Telesur Espagna
The chair of the Least Developed Countries group, Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, called for “fair and ambitious action” Monday at the next round of international climate change negotiations which begin Nov. 7 in Marrakech, Morocco.
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Mpanu-Mpanu, senior negotiator for the Democratic Republic of Congo on climate issues, said that the next round of U.N. climate talks, COP22, must be “an action and implementation COP” and must “construct robust rules to support the (Paris) Agreement’s implementation.”
Mpanu-Mpanu expressed his concern that even with a full implementation of the Paris Agreement, which comes officially into force on Nov. 4, current pledges by countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions puts the world on track for 3-3.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels.
“Science tells us that beyond temperature increases of 1.5 degrees Celsius the future of our planet stands on increasingly thin ice. We cannot afford to treat this as an aspirational goal,” he said.
According to Payal Parekh, program director at climate action group 350.org, achieving the crucial 1.5 degrees Celsius target will require an immediate halt to new fossil fuel developments. “Around the world, there is a powerful and growing fossil fuel resistance movement that is pushing our institutions and governments to divest and break free from fossil fuels to prioritize people and the planet,” added Parekh.
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With this goal in mind, the LDC group plans to launch their Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiative for Sustainable Development at the U.N. conference. Mpanu-Mpanu said the plan “demonstrates the continued commitment of the LDC group to real solutions that benefit real people on the ground.”
The Initiative, according to Mpanu-Mpanu, will enable LDCs to leapfrog fossil fuel based energy and generate prosperity by bringing “modern, clean, resilient energy systems to millions of energy-starved people.”
The LDC group is made up of 48 primarily African nations that are especially vulnerable to climate change but have done the least to cause the problem. They came together to demand that wealthier nations act in accordance with their responsibility for creating the climate problem and their capability for addressing it.
The talks in Morocco take place in the midst of massive protests over the recent killing of a fish seller in the coastal community of Al Hoceima which has been hard hit by severe government restrictions on small-scale fishermen in response to declining fish populations linked to climate change.
