Call for climate action in run-up to Paris conference

Slow progress made at international climate talks in Lima last year mean a lot is to be achieved at COP 21 in Paris

Progress made at the 20th United Nations climate conference, the 20th Conference of Parties (COP20) held in Lima, Peru, late last year, fell short of many commentators’ expectations. Still, some progress was made. The key COP20 outcome, the ‘Lima Call for Climate Action’, which the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will progress, comprised:

• an agreement on the elements of a formal, draft negotiating text for COP21;
• an agreement on the framework and information required for ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions’ (INDCs) – the commitments countries will take on under a new global deal; and
• an agreement on voluntary actions that countries will take to enhance ambition before 2020, before the new global deal would come into force.

Between now and December, when COP21 will be held in Paris, negotiators will narrow the options listed in the 37-page negotiating text to something manageable for ministers to work with.

Negotiators were unable to agree on a unified approach for countries to submit INDC pledges and a formal review mechanism for INDCs before Paris was also absent from the Lima outcomes. A synthesis report on total INDC pledges is due a month before the Paris talks.

Critics said that the deal had left difficult decisions, such as whether an agreement would be legally binding, to later. Tasneem Essop, WWF’s Head of Delegation, said:

‘We are really concerned that the current draft lacks specific actions to address pre-2020 emissions necessary to limit warming to 1.5–2°C. It seems that governments in Lima are happy to leave hard decisions on climate change to the governments of tomorrow. This is a recipe for a climate nightmare.’

However, speaking after the event UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey was more up-beat: ‘This is an agreement that unites all nations, unlocking the door to the world’s first global climate deal in Paris next year. The talks were tough but the Lima Call for Climate Action shows a will and commitment to respond to the public demand to tackle climate change.’

But Davey subsequently told the UK Energy and Climate Change Committee that an agreement in Paris would not be ambitious enough to keep the global temperature rise below 2°C, based on the outcomes from Lima, specifically with respect to INDCs.

A recent study in Nature Geoscience estimated that emissions of carbon dioxide in 2014 are likely to be 2.5% higher than in 2013, at 40bn tonnes. Preliminary estimates from the World Meteorological Organisation suggest that 2014 could become the hottest year on record.