The Paris Climate Change Conference is India’s Moment to Shine

Fortunately, most countries including those in the global south have signalled their intention to take national actions to cut emissions.

“The Paris Agreement should be a legally binding agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and shall be consistent with worldwide law, including global human rights law”, the ACP group said.

“An early opening of the session will offer an opportunity to make the best possible use of the very limited time available to finalize negotiations on the draft Paris Climate Package”, said Figueres in a press release.

He jokes about coming to a full circle when he attends the upcoming COP21 Paris Climate Conference – as Bali and Paris are pronounced the same way in Mandarin Chinese.

The ACP said that adapting to climate change is therefore a high priority for all its members, “and especially those which are particularly vulnerable, including the small island developing states (SIDS), the less developed countries (LDCs)”.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will also be in attendance, has promised to formulate a national climate change strategy within 90 days of the conference. This is the moment when governments can decide whether to commit themselves to a fossil fuel free, safer and more prosperous future, or to continue “business as usual” with increasingly unsafe climate change impacts.

Like Beijing, Washington favours a periodic review of country pledges, which are now not enough to meet the United Nations target of capping global warming under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he is “optimistic” about the success of the upcoming Paris conference on climate change.

The conference will also look at reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that each country has pledged to achieve by 2020.

Lin Boqiang, director of the Energy Economics Research Center at Xiamen University, said theeconomic slowdown has played a vital role in controlling Carbon dioxide emissions temporarily in the country. Canada is working in partnership with the provinces and territories to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and position Canada as a global leader in the fight against climate change.

The UK has faced fierce criticism at home, however, for cuts to renewable and energy efficiency support and most recently for axing a £1 billion competition to develop technology to capture and store carbon emissions from power stations and industry. The new Liberal government hasn’t announced a new target yet.

“In fact, there is no aspect of our daily life which is not impacted by climate change”.

For example, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has helped many developing countries formulate their national climate plans – the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) – to the UNFCCC, he noted.

India will also launch the International Solar Alliance along with France during the Summit, inviting more than 100 countries to accelerate the development of solar power which will contribute significantly towards a common objective of sustainable development, universal energy access and energy security.