Donald Trump is not a threat to COP22
The election of Donald Trump as the US president is not a threat to the Conference of Parties, Mr Salaheddine Mezouar, President of CoP 22 said on Saturday in Marrakech.
“We have to keep trust in this momentum period, Mr Mezouar said in a response to a question at a press briefing following speculations that with Trump’s election, he will withdraw US from the Paris Agreement.
“The Paris Agreement has been ratified by 105 countries and entered into force so that if one party withdraws it does not compromise the agreement,” he noted when he highlighted the progress COP22 has made so far and where it was heading to in the coming week.
Mr Mezouar announced that heads of state are expected in Morocco to finalise the issues.
He said Africa was fully present at the two-week conference.
He said for now 105 countries had ratified saying “we want to build a bridge between negotiators and non-state actors”.
In 2017, the Moroccan Presidency will be mobilising funds and looking at issues concerning capacity building.
He called for an increase in public funding especially from government budget, saying what is needed is innovation in financing matters as well as mobilisation of the private sector.
He said transparent and measurable projects were needed as negotiations were unfolding and projects were being accomplished.
He said goals connected with capacity and adaptation still had to be worked.
Mr Mezouar said the agenda for action had been supported by champions but sponsored by Morocco and supported the parties in the call for action, to maintain mobilisation as the international community was expecting the Marrakech call to action to say that the Paris Agreement was alive.
He congratulated the youth for their contributions that projected the climate change agenda for change.
Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive, explained that the Paris Agreement carried a lot of credibility though there were a lot of issues to be discussed at the intergovernmental level.
She said 95 countries had moved to be National Determined Contributors (NDCs), adding, there was urgency to finalise the Paris Agreement and “we will provide transparency to proof that everyone was working to the best of their ability”.
“We need to speed up work so that this ‘book’ will be finalised, the King, Secretary General, Head of States and Ministers.
She said countries were here to showcase what they have been doing to move to low carbon economies and how to find the means for implementation.
Cities are gearing up to take action on their NDCs, cities have developed policies into climate action projects
Source: GNA