With the likely withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement casting a shadow over the UN climate talks opening today, it is essential that the European Union provide leadership and work with others to restore faith in the process, according to Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan.
“In a world ravaged by war, nationalism and destructive weather events we need agreement in Baku to give hope for a peaceful future,” said Mr Ryan, who will represent Ireland at the summit.
“It is a time when multilateral co-operation is under threat and our own European Union is challenged like never before.”
The Minister is due to travel tomorrow to Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan which is taking place in the shadow of soaring global temperatures, a likely retreat from climate ambition by the next US administration led by president-elect Donald Trump and wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
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“There is a real risk that these negotiations could fail, and we will not find a path forward,” Mr Ryan said. “It will be hard to get agreement in a world that is so divided and under such stress, but that is what we have to do.”
There was no other way but to get renewed support for the Paris Climate Agreement between the 194 countries who will attend, he said.
“Giving up would be unforgivable, but success could help restore hope in our world. The prize is not just to stop runaway climate change but also to develop a new economy which delivers better sustainable development for all,” Mr Ryan said.
“Cop29 is primarily about finding a way to provide climate finance for the poorest countries, who are least responsible for the crisis but most impacted by the extreme weather events already happening.”
[ Donald Trump’s return is a blow to global response to the climate crisisOpens in new window ]
Minister Ryan has been asked by the UN and Cop29 presidency to lead negotiations on adaptation – measures that help climate vulnerable countries become more resilient to the inevitable impacts of global warming.
He said he thought Ireland had been given this role because it is good at providing adaptation finance. “It makes up 80 per cent of the country’s climate spend, which has doubled over the past four years. Ireland had a good cultural understanding of how development aid can best work,” he said.
“Ireland along with Costa Rica have been selected as the ministerial pair with responsibility for the negotiations on climate adaptation. It is a red line issue for the most vulnerable countries because it is the area where public finance is most needed and least available,” Mr Ryan said.
At an early negotiation round in Baku last month, he said a representative from the African Union made an impassioned plea, saying they “don’t want freebies but we do want fairness”.
Mr Ryan said the key to success in the negotiations “will be on building trust so that we can deliver such fairness, not just by determining how much more wealthier countries contribute, but also by agreeing on how the global banking system needs to change and how we can raise new innovative sources of finance, including private finance, to deliver the trillions of euro in investment we know we need.”
Bringing climate action and development together was at the heart of the European position going into the negotiations, he said. “With the likely withdrawal of the US, it is time for our own European Union to work with others to restore faith in the whole UN system.”
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