Environmental challenges, in the spotlight
Thousands of delegates have gathered in Poland in the most important meeting on the subject of climate change after the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015
Daniela Budu, 03.12.2018, 13:00
Delegates from around 200 countries began in Katowice two weeks of talks seeking to solve political disagreements at the biggest UN meeting on global warming since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015. The agreement had ambitious goals to reduce the use of fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions to combat the effects of global warming.
The conference in Katowice is expected to adopt a set of measures to implement these goals, which won’t be easy given the financial implications in the first place. Also, countries are expected to give a clear signal that they stand by the pledges made in the run-up to 2020, particularly after Donald Trump’s decision to take the US out of the Paris Agreement, which means that one of the world’s biggest economies would continue to use all types of fuel, including the most polluting. The summit is also expected to provide assurances that sufficient funding will be allocated to achieve the transition to net-zero carbon emissions in conditions of sustainability.
Deputy prime minister and environment minister Gratiela Gavrilescu, who represents Romania at the conference, has reiterated her country’s commitments: “Romania joins all objectives and, of course, first of all, the position of the European Union and secondly, we are maintaining our position with respect to the targets set in the Paris Agreement, article 6. These are extremely ambitious targets which we have committed to.”
She also said Bucharest was not expecting changes to these obligations and that it has a well-defined strategy. Graţiela Gavrilescu: “Romania has a strategy to combat climate change and to achieve a low-carbon economy, as well as policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and, last but not least, a sustainable development strategy which we intend to carry out in the following years.”
The international reports published before the conference in Poland warn about the exceeding of the alarm level for greenhouse gas emissions, which should not go beyond 1.5-2 degrees Celsius to avoid disastrous consequences. Research suggests the world has only 12 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half to prevent a future climate catastrophe. First of all, the talks in Katowice must establish the way in which the Paris Agreement can function when its provisions come into force in 2020, in order to keep the global rise in temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius this century. (Translated by C. Mateescu)
