Marrakech meet to focus on ways to implement Paris climate accord

The world climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco, scheduled to open next Monday, will focus on the ways to implement the Paris Agreement after it entered into force on November 4, said a media report on Sunday.

"The agreement is undoubtedly a turning point in the history of common human endeavour, capturing the combined political, economic and social will of governments, cities, regions, citizens, businesses and investors to overcome the existential threat of unchecked climate change," UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa and President of COP22 Salaheddine Mezouar said in a joint statement on Friday.

"The foundations of the Paris Agreement are solid and other key features of humanity's new home are starting to rise," they said, Xinhua news agency reported.

They stressed that "we cannot and we must not rest until the roof is in place. This November in Marrakech we will make sure it will be in place, sooner rather than later".

While this unprecedented achievement shows a clear commitment from countries across the globe to tackle climate change, there is much more work to be done in Morocco to translate this commitment into action.

The main goals set by the Paris Agreement are very critical and pressing.

The ambitious goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or less to avoid dangerous tipping points in the climate system means that global emissions must be driven down rapidly from the current near-peak.

Another key pledge in the agreement is that developed countries will continue to allocate $100 billion per year from 2020 to 2025 in support of climate action by developing ones.

According to UN estimates, sustainable development will require 5 to 7 trillion dollars annually to fund the global transition to a low-carbon resilient economy.

To this end, creative funding options must be encouraged in both public and private sectors.

In addition to national determined contributions, COP22 also aims to include non-state actors into the Global Climate Action Agenda.

"COP22 will be a COP of action with a special focus on the important contributions of civil society. The Moroccan Presidency will work together with civil society during the Marrakech climate change conference and chart a common agenda under the Presidency," said Mezouar at a Pre-COP22 ministerial meeting in Marrakech in October.

The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) and the 12th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12) will be held in Bab Ighli, Marrakech, Morocco, from November 7 to 18.

--IANS

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