Secretary-General response to Global Climate Summit : World leaders have arrived at a historic decision at the Geneva Global Climate Summit. The agreement has been widely described as a major leap forward in tackling climate change, including new commitments on emissions cuts and an environmentalism compact.
The concurrent and just ending summit which lasted 2 weeks featured participants from over 190 different countries. The resulting agreement, known as the “Geneva Accord,” requires signees to emit 50 percent less carbon pollution than was produced in 2005 by 2035 which is more ambitious than the goal set under the Paris Agreement.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the accord historic stating it was a ‘ray of hope’ in the face of rising climate issues. ”This agreement shows that when there’s desire for unity for any cause, then the world will mark great achievements,” Mr Guterres said. ”The Geneva Accord is not a writing on the wall; it is a clear map to change that will dictate the future of our planet.”
The new aspects of the previous deal include, most importantly, elements of an update and the binding mechanisms for countries to raise the level of their climate commitments annually. This mechanism of ‘fudanama’ or ratchet mechanism that demands a country to make new promises more challenging than the previous ones every five years makes the global climate response complex and sensitive to the latest scientific reports.
This agreement also lays down a $100 billion a year green climate fund to help developing states to mitigate and transition to renewable energy. This financial obligation, which will be borne by developed countries and funded, is intended to meet long-standing criticisms regarding equity and assistance for marginalised populations who are impacted by climate change.
Fifty-seven countries agreed on a framework to limit the greenhouse gases emissions and China and the USA – the leaders in emissions, played the decisive roles for the outcome of the negotiations. Both parties unveiled specific measures to support the modernization of electric power industries toward higher shares of renewable energy and to end construction of new coal power plants. Both the executive branches of the world’s most powerful nations have been thought to play some major roles in the implementation of the accord and the conjunction has given rise to positive sentiments for long-term global action on climate.
After the EU is considered to be one of the leaders in climate initiatives, the bloc committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2045, five years ahead of time. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the new goal is realistic and urged other countries to follow the example of the block’s commitment.
While the least developed countries, and those most susceptible to the effects of climate change, have cautiously welcomed the deal they have also stressed the importance of early implementation. Countries in the Alliance of Small Island States which are vulnerable to sea level rise welcomed the higher levels of intensity but noted that much more needed to be done in the short term. In the subsequent press release after the summit, the chair of the alliance lamented that for numerous of its members, such decision is ‘a matter of life and death.’
The Geneva Accord has similarly been well received in the private sector. The Leaders Group of the world’s largest corporations in information technology and energy forwarded their intentions to synchronize their sector visions with the fresh carbon emissions targets. This highlights an emerging shift to show appreciation of how business can benefit from adoption of a low carbon economy.
Most of the environmental organization have embraced the agreement, but there those who have accused it of not being ambitious enough. Greenpeace International welcomed the accord as a “positive advance,” while stressing that “far more needs to be done to prevent dangerous climate change.” The organization called on governments to act now to begin affording the commitments that had been made in Geneva.
Important progress was also achieved in other aspects of the environment: agreements were reached on the protection of biological diversity, the reduction of plastics in the ocean, and sustainable farming. These complementary accords demonstrate how outlooks of the dependence between the environment and its preservation require integrated approach.
While the delegates now go back to their respective countries, effort begins to be made to put the Geneva Accord into practice. Countries are expected to start working on concrete strategies to achieve their new emissions cutting agendas, emphasis is on utilizing clean energy, using energy efficiently, and encouraging green transport and industrial systems.
Other countries have also emerged unveiling plans of inject more funds into climate-related technologies including carbon capture and storage, battery technology and sustainable aviation fuel.
There has been a lot of euphoria over the Geneva Accord as people regarded as a diplomatic success but analysts have said that the true measure is yet to come in the way it will be actualized. The next few years will be telling to gauge whether the lofty goals charted in Geneva can be implemented on the ground.
While, the extreme climate change phenomenon is being witnessed worldwide through heat strokes and fires on one hand and floods and droughts on the other the Geneva Accord sheds some light on what the collective international action may possibly usher in. The next problem that lies ahead is to better translate the orientations adopted in Switzerland into concrete progress for a world that has to become more sustainable and less vulnerable.
