Former US secretary of state, John Kerry, is obviously angry with the absence of the American government at a major climate change summit which began today in Paris, capital of France today, Tuesday, describing it as a “disgrace”.

About 60 world leaders and hundreds of ministers, company bosses and environmentalists gathered for the One Planet Summit called by French President Emmanuel Macron after Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the global climate accord.

President Trump was not invited and the US federal government was represented by the second-highest diplomat in the American embassy in Paris, Brent Hardt, two years to the day since Kerry and then-president Barack Obama helped lead pain-staking diplomatic efforts to clinch the Paris accord.

“It’s very disappointing, it’s worse than disappointing, it’s actually a disgrace when you consider the facts, the science, the common sense, all the work that’s been done,” Kerry told AFP on the summit sidelines.

The Paris Agreement took “26 years of work that’s being dishonoured by people who don’t even understand the science,” he added.

American summit participants included the campaigning governor of California, Jerry Brown, as well as former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg who has put together a coalition of cities, companies and activists called “America’s Pledge” to help reduce US emissions.

Trump’s announcement that he will withdraw from the global pact, which the United States is the only nation to reject, has cast doubt on the viability of the deal which aims to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

Asked if the United States could meet its Paris accord pledge to reduce emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025, over 2005 levels, Kerry was upbeat because of efforts at the local level.

“I think it is possible, yes,” he told AFP.

Brown and Bloomberg both took aim at Trump’s climate stance.

“We have a climate denier in the White House who says climate change is a hoax,” Brown told a panel.

“We can’t wait for the White House to wake up. We in America are operating from the grassroots… Our work is incredibly difficult.

“We have mobilised to some extent, but we are not yet on track to reduce the rising greenhouse gases,” he added.

Bloomberg said the 1,700-member coalition of regional governments, cities, companies, and civil society groups that have formed America’s Pledge, represent more than half the US economy.

“If it was a country it would have the world’s third-largest economy and it continues to grow,” he said.

“Together we are going to meet the goal set by this country in Paris by reducing emissions by at least 26 percent and there isn’t anything that Washington can do to stop this,” he added.

“On the contrary, President Trump has helped rally people who understand the problem to join forces and to actually do something rather than wait for the federal government… In that sense we owe President Trump a measure of gratitude for helping us meet our goals,” he quipped.

Source: AFP[myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked international community to assist Nigeria in meeting up its financial obligations towards reduction of the negative effects of climate change as the country is just emerging from excruciating economic recession.

Buhari, who spoke in Paris, capital of France today, Tuesday, said: “having just come out of recession, we are under no illusion of the challenges that we face in Nigeria.

“Nigeria recognizes that ensuring sustainable funding is a major constraint in efforts to implement the Nationally Determined Contribution. To respond effectively to climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges, critical mass of financial resources beyond what we can provide from our national resources will be required.”

The Nigerian leader, in his submission to the One Planet Summit in the French capital attended by over 60 Heads of State and Governments, as well as representatives of non-governmental and private organizations, with the theme, “Climate Change Financing,” emphasized: “we cannot implement our Nationally Determined Contribution without adequate financial, technical and capacity building support from the developed countries.”

Buhari said that since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, Nigeria had been strengthening efforts towards the implementation of the Agreement and the Marrakech Call for Action, adding that even Nigeria had already ratified the Paris Agreement in May 2017.

President Buhari stressed that the country’s “Nationally Determined Contribution to reduce our emission by 20% by 2020 and 40% by 2030,” cannot be attained alone even as he said that the country has “embraced the issuance of the green bond as an innovative and alternative source of projects funding that would help reduce emissions and provide robust climate infrastructure, such as renewable energy, low carbon transport, water infrastructure and sustainable agriculture in line with the Paris Agreement.”

The President said that the government was tightening the existing governance structure in Nigeria for more effective implementation of climate change activities, including the additional responsibilities that are consequent on the adoption of the all-encompassing climate change treaty.

He said that his government is actively promoting technologies and practices such as sustainable land management, climate resilient agriculture, water efficiency, clean energy, and skills for reducing greenhouse gas emissions among others, adding that sustaining these efforts will also require external support.

Other measures required, he said, included “accelerating Research and Development on facilitating Access to Climate Friendly Technologies, through technology pooling and collective approach to financing Research and Development, regulating restrictive practices in licensing agreements and anti-competitive uses of Intellectual Property and International Declaration on Climate Technologies.”

“In Nigeria, we are looking at insurance-based proposals to deal with loss, damage and adaptation to the poor, vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups. Risk mitigation through insurance must benefit those groups who currently have negligible access to any form of indemnity coverage. Vulnerable groups will also benefit from new technologies and ways to make insurance schemes affordable, including through long term premium support.”

Buhari said that the adverse impacts of climate change such as temperature rise; erratic rainfall, sand storms, desertification, low agricultural yields, drying up of water bodies like Lake Chad, gully erosions and constant flooding are a daily reality in Nigeria, even as he admitted that highly vulnerable communities lack the capacity to cope.

He said that Nigeria would require external assistance in the following areas: “A long term solution for a source of clean power, which can be achieved through private investments to create economic competitiveness for industrialization, job creation and agricultural programmes throughout the country; and the inclusion of Nigeria in Climate Regional Programmes, especially strong financial support to our planned project for the replenishment of the Lake Chad.”

The President noted that this long term solution will ensure sustained livelihood for rural and urban communities, and permanently address the conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism and terrorism, and stem illegal migration especially of our youths abroad.

In acknowledging that the external support must be sustained on a long term basis, President Buhari emphasized that the changes that Nigeria and other developing countries need to make cannot be undertaken overnight.

He said that some fundamental restructuring of our economy was required, adding that “in this process, technology will be a powerful tool to simultaneously address climate change and advance development.”

The President looked up to the developed countries to jointly take a leading role in mobilising support for this action plan on addressing the challenges of climate change within the framework of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

In their remarks, the three co-chairmen of the plenary session, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, stressed the imperative of a global comprehensive and speedy action, including private sector financing against the devastating impact of climate change.

President Buhari had before the summit, attended a luncheon hosted by his French counterpart in honour of visiting Heads of State and Governments at the Elysee Palace.[myad]