COP25 Outcome: Struggle to the Death for Survival is Carried into 2020
The Office of the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands released the following statement upon the conclusion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Madrid, Spain (COP25) for the Climate Vulnerable Forum presidency:
The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) presidency of the Marshall Islands welcomes COP25’s urging of all parties to submit new national contributions to fulfilling the Paris Agreement, or NDCs, in 2020 that reflect the highest possible ambition of each country, as called for by the CVF. The Madrid agreements build on previous clear decisions for enhanced efforts by all governments in 2020 from COP24 at Katowice and COP21 in Paris, as well as the outcome of the Talanoa Dialogue in 2018.
The Madrid Ambition Drive for Survival, #MAD4survival, initiated at COP25, together with the Climate Ambition Alliance led by the Chile COP25 presidency, demonstrated how most vulnerable nations, and large numbers of developed and developing countries around the world, are prepared for enhancing the ambition of their national contributions or NDCs to achieving the aims of the Paris Agreement by next year. If the poor, small and vulnerable nations can commit to new action in 2020, the rich and large-emitting nations have no excuse but to deliver serious new commitments to action next year.
New NDCs in 2020 must go beyond addressing the gap between current efforts and the 1.5 degrees goal, they must also ensure that holding the temperature increase to not more than 1.5 degrees remains within reach since the survival of the most vulnerable nations depends on not exceeding 1.5C. This will require a substantial new effort from all nations in 2020 in light of an aggregate strengthening by 50% of the current NDCs being required to keep to the 1.5C limit on warming.
The Conference also recalled the collective goal of developed countries to deliver annually, as of 2020, USD 100 billion to address the needs of developing countries, upon which many planned life-saving climate actions are reliant. COP25’s renewed emphasis on the importance of promoting human rights when taking climate action is likewise welcomed considering the enormous threat to human rights that climate change presents.
The Conference also recognized the urgent need for support to developing countries to deliver and enhance national adaptation and mitigation efforts, and provided for an important new process for assessing delivery of promised pre-2020 efforts of developed countries. However, COP25 fell short on advancing material efforts to address loss and damage, concrete new steps to enhance support to developing countries seeking to raise the level of ambition of their national efforts, and finalizing important rules for Paris Agreement implementation with respect to carbon markets.
In this regard, 2020 will now be an absolutely pivotal year for demonstrating the international community’s ability to live up to the aspirations of COP21 in Paris and the Paris Agreement. With global pressure now upon governments and the international negotiations to deliver a stronger response to the climate crisis by next year, the CVF will continue its leadership and diplomatic efforts to promote a far more robust worldwide response in 2020.
We call on all actors to continue to work for a much-strengthened global response to the climate crisis in 2020 to secure survival and the enjoyment of fundamental human rights under severe and continuous threat. The death threat to the vulnerable nations has not been lifted; the struggle to the death for our survival is carried to 2020.
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