World leaders should give international efforts to fight global warming a new push by ratifying the historic Paris climate deal in person, according to France’s foreign minister.
Laurent Fabius, who steered December’s UN talks, wants heads of state to ratify the accord at a meeting in April in New York, so that it can be enshrined in international law. Nations accounting for more than 55% of global emissions must formally sign up before the Paris agreement can be made official.
He told the Guardian he had discussed the plans with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon a few days ago, gaining his support, and was “pretty confident” that heads of government would attend what would be the third leaders’ climate summit in a little over six months.
“We should have the leaders there, to give a new impulse [to the implementation of the accord],” he said of the New York meeting, which he will preside over. “At the first day of Paris [which leaders attended] there was a tremendous push. It’s time for a new push in April.”
Fabius is acutely aware that, despite the success of the Paris negotiations, much more needs to be done before the future of the accord is secure. “There are many things which can go wrong,” he told the Guardian. “We have to avoid being lazy. We have to be calm, and to be hopeful. We have to talk to developing countries.” He pointed to the need to tackle emissions from aviation and maritime transport, which were omitted from the UN talks, and which he said are urgent.
More work is needed on setting out clear rules on how to monitor emissions in a “transparent” fashion, he said. African countries must be assured that they are receiving the support that was promised to them at Paris. Businesses must also receive cooperation from governments to develop new clean technologies that will be “decisive” in bringing down emissions.
Fabius also called for a renewed focus on the possibility of putting a price on carbon, pointing to a Chinese plan to institute a national system of carbon trading from next year. This would be a major step forward, he said. At Paris, 196 countries agreed to limit greenhouse gases in line with scientific advice, to avoid temperature rises of more than 2C, and to review their commitments and progress on meeting them every five years. This framework is legally binding, and most countries - including all the biggest emitters - also set out national targets for emissions, to 2025 or 2030.
Fabius addressed the European parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, asking MEPs for their continued support for plans for the EU to meet its obligations on greenhouse gas emissions. He set out “four Ps” which he said are needed to implement the Paris agreement: the process of ratification of the accord, including the April meeting; clarifying the principles underlying the agreement, such as a precise definition of climate change financing, rules on the conduct of the five-year reviews and the transparency of monitoring emissions; the pre-2020 period, during which countries must make progress on their existing emissions goals; and preparing for this November’s UN climate conference, ‘COP22’. The success of the Paris conference was a rare bright moment in a dark end to 2015 for France, scarred by the terrorist attacks in November that left 130 people dead and scores more wounded. Fabius hailed the agreement as a triumph for international cooperation. “This is about security and peace,” he said. “There are massive risks to global warming, which could lead to widespread conflict. We have to stop that risk from becoming reality. That means this agreement was actually about peace for future generations, and current generations. This is a chaotic world, and a dangerous one. The Paris agreement is making the world safer.” Relaxed in a fashionably high-collared brown leather jacket as he travelled by French government plane to a snow-covered Strasbourg, Fabius reflected that the signing of the Paris accord had been just a beginning, though a very important one.
“We need to look for concrete measures now,” he said. “I think that will arrive. The shift [to tackling climate change] has been made now, and there will be no turning back.”
For the year ahead, Fabius has a punishing schedule of climate meetings as part of his role as president of the COP, which under UN convention continues until COP22 in November. After the summit in April there will be a meeting in Germany in May to discuss some of the details of the accord, then a further conference in Washington DC in May or June hosted by the US, followed by a meeting of local authorities from around the world in Nantes, France, in September, as well as meetings held with the IMF and World Bank, and the UN general assembly in September. During that time, it is widely expected that Fabius will leave his post as foreign minister, perhaps to be succeeded by his long-time rival Ségolène Royal. He has been tipped in France as a potential future candidate for UN secretary-general, with his steering of the Paris conference having burnished his credentials.
Though he declined to speculate on his future, Fabius noted that he could remain COP president without being French foreign minister.
