Global climate analysts were mostly satisfied with the Paris Agreement, but expressed concerns over the issues not adequately addressed for the welfare of the most vulnerable countries.
Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), a coalition of over 141 civil society groups, yesterday termed the final text durable and dynamic, but it has fallen short on being fully fair and responsive to future needs.
CANSA Director Sanjay Vashist said all the countries in the world will have to agree to act together on climate change and all of them will have to make effort reflecting their common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities to pursue efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius that the existing INDCs will not be able to achieve.
“The onus is now on developed countries to fulfil their promises and scale up climate finance flows to support mitigation and adaptation efforts, especially for most vulnerable countries,” he said.
Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, executive director of Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust (COAST) of Bangladesh, said after the release of the final draft agreement that if the text is adopted as it is, the “Most Vulnerable Countries” have lost their right to claim liabilities and compensation for “Loss and Damage.”
“Countries like Bangladesh will not be able to seek assistance from richer nations and we will be left alone to face up to these disasters. Those who have polluted the planet the most have gone scot-free in this iteration of text,” he said.
CANSA legal expert from Sri Lanka Vositha Wijenayake said the Paris Agreement provides the basis for a compliance mechanism which provides for the opportunity to address climate change.
It also has ensured that the entry into force will be an effective one, with a two trigger entry into force system, which will ensure that there is increased effectiveness when the Agreement comes into effect.
CANSA Climate Finance Expert Anoop Poonia said that there is a disconnect between future requirements of vulnerable countries and what is agreed in the text as a “fixed amount per year.”
The developed countries have put a time limit on their responsibility to lead in providing finance for a long-term problem they have caused.
“Adaptation finance needs have been short changed as the focus of the draft agreement still remains on mitigation,” Anoop said.
Meanwhile, thousands of climate activists in Paris used geo-location services on their cell phones to spell out this message to beam this message to the world yesterday.
Many environmental groups, climate justice activists, business leaders and faith-based organisations, among others, heaped praise on the global community after UN climate leaders released the long-awaited Paris Agreement text at 1:30pm in Paris, following two weeks of intense and exhaustive deliberations.
The text still needs to be adopted by nearly 200 nations. Not every group was universally supportive.
Mike Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said the Paris Agreement is a turning point for humanity.
For the first time in history, the global community agreed to action that sets the foundation to help prevent the worst consequences of the climate crisis while embracing the opportunity to exponentially grow our clean energy economy.
“This historic international agreement is what the American people demanded, what future generations deserve, and what the world needs,” said Mike.
Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, termed the agreement “a great tide has turned.”
Suh said: “Finally, the world stands united against the central environmental challenge of our time, committed to cutting the carbon pollution that’s driving climate change.”
Alden Meyer, strategy and policy manager at Union of Concerned Scientists, said: “While there will be more work to do, if adopted, the Paris Agreement would give the world hope that we can come to grips with the mounting climate change crisis and leave our children and grandchildren with a habitable planet.”
Jennifer Morgan, global director of the climate program at the World Resources Institute, said: “The text reflects both the push for high ambition and the voices of the most vulnerable. It accelerates the energy transformation that is well underway, pointing us to a safer and stronger future.”
Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s senior climate advisor, said that although different countries will move at different speeds, the transition to a low carbon world is now inevitable. Governments, investors and businesses must ride this wave or be swept away by it.
Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics, said: “The Paris Agreement is a turning point in the world’s fight against unmanaged climate change, which threatens prosperity and well-being among both rich and poor countries.”
Anthony Hobley, CEO of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, said that this is a new kind of inclusive global agreement providing a framework for action. “It sends a strong signal that will accelerate the low-carbon transition that is already underway.”
Nigel Topping of We Mean Business termed it a remarkable diplomatic settlement and a historic economic catalyst.
“The world’s governments have sent a decisive signal to businesses and investors that will accelerate the shift towards a thriving, clean global economy. The Paris Agreement for net zero emissions will turn the billions of investment we’ve seen so far into the trillions the world needs to bring clean energy and to all.”
