last year. According to the agenda, the debate on the elements of the new agreement is to continue in Geneva in February 2015, and the draft text is to be drawn up by June. Parties are to submit the new agreement for adoption to the conference to be held in Paris at the end of 2015.
For further information on the conference visit: http://newsroom.unfccc.int/lima/lima-call-for-climate-action-puts-world-on-track-to-paris-2015/