Significant global effort still needed, says top UN official

Momentum must be maintained by governments to deliver Cancun Agreements on time, says UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christina Figueres.

Speaking at the a meeting of ministers in Mexico City, ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bangkok next month (3-8 April) Figueres said a significant global effort would be needed to stay below the maximum 2ºC global average temperature rise agreed in Cancun, last December.

She said: “The world was at a crossroads in Cancun – and took a step forward towards a climate-safe world. Now governments must move purposefully down the path they have set, and that means maintaining the momentum at Bangkok in order to take the next big climate step in Durban at the end of the year.”

Figueres did highlight some progress that has been made since Cancun. Agreements made in Mexico last year included the formation of a Green Climate Fund – international management, deployment and accountability of long-terms funds for developing country support - a Technology Mechanism to promote clean technologies and an Adaptation Framework to boost international co-operation to help developing countries protect themselves.

The committee that will design the Green Climate Fund is now forming and would begin work at the end of the month. Figueres said work had also begun to allow countries to put forward proposals to boost adaptation.

Work has also begun to match developing country actions to developed country support, and a simple prototype for this will be available in time for the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn in June, according to Figueres.

However, she called on governments to keep momentum up in order to meet the timetable agreed upon in Cancun, saying a significant global effort will be needed to limit global average temperature increases to below 2ºC.

Governments will need to substantially increase the speed of their emissions reductions, says Figueres, as currently the promises only equal 60 per cent of what science says is required by 2020 to make this pledge.

Momentum is more important than ever in what is set to be a significant year for climate talks. Bangkok should go some way to clarifying emission targets, and Figueres urges that all issues remaining over the future of the Kyoto Protocol need to be resolved in the coming year, and concerns about the gap in efforts when the protocol ends, must be addressed.

She said: “Governments need to maintain the momentum at Bangkok by agreeing to a clear work-plan for 2011 and taking forward outstanding substantive work. This includes work on making the institutions for climate funding, technology co-operation and adaptation fully functional within the deadline of Cancun.”