Time for governments to catch up to the “real world”

Heads of State who met with UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon last month agreed that the world needs a long-term goal to end to the fossil fuel era.

This conviction came a few months after the G7 where German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, committed leaders to “decarbonise the global economy in the course of this century”.

Jens Mattias Clausen, Policy Advisor to Greenpeace Nordic, spoke to me about just this, and how to increase our ambition ahead of Paris.

(Video with English and Greek subtitles)

With negotiations currently taking place in Bonn, negotiators have been tasked with harnessing this political momentum and send a clear signal back to the “real world” that will unlock even more benefits for our communities.

The plans to date offer the foundation for a global agreement that could be increased up over time.

With most countries expected to overshoot these pledges, it is vital that governments agree to rigorously review and scale up their commitments well before 2020.

Evidence and international experience clearly shows that more climate action delivers more benefits such as saved lives, new jobs and cost savings. With national climate plans constituting the core of these negotiations, now is the time for governments to stand for their responsibility. Those governments failing to do so, will find themselves on the wrong side of history and left using the rest of their careers cleaning up after climate disaster after climate disaster.

Published originally on adoptanegotiator.org