After all the talking, time for tangible solutions?
World leaders and finance bosses were set to release a “to-do list” to help developing countries better tackle climate change and poverty, a long-sought goal of the two-day summit in Paris that wraps up on Friday.
Organizers said the gathering will end with a summary of commitments, including a roadmap for what to expect from the upcoming meeting of the Group of 20 major economies and the U.N. climate conference later this year.
The gathering wrapping up in Paris has no mandate to make formal decisions, but French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to deliver a to-do list that should be accompanied by a progress-tracking tool.
“We have to come up with mobilizations, commitments, new instruments and very concrete solutions that will change life on the ground in countries facing these challenges,” Macron said.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry was on the same wavelength, telling The Associated Press the conference would aim to “come out with some results that are specific to how you can mobilize finance” in a bid to reduce emissions faster.
Several activists and non-governmental organizations have urged the summit participants to ensure that rich countries commit to debt relief for poor nations, including the cancellation of loans. A debt suspension clause for countries hit by extreme climatic events was also discussed.
In addition, the idea of implementing a tax on the greenhouse gas emissions produced from international shipping has been gaining traction, with possible adoption at a July meeting of the International Maritime Organization. Some experts believe that a tax on shipping alone could raise $100 billion a year, and a strong declaration on this in Paris might provide Macron with a symbolic win, especially if it gets backing from the IMO next month.
To bring in more money, activists are pushing for a tax on the fossil fuel industry and another one on financial transactions — but those two proposals appear to have little support from wealthier nations.
The International Monetary Fund has made $100 billion worth of assets — called Special Drawing Rights — available to certain vulnerable countries. The French presidency then said France would share 40% of its own assets from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ineza Grace, a young climate activist from Rwanda, said a good outcome for the summit would be the emergence of a new vision in developed countries for what they need to do.
“To understand how they can replace the current financial structures that are reproducing the colonial structure,” she said.
Fellow activist Greta Thunberg, speaking alongside Grace on the sidelines of the meetings, agreed.
“The aspect of climate justice and equity has been more or less excluded from the global climate negotiations and the discourse,” Thunberg said.
The summit's first day included announcements of a pair of deals. French officials said debt-burdened Zambia reached a deal with several creditors including China to restructure $6.3 billion in loans. And Senegal reached a deal with the European Union and western allies to support its efforts to improve its access to energy and increase its share of renewable energy to 40% by 2030.
Many officials from poor and climate-vulnerable nations attended, with only two top leaders from the Group of Seven most developed countries — Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — in the audience.
The U.S. was represented by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry. Other attendees included China’s Prime Minister Li Qiang, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, World Bank head Ajay Banga and IMF President Kristalina Georgieva.
Yellen said during Friday’s closing ceremony she was pleased that the U.S. and China were able to collaborate on the fight against climate change, with Qiang also attending.
“As the world’s two largest economies, we have a responsibility to work together on global issues," she said. "It’s something we can do and something the world expects of us.”
Her remarks came after U.S. President Joe Biden defended his harsh public remarks on China, in which he called President Xi Jinping a dictator. Biden said his words would have no negative impact on U.S.-China relations and that he still expects to meet with Xi sometime soon.
Climate activists gathered in central Paris on Friday to make polluters pay for climate damage.
“There will be no climate justice without making the polluters pay,” said Patience Nabukala, part of the Fridays for Futures Uganda activist group. “People from countries like mine, we cannot afford to lose more lives, we cannot afford to lose more properties.”
Associated Press writers Masha Macpherson and Catherine Gaschka in Paris and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
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