As week one of climate talks ends, countries must do more to pull in support for Paris Agreement

12 November 2016

Marrakech, 12 November 2016: China has reaffirmed its commitment towards the Paris Agreement and more countries must do so and bring concrete action plans to the table, said Liz Gallagher, Senior Associate at E3G. She was speaking at a press briefing organised by Climate Action Network here to give an overview of week one at the COP22 and outline expectations for the second week.
Germany, yesterday, put forward its long-term decarbonisation plans and despite this coming after a long internal dialogue, it is a welcome move. While it contains some important elements, further iterations should inject more ambition into it. She expressed disappointment with the 2016 Facilitative Dialogue discussions yesterday.
The discussions for most part remained generic and vague, she added. For these dialogues to be truly meaningful, it is necessary that there is adequate preparation to talk on details and outline clear action points and not just reiterate past actions. The discussions next week and the Minister’s meeting will be a real test in terms of raising the bar for 2018 and increasing expectations from countries.
In terms of outcomes from this COP, Gallagher said putting 2018 on the map and getting details sorted on the Rulebook (the blueprint on the implementation of the Paris Agreement) and clear action plans towards 2020 was critical.    

Steve Herz, Senior International Policy Advisor, Sierra Club spoke about implications on the Paris Agreement under President-elect Trump. “It is not clear what his first moves will be in office but we know China has shown a willingness to take on a bigger leadership role,” he said.  
On the impact domestically, Trump may refuse to implement or reject the Clean Power Plan but an energy transformation is already underway and the share of renewable energy market is only growing, he added.  
“Over 50% of our energy came from coal but now it’s down to a third. 2015 was good for energy and 2016 will be better, because of massive investments in renewable energy. People are just tired of coal in their communities, businesses are moving from coal and realigning their business plans with climate action. The US has real support for climate action, and not just from environmentalists but also from the public,” Herz said.   

For more information and media queries, contact Dharini Parthasarathy, Communications Coordinator, Policy, CAN International; email: dparthasarathy@climatenetwork.org, or call on +212600545716.

About Climate Action Network:
Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 1200 NGOs working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. www.climatenetwork.org