Let’s reignite spirit of Paris Agreement on climate
By People Daily, December 17, 2020Dr Chris Kiptoo, Aline kuster-Menager, Jane Marriot and Alberto Pieri
December 12, 2020 marked five years of the Paris Agreement. We have made real progress in mobilising financing and rebuilding the Green Climate Fund.
More countries are committing and raising their national ambitions – Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) – to reduce emissions by 2030.
At a critical moment, when the world is currently reeling from the adverse effects of Covid-19 and we’re being pushed towards rebuilding more sustainable economies, it is of paramount importance to collectively raise our ambition and reignite the spirit of the Paris Agreement.
Looking forward, in November 2021, the COP26 International Climate Summit will be hosted in the UK, in partnership with Italy.
This will be preceded by the Pre-COP high-level ministerial event back-to-back with the “Youth4Climate 2021”, which will involve more than 400 young people from 197 countries.
The UK and Italy commit to use their CoP26 presidency to work with Kenya to drive climate action.
The CoP Presidency will bring nations, private sector, communities and young people together, to increase awareness and to build resilience to impacts of climate change.
In advance, France and Italy, as part of the European Union, and the UK announced their own updated NDC, committing themselves to a further significant reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to baseline.
This is part of a bigger, legal commitment made by our countries to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
We hope this level of ambition will spur other nations to make bold commitments, but also appreciate that developing countries will require support to act on climate change.
The UK has committed to double amount it spends on International Climate Finance over the next five years to the tune of Sh1.7 trillion to help countries such as Kenya adapt to effects of climate change, and develop low-carbon economies.
In 2016, Kenya ratified the Paris Agreement and submitted an ambitious NDC with a commitment to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
Kenya’s Greenhouse Gas emissions represent less than one per cent of total global emissions; yet its economy is heavily dependent on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, energy, tourism, wildlife, and health. Kenya took proactive measures to reduce emissions, vulnerability and enhance resilience.
It developed the National Adaptation Plan 2015-2030, which has identified strategic actions for all sectors.
The Climate Change Act, 2016 underscores mainstreaming of climate change in both public and private sectors with emphasis to enhancing resilience in the country.
The National Climate Change Action Plan, which is a five-year plan was developed to achieve the Adaptation Plan, NDCs as well as implementing the Climate Change Act, 2016.
Kenya has finalised updating her NDC and intends to submit it by before December 31, 2030.
The updated NDC increases mitigation commitment from 30 per cent in 2016 to 32 per cent by 2030.
The NDC also commits to enhance resilience in all sectors of the economy. The implementation cost of the updated NDC mitigation and adaptation is estimated to cost Sh70 billion in 2020-2030.
Kenya has also moved its target of achieving a 10 per cent tree cover from 2030 to 2022.
Tackling climate change is a global challenge and commitments, no matter how significant.
Collectively, leaders around the world must stand up and act with courage and conviction if we are to resolve climate crisis. — Kiptoo is PS Environment, Kuster-Menager is French Ambassador, Marriot is British High Commissioner and Pieri is Italian Ambassador to Kenya