Building Blocks For Paris Emerge, But Ministers Miss Opportunity Take An Easier Road

7 June 2014

Bonn – Germany, Friday June 6: Politicians at the UN climate negotiations in Bonn have today sent positive signals in relation to releasing early next year their climate action contributions towards the global agreement due to be signed in Paris in 2015. 

The US said heads of state should reaffirm at the UN Secretary General's Climate Summit in September that they "commit to submit" their contributions by March 31, 2015.

Mohamed Adow, from Christian Aid, said up for negotiation tomorrow is the kinds of information those contributions should contain based on suggestions from the co-chairs of the session.  

"Countries need to realize that forming the Paris agreement was like building a house for the people of the world in which the co-chairs are the foremen, they are the builders and the contributions are the bricks," he said. "Like a good house the Paris agreement needs to protect us and not fall down."

Alix Mazounie of RAC France said finance played a vital role in ensuring all countries could form their own climate action plan. 

"Developing countries desperately need reassurance that public finance will be part of the 2015 agreement or there might be no deal," she said.

But Greenpeace's Martin Kaiser said politicians had missed an opportunity to make new climate action commitments for the period until the Paris agreement comes into affect in 2020.

"By not picking the low hanging fruit now, governments are making their job that much harder and more expensive later,"  he said. "Governments need to reject the influence of the fossil fuel lobby and act in the interests of their people."