Press Conference by Executive Director of United Nations

 

Framework Convention on Climate Change

 

The newly appointed Executive Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, told correspondents today that Governments are converging on the need to mandate a full set of ways and means to “launch a new wave of global climate action” ahead of a major conference to be held in Cancun, Mexico, in November.

Speaking at a Headquarters press conference, she said that, in Cancun, which will be the next Conference of the Parties to the Convention, “they can decide how and when to capture these promises in accountable and binding ways”.  Governments from the industrial and developing world had made many pledges to cut and limit greenhouse gas emissions.  Moreover, both short- and long-term funding had been promised to developing countries to address climate change.

In response to questions, she estimated that up to $28 billion of $30 billion committed by industrialized countries for fast start funding had been identified, saying that was “the golden key” to trust-building efforts in Cancun.  Governments were also reportedly on track for a set of agreements to establish a technology mechanism, address deforestation and degradation, and establish a fund to assist developing countries in their mitigation and adaptation efforts.

She asserted that there were four major trends shaping the future: energy supply and security; natural resource depletion; population growth; and climate change.  If unchecked, she said, climate change would be the flame that would make the other three burn most seriously.

“Governments can either stand together to turn these four threats into a new development paradigm that harnesses the full power of society, science and business, or they will fail divided,” she emphasized.  There was “no magic bullet”, no one climate agreement that could solve everything right now, and to expect differently, she said, was “naïve” and “dangerously ignored the need to keep innovating”.  She was certain the world could do that step by step, but only if it kept walking firmly in the right direction, including at Cancun.

Also in response to a correspondent, she noted a growing sense among developing countries that there was a competitive advantage in embracing the opportunity to move quickly and with commitment into the green economy.

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For information media • not an official record