EU and 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries call for tangible progress on Paris Agreement implementation at UN climate talks
The European Union and 79 countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group together making up more than half of the signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change, today reaffirmed their shared commitment to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and urged all Parties to ensure concrete progress at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) taking place in Bonn, Germany.
The EU and the ACP Group congratulate Fiji, an ACP Member State and the first Small Island Developing State to hold the presidency of the UN climate conference, for a successful first week of discussions. Both the EU and the ACP Group acknowledge the importance of this year’s conference to ensure the achievement of key milestones for the full implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The EU and the ACP Group welcome the ‘talanoa spirit’ under which negotiations have been conducted so far, a reference to the Pacific tradition of Talanoa, a traditional approach to engage in an inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. Both groups agree on the need for ambitious climate action already before Parties are required to implement their Paris Agreement obligations. They acknowledge the importance of the so-called pre-2020 agenda, which concerns developed countries’ commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and enhancing early action and collaboration between all partners, including the non-Party stakeholders.
European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Caňete said: “Two years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement and one year after its entry into force, we continue to stand united in our commitment to ambitious action and full implementation of the agreement. Now is the time to ensure we maintain the Paris momentum and deliver the next steps we have collectively agreed. We have made some good headway, but much still needs to be done to ensure we leave COP23 with good results.”
The ACP Secretary General Patrick Gomes said: “Climate change is causing devastating impacts on many ACP Member States – the recent hurricanes in the Caribbean should be a clear reminder to all of the need to build resilience and contribute to a more sustainable, secure future for the most vulnerable countries in the world.”
The expectations of the EU and the ACP Group for COP 23 outcomes include, among others:
- a balanced package of decisions for moving forward the work programme under the Paris Agreement;
- progress on the design for the 2018 ‘facilitative dialogue’;
- adoption of the first Gender Action Plan and operationalisation of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform;
- scaling up and accelerating climate action from the private sector and other non-state actors.
The EU and the ACP Group are long-standing partners in international climate cooperation. As an example, the Global Climate Change Alliance Intra-ACP programme has been providing technical support to ACP countries since 2011. The second four-year phase of the programme, launched officially at COP23, will provide an additional EUR 70 million to ACP countries to better adapt to the impacts of climate change and contribute to strengthening the strategic role of the ACP Group in global climate action.