COP18 Al-Attiyah: Time to focus on vital climate issues

Administrative Control and Transparency Authority Chairman HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who is also the president of the Climate Change Conference (COP18), said that the second ministerial dialogue on sustainable development, currently being held in Tokyo, presented an “ideal opportunity to underscore a couple of fundamental issues that would contribute to a successful COP18”, scheduled to be held in Doha, in November.

“First, we need an agreement on a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, a streamlined, all-inclusive negotiation process, along with an institutional structure to advance and implement a global agreement. Deep divisions remain,” al-Attiyah said in a speech delivered at the start of a session.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister HE Yousef Hussein Kamal, Qatar’s ambassador to Japan, Yusuf bin Mohamed Bilal, as well as the delegation accompanying al-Attiyah. “Second, finance to support developing countries in their mitigation and adaptation efforts, is a ‘make-or-break’ aspect of the Doha negotiations,” al-Attiyah added. He noted that the board of the Green Climate Fund was working on its “operationalisation” and that it was likely to take two to four years before the $100bn pledged, can start disbursing at scale.

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“While early climate action in developing countries could be supported by the Fast Start Financing, this is merely for the interim years of 2010 to 2012. So, this leaves us with an eight-year financing gap starting 2012 to 2020, without any collective commitment by developed countries to support climate action in developing countries.”

Al-Attiyah noted that developing countries regarded such a commitment to interim financing as a litmus test for demonstrating overall commitment by developed countries to reaching a global agreement in accordance with the objectives of the Climate Convention. He also emphasized four key points that should be taken in consideration in the run up to COP18 in November.

“Primarily, the developing countries need to further clarify investment opportunities and build solid investment pipelines with strong accountability frameworks to ensure scaled up and transformational investment streams,” he said. Secondly, “the developed countries need to consider how best to enable scaled-up support to climate action in developing countries, after expiry of the Fast Start Financing period, and before the Green Climate Fund becomes operational”. “Thirdly, while remaining fully committed to the swift operationalisation of the Green Climate Fund, we need to consider applying existing channels and instruments whether bilateral, global or multilateral- to sustain scaled up financial support after 2012,” he added.

“And finally, the announcement of pledges to support climate action after 2012 are critical for nurturing a sense of trust and confidence among governments,” he noted. Al-Attiyah met with Japan’s Environment minister, Hiroyuki Nagahama, on the sidelines of the meeting.

source: Gulf times, Caye Global