Climate change talks open in Bonn

BONN. - The 23rd Conference of Parties (COP 23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) kicked off yesterday with a call to adhere to the path of Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The COP 23 is tasked with mapping out a guideline for the implementation of the Paris Agreement which was agreed on by almost every country in the world in 2015.

The Paris Agreement aims to tackle climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and sets a global target of keeping the average temperature rise no higher than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

At the opening ceremony of the COP 23, UN climate change executive secretary, Patricia Espinosa, said: “Together with the Sustainable Development Agenda, we have a clear path forward to truly address climate change and sustainable development.”

Espinosa outlined the work governments will be looking to address in Bonn. The goal, above all, is to take the next essential steps to ensure that the Paris Agreement’s operating system is completed in time and that ways, as well as means to implement it, are strengthened.

The newly-elected COP 23 president, Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, said: “All over the world, vast numbers of people are suffering, bewildered by the forces against them. Our job as leaders is to respond to the suffering with all means available to us.”

China’s special representative on climate change, Xie Zhenhua, said at a press conference prior to the COP 23 that China hoped participants could reach a draft guideline reflecting the needs of all parties and all the key elements in the Paris agreement.

German authorities expected 25000 guests, including representatives of governments and non-governmental organizations, and 1 500 journalists, to attend the Bonn conference, which will last until November 17. - Xinhua..