Marrakech: A first round of negotiations achieved at the UN Climate Change Conference in the global fight against global warming was a strong start to future talks to cement the aims of the Paris Agreement, said Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate and Environment.
But he also noted that saving the planet from severe climate impacts not only lies in the hands of government and private sector leaders — each individual has the onus to do their part in creating a greener future for next generations.
“Climate change is a global challenge, even with the main stakeholders getting together, it won’t be enough. The job for the community and the people around the world is that they have to work together. Even if you’re not representing the government or the private sector, as a human being we have the responsibility for protecting mother earth and convincing others to change their own practices,” he told Gulf News on the final day of the conference on Friday.
Al Zeyoudi said he is optimistic for future talks on completing a new rule book by 2018 which will guide more than 111 countries who have ratified the agreement to limit greenhouse gases.
More than 20,000 delegates attended the 22nd session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakech, Morocco,
A high-level delegation of more than 200 UAE visitors to Marrakech led by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, shared the work done by the country to reduce fossil-fuel based electricity production over time, starting with a 27 per cent renewable energy mix by 2021.
“Cop 22 Marrakech is the beginning of the journey for the Paris Agreement. We have moved in the right direction, the action has started, we saw so much action around the conference. For us, the UAE, we wanted to capitalise on the climate change and emphasis on green economy. We wanted to show that with or without the COP22 outcomes, the UAE will continue to do what we have been doing,” Al Zeyoudi said.
Fahd Mohammad Al Hammadi, director, Climate Change Department at the ministry, shared the minister’s enthusiasm as achievements made in a first round of negotiations at Marrakech by an ad hoc committee moved forward to the COP23 hosted by Fiji and tentatively slated to be held in Bonn Germany in 2017.
“We are pleased with the early drafting of the new rule book as we move forward,” Al Hammadi said in an interview on closing day at COP22 Village. “From this point everyone now has a starting line and we can all work toward the finish line. It’s important that we are all running in the same direction.”
Al Hammadi said preparing a new rule book requires the consensus of all countries and may take up two years to iron out any differences of opinions between ratifying countries.
As for UAE’s role in this year’s climate change conference, Al Hammadi said it was a good opportunity for the country to highlight some of the groundbreaking climate change initiatives it has launched under its Vision 2021 strategy.
“The UAE negotiations were good because we shared our successes with everyone,” said Al Hammadi who led the nine-member negotiating team at the Marrakech talks.
In the final call issued on the last day of the conference, COP22 leaders reflected the UAE’s optimism, noting that Marrakech was a good first step of action.
“The Marrakech conference marks an important inflection point in our commitment to bring together the whole international community to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time,” stated the Marrakech Action Proclamation.
