Climate vulnerable nations push for 1.5 C goal in Paris

By ANNA VALMERO and SHAIRA PANELA

 

PARIS, France – Climate activists and leaders from small, low lying nations expressed their final push for a below 1.5 degrees Celsius global temperature limit as they stage a small demonstration outside the halls of Le Bourget, where negotiators from more than 195 nations are discussing the final form of the new climate deal.

 

Countries included in the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) led by the Philippines, joined various civil society groups in calling for a below 1.5 degrees Celsius limit as well as a robust, transparent, binding and universal climate change agreement.

 

Lasse Galvani Bruun, global mobilization coordinator of Climate Action Network (CAN International), said negotiators need to step up to a more sustainable future given that the current state of negotiations “point to a 3-degree Celsius world based on the negotiations text we have seen.”

 

He said that the Paris deal is one of the key steps “towards a sustainable world and should be followed by set of mechanism under the national climate action plans or the so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) review and the long term goal is a solid thing in the text.”

 

Here is the full interview with Bruun, highlighting the role of civil society and how demonstrations can help translate a technical text into something that the public can understand:

https://youtu.be/QIGHqBK7A78

Meanwhile, Philippine Climate Change Commission Secretary Manny De Guzman said vulnerable nations such as island nations who face the possibility of losing their homes to rising seas are an important voice in the global negotiations.

 

“The vulnerable countries are the biggest constituency in the G77 and China negotiating bloc, and this shows how huge the voice of the Philippines is as the Chair of the CVF. It simply means the CVF can focus great attention to headline issues of vulnerable countries without getting stuck in the weeds of detail and gridlocks,” De Guzman said.

 

De Guzman said the 1.5 C temperature goal “will be the driver of climate action.”

 

 

He cited the robust statement supported by 112 nations, the Manila-Paris Declaration of the CVF which was officially launched last week here, adding that the ambition is “to fully decarbonize by 2050, with peaking of global emissions as soon as possible.”

 

De Guzman cited this provision of the Declaration: “Reference in the mitigation section of the agreement to global greenhouse gas emission reductions of at least 70-95 per cent below 2010 levels that are needed by 2050 and zero global greenhouse gas emissions that are needed by mid-century (2060-2080) for consistency with the 1.5°C goal.”

 

De Guzman said that even the Vatican supports the CVF Manila-Paris Declaration pushing for the 1.5 C cap.

 

“I’ve met with the representatives of the Vatican and they’re very receptive of our 1.5 goal. And I elaborated on the importance of this goal and as it is founded on human rights,” de Guzman said.

 

“Hopefully we will hear something from the Pope within this week but yesterday’s meeting was very positive. As I have assessed, they were very convinced that 1.5 goal promotes human rights,” he added.

 

photo credit: Anna Valmero

(reporting by Anna Valmero and Shai Panela; editing by Imelda Abano)