Foundations laid to roll out Paris accord but poor short-changed

As the possibility lingers of climate change-denier Donald Trump making the United States a “rogue country” by following through on his promise to ditch the Paris climate accord, some say that cities and states in the us can-and must-take the reins for climate action.

On the face of it, the battle against global warming suffered a fatal blow with the election of Donald Trump.

While the summit saw an unprecedented level of solidarity with global leaders expressing their “highest political commitment” to counter climate change through a “Marrakech Proclamation”, issues relating to financial support from the developed countries to the developing countries still need to be resolved.

The Paris Agreement will open up nearly $23 million in new opportunities for climate-oriented investments between now and 2030, the World Bank reports.

But aid agencies were disappointed by a lack of concrete targets to boost global government funding to help poor communities adapt to more extreme weather and rising seas.

The document reads: “We welcome the Paris Agreement…and we affirm our commitment to its full implementation”.

“From outside Marrakech it obviously looked as though the entire United Nations climate process was skidding into a ditch of despond and decline”, said Richard Black, director of the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit. I write this from Fort Collins Colorado, which has a very ambitious climate action plan. Also informing Mr. Trump’s thinking as part of the transition team is Michael McKenna, an influential Republican energy lobbyist who has urged Republican lawmakers to deny climate science.

Benjamin Schreiber of Friends of the Earth U.S. “If their actions could be recognized within the structure of the Paris climate agreement, that’s going to be more than a placeholder for the United States. The US had been outside the Un climate process before and other countries must ensure that progress is made while we work to create change back home”. And despite all the current uncertainties, this is our clear message from Marrakesh: We will stand by Paris, we will defend Paris, and we will implement Paris.

The UN climate forum was stunned to see an avowed climate change denier capture the White House, and the shadow of his victory hung over the 12-day meeting, which gaveled through a work plan Friday night for implementing the Paris pact.

Trump’s election has dealt a blow to that confidence, but there is a way that the USA climate movement can help restore it – fight for individual U.S. states to defy the federal government and pledge to follow the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tried to restrain Trump by saying: “I can tell you with confidence that the United States is right now today on our way to meeting all of the worldwide targets we have set”.

It took 10 hours of overtime talks, but Norway’s Environment Minister Vidar Helgesen thinks the landmark United Nations climate agreement struck in Paris last December was “anchored” in Marrakech over the weekend. French President Francois Hollande and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have called on President-elect Trump to drop his campaign pledge to cancel the Paris Agreement; Ban called the Paris Agreement “unstoppable”. Trump’s election shocked delegates and activists assembled in Marrakech for two weeks of talks. China especially seems ready to step into the looming vacuum. It wants to be recognized as a world leader. He also pointed to American companies invested in renewables, and local governments committed to cutting emissions.

Nations notably reaffirmed the global commitment to the Paris Agreement with the Marrakech Action Proclamation.

“Climate action will cost money that poorer countries simply don’t have”. It allows countries to set their own emission targets and provides no penalties for those that fail to meet them. “We will be the generation that ends fossil fuels”.

During the talks, Saudi Arabia ratified the Paris accord, and 48 of the most vulnerable countries vowed to fuel their economies with 100 percent renewable energy by between 2030 and 2050. On the other hand, there is a veiled hope that the negative impacts of USA climate policy-or lack thereof-under Trump will be limited as other countries by the current momentum in technological advancement and other factors.