Bonn Climate Change Conference tackles implementation of Paris deal

Speaking ahead of the conference, Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) called on countries to do much more to prevent catastrophic climate change.

In 2017, the world witnessed many extreme weather events and catastrophes, the Mexican politician said, adding that a lot more had to be done to limit the global average temperature rise to under 2 degrees Celsius, or ideally 1.5 degrees, as the UN hopes.

The conference, which runs until May 10, plans to set the groundwork for the next global climate change conference, in the Polish city of Katowice in December.

Espinosa called on countries to take part in the 2018 Talanoa Dialogue Platform. Talanoa is “a traditional word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue,” the UN says on its website.

The aim of the dialogue is to achieve much greater efforts on tackling climate change from the world’s industrialized nations.

The main topic of discussion is standard rules for how individual countries measure and report their carbon dioxide emissions; no country should be allowed to fudge their targets.

The delegates in Bonn are faced with a wide-ranging text that they will have to edit down and make more concrete.

The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming in a massive global effort over the coming decades and reduce the dramatic consequences of climate change, like droughts and rising sea levels.

However, current national commitments made by the parties to the agreement will still result in a temperature rise of 3 degrees, according to UN figures.

Germany has pledged by 2020 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent of their 1990 levels, but it is looking increasingly unlikely that Berlin will achieve this.

Source: dpa