Two- week climate change discussions start in Poland

Katowice, Poland, Dec. 2: Negotiators around the world began two weeks of talks on curbing climate change on Sunday, three years after sealing a landmark deal in Paris that set a goal of keeping global warming well below 2 º C.

Envoys from almost 200 nations gathered in Poland a day earlier than originally planned, for the UN meeting scheduled to run until December 14.

Ministers and some heads of government are joining in Monday, when host Poland will push for a joint declaration to ensure a “just transition” for fossil fuel industries like coal producers who are facing closures as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting received a boost over the weekend, after 19 major economies at the G20 summit affirmed their commitment to the 2015 Paris climate accord. The only holdout was the US, which announced under President Donald Trump that it is withdrawing from the climate pact.

“Despite geopolitical instability, the climate consensus is proving highly resilient,” said Christiana Figueres, a former head of the UN climate office. “It is sad that the federal administration of the US, a country that is increasingly feeling the force of climate impacts, continues to refuse to listen to the voice of science when it comes to climate change,” Figures said.

She cited a recent expert report warning of the consequences of letting average global temperatures rise beyond 1.5 º C.

“The rest of the G20 have not only understood the science, they are taking actions to both prevent ■

the major impacts and strengthen their economies,” said Figueres, who now works with Mission 2020, a group campaigning to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The meeting in Katowice is regarded as a key test of countries’ willingness to back their lofty but distant goals with concrete measures, some of which are already drawing fierce protests . At the top of the agenda is the so- called Paris rulebook, which will determine how governments record and report their greenhouse emissions and efforts to cut them. Separately, negotiators will discuss ramping up countries’ national emissions targets after 2020, and financial support for poor nations that are struggling to adapt to climate change. The shift away from fossil fuels, which scientists say has to happen by 2050, is expected to require a major overhaul of world economies.

“The good news is that we do know a lot of what we need to do to get there,” said David Waskow of the World Resources Institute.