France's Laurent Fabius, who presided over the 2015 Paris Agreement, said political leaders could either take a positive role and act "properly" taking action on climate change or be "spoilers," as the COP24 negotiations enter their second week.
"I beg you in Katowice to write a successful story and to be faithful to the letter and the spirit of Paris, that is to say to act better, faster and together. You have four days to finish the job. It is short but it is vital," Fabius said on Tuesday before the national speeches scheduled for the afternoon.
The talks are billed as the most important U.N. conference since the Paris 2015 deal on climate change are in their crucial final week in Poland's Silesian coal mining district.
EU Commissioner for Energy Miguel Arias Canete said that until today there had been no ministerial involvement as delegations tried to hammer out an agreement.
"We are doing now what we call shuttle diplomacy with ministers and co-facilitators going to see the regional groups in time to test the atmosphere, so we still haven't finished all the medical tests on the patient," he said ahead of side event organised by the European Union.
The aim is to meet an end-of-year deadline for agreeing a rule book on how to enforce action to limit further warming of the planet.
Arias Canete said he was very comfortable with Europe's position and expected it to be de-carbonised in the future.
"I am very comfortable, we have the most ambitious targets of all the parties here," he said. "We have reduced emissions by 22 percent , the GDP grew by 58%, the projection for 2020 is that we will be reducing our emissions by 26%."
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, Reuters