Time to take action to counter the adverse impacts of climate change is running out, and countries must scale up their efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to the phenomenon, says Christiana Figueres, who heads the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In an interview with ET's Urmi A Goswami, Figueres says she expects the upcoming meet in Warsaw this month to register key progress on issues such as finance for policies aimed at arresting climate change. Edited excerpts:
What are the key areas in which you expect progress at Warsaw meet?
We expect progress on three fronts. First, on finance, we expect more clarity on the path towards mobilisation of climate finance. Countries have pledged to raise $100 billion a year by 2020. How are we going to get there? How are we going to mobilise funding from private resources? How to utilise scarce public funding to shore up private investment? These are the key areas within finance where we expect progress. Second, a mechanism for loss and damage, which will address the issue of addressing the negative effects of climate change, particularly slow onset events. Governments at Doha considered the idea of a mechanism, now they will have further discussions to have clarity on what the mechanism entails. Third, we expect that governments will move forward with the new agreement that was agreed at Durban.
With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change more certain now than ever that global warming is largely induced by human practices, do you expect countries to increase their targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions?
There is growing awareness of the impacts of climate change. In addition to scientific projection, there is a great deal of experiential evidence, as witnessed in the increasing number of extreme events across the world. Curbing greenhouse gas emissions is among the top issues. We expect countries are conducting domestic analysis to identify the level of effort that needs to be made and can be made by each country.
The United States has suggested that instead of setting a global goal each country be left to decide its own targets to reduce emissions. Do you think this undermines efforts by the UNFCCC to craft a global approach to climate change?
Both approaches - bottom-up and top-down - are necessary. These are not mutually exclusive. The sum total of all the current efforts by governments is not enough to close the gap between what has been pledged so far in terms of emission reductions and what is needed for the world to stay below the internationally agreed two degrees temperature rise. What is required is the maximum level of contribution from all. At Warsaw, we expect countries will work with each other to close the gap.
Finance continues to be the big trust issue between developed and developing countries and it is crucial for moving ahead. How do you expect to attract private finance for climate change, particularly for adaptation to climate change? What are the efforts being made to address finance in the run-up to 2020?
How to attract private funds is work in progress. There is a realisation now that public funding is not enough. The IEA puts the total requirement of climate finance at $1 trillion a year. Public funds can't fill this requirement. However, public funds can be the critical component to bring down risk and leverage private finance. We have to strategically use private funds to move away from old climate vulnerable technologies to climate resilient ones. As for funding for adaptation, the first capitalisation effort for the Green Climate Fund is underway. The fund is committed to provide finance for adaptation. However, that money may not be enough for adaptation requirements and we have to tap many other sources. We have to find a way to incentivise direct investment into adaptation. Providing adequate and predictable finance in the pre-2020 period is being discussed. The issue of how to ramp up from the fast start finance to the $100 billion from 2020 is being carefully considered.
