EU Ambassador to Guyana, René van Nes is adamant that there should be less talk and more action in addressing climate change that is threatening the world.
He endorsed the sentiments of President Irfaan Ali who has been lobbying for a holistic approach to be taken towards this issue as global leaders prepare for the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP28) later this year in the United Arab Emirates.
van Nes brought up the subject during a press briefing on Friday on the European Union trade mission slated for November as he posited that time should not be wasted since many countries continue to feel the brunt of climate change, citing the prolonged El Nino period.
“Everyone that is committed and worried at the overall state of the climate change agenda wants to see more action and wants to see less talk…We were pretty clear in Paris about what should happen and now we see that there is hesitation to implement, to take the next steps”, he said.
The central objective of the 2015 Paris Agreement (COP21) was to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
On this note the EU Ambassador urged all countries participating at COP28 to devise ideas and mechanisms to combat climate change, as he indicated his support towards countries such as Guyana who are on board in this “global fight”.
“The EU is very worried about the overall state of climate change and is very willing to take these actions that are necessary. We support your President in that and I know the preparations are really far advanced. I’m hopeful that the parties at COP28 will indeed be able and willing to come to agreements that will be translated into concrete actions as there is no time to waste anymore,” the EU representative underscored.
Back in September President Ali had called for a balanced approach to net zero that will see the continued use of fossil fuels as Guyana is working towards surpassing 80% reliance on renewable energy by 2030.
He made these recommendations at the 78th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York, USA which was themed “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all Creating a Just and Equitable World”.
The President argued that the global ambition of net zero by 2050 is not currently realistic given the cost of transition and the financing commitments thus far. His prognosis came on the same day that UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres railed against the “naked greed” of fossil fuel interests.
