20th Conference on Climate Change

¸

Representatives of 195 countries gathered in the period from 30.11. – 11.12.2015. at the COP21 Conference in Paris, to adopt a new binding Climate Agreement that introduces a new, more ambitious goal of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

After long and exhausting negotiations, an unprecedented climate agreement to combat global warming and save our planet was adopted on Saturday (a day later than expected) in Paris, Le Bourget.

Its adoption was eagerly anticipated and participated in by members of HU- CO2, including President Mr. Vladimir Jelavić and Vice-President Mrs. Marija Pujo Tadić, who were involved in the negotiations from the start.

When the President of COP21 Laurent Fabius said the historic sentence: “Looking at the hall I see a positive reaction, I hear no objections, the Paris climate agreement has been adopted”, there was a long applause of approval that seemed to erase all traces of fatigue and tension caused by long and uncertain negotiations from the faces of the delegation members.

What does the new climate agreement bring?

By accepting the 32-page agreement, the signatory nations pledged to limit average global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels as a continuation of efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The 1.5 degree Celsius threshold was brought up at the request of small island states threatened by rising sea levels.

Gđa. Marija Pujo Tadić i gosp. Vladimir Jelavić, kao članovi delegacije RH na COP21

The agreement is founded on the principle of equity: responsibilities are shared but differentiated between countries historically responsible for global warming (developed countries) and developing countries.

Developed countries will pay their “climate debt” of $100 billion per year by 2020 to finance climate projects in developing countries, with the promise of additional funding in the future. It is also new that the Agreement’s progress will be reviewed every five years. French President F. Hollande was the most persuasive in accepting the agreement’s obligations, declaring that France will review its obligations to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 at the latest. We can’t help but agree with him that “December 12, 2015 will be remembered as a great date for our planet.”

Gđa. Tina Kaho i gđa. Marija Pujo Tadić, na WiSER konferenciji na COP21

What does this mean for our HU- CO2!?

We are overjoyed and proud to have been able to take part in this historic event.

When we founded our organization (HU- CO2) a few years ago, our sole goal was to bring all experts in the field together in order to bring the issue of climate change closer to the public’s attention and promote the reduction of CO2 emissions in all areas of human activity.

To be sure, few of them understood what we were saying, but now that the reduction of carbon footprint is a binding goal of all countries that participated in the negotiations, it motivates us to work even harder in this area.

Participating in such an event is an exceptional honor but also a great responsibility, so we should thank our Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection as well as our embassy in Paris for the effort and very good organization, which made us feel like proud members of our Republic of Croatia’s delegation from the start of the event.

 

(Report from Paris prepared by Marija Pujo Tadić, vice-president of HU- CO2 and member of the Republic of Croatia delegation at COP21)

Detalji sa pariške opere