Patricia Espinosa (United Nations): “Climate change cannot be resolved with one or two decisions”

The UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, is “satisfied” with the result of the COP26 climate summit, although she acknowledges that countries will have to raise their emission reduction and financing targets because this problem cannot be resolved. resolve only “with one or two decisions”.

In an exclusive interview with EFE the day after the Glasgow Climate Agreement was reached, the Mexican diplomat recalls that global warming “threatens institutions and the functioning of societies” and admits that the organization of the conference “could have been best”.

QUESTION: You said at the closing of COP26 that reaching consensus implies that few are satisfied with the result. From that point of view and seeing the reactions, do you consider that the summit has achieved its objective?

ANSWER: Definitely, the summit has been successful, we have achieved what we needed to find. That does not mean that we have found the ideal scenario. It is a commitment, but one of the objectives in this multilateral process is to get everyone on board, so that no one is left out.

In a global issue like climate change, having an actor outside, be it large or small, is a factor that undermines the credibility of the process and weakens it.

I have said for two years that a deal in Glasgow would be defined by a set of agreements that is balanced and reflects the concerns of the nearly 200 countries involved. When we talk about climate change, thinking that we are going to solve it with one or two decisions is impossible.

So we can leave satisfied, (although) we know that this is the beginning of another stage of very hard work.

Q: In what areas did you expect more progress?

A: Of course, there was an acknowledgment that it is disappointing that the $100 billion to be mobilized by 2020 has not become a reality. There we see an area where unfortunately we did not achieve what we would have liked to find.
In mitigation we have worked hard, encouraging governments to review their plans (to reduce emissions) and increase their levels of ambition. And they have, but not enough.

Q: Conversely, have agreements been reached that have exceeded your expectations?

A: Coal and fossil fuel subsidies has been an issue that we had not incorporated into our process until now, it is progress. The text is not ideal, there is not a clear commitment as we would have liked, but there are probably some countries that would have preferred that these issues did not appear.

Q: Precisely the most dramatic moment of the conference was the amendment that India presented at the last minute to reduce the commitment on coal. How did you experience that moment that took most of the delegations by surprise?

A: Fossil fuels and coal have been a controversial topic since the conference began. At the time of presenting these documents and beginning to receive comments, as expected, there were several countries that said that mention concerned them and that they would like to modify the text.

The president (of COP26) called for the text not to be opened in order to reserve a balance, since it was very delicate in all the components of the package.

Seeing this situation of talks and negotiations happening physically there, in the plenary hall, was a moment in which the visions, concerns and realities of each country had to be taken into account.

Q: How to make it known to the public that the decisions approved at the summit are translated into real actions and that they are not just “blah blah blah”, as Greta Thunberg would say?

A: Being able to translate climate change into everyday life is very difficult. But the fact that extreme weather situations are multiplying and becoming more violent and frequent has made people wake up a little more.

I try to approach it from a broader point of view, to say that it is not just a matter of whether it rains a lot or a little: it is basically an issue of water safety, food safety, it causes people to migrate…

And those people who suddenly lose all their bases of livelihood and have to migrate are in such a vulnerable situation that they fall very easily into the hands of organized crime. This is an issue that is threatening the institutions and the functioning of our societies.

Q: How does the unequal distribution of vaccines against covid influence the mistrust that may exist among developing countries that the rich will fulfill their commitments?

A: I want to think that this situation that we are experiencing today that brings together the crisis of the pandemic and the climate crisis is a wake-up call to enter a stage of much greater solidarity between countries. We must recognize that the interrelationships are truly close and if things do not go well, let’s say in Africa, because they are not going to go well in Europe either.

Q: The British organization of the COP26 has been highly criticized for logistical problems such as the lines of hours that formed at the entrances. How do you judge it?

A: I am satisfied. Now, if you ask me if there were things that could have been done better, of course there were. I had to apologize and take responsibility several times.

Organizing the COP is always a huge challenge; it has already become the largest UN conference held every year, and doing it in the context of covid makes it even more complicated,
Here we also had the situation that our partner is the UK Government, but there is also the Scottish Government, and that means that we had an additional interlocutor and between all those interlocutors there are sometimes differences of opinion. For example, the discussion of what the measures were going to be in the framework of covid was very long.

We can feel satisfied with the result, but we know that coordination is always a problem and there were things that could have been planned better from the beginning.

Q: What do you think of the role that Latin America has played in the negotiations for the Glasgow Pact?
A: I would say that it has been a very constructive region, it has really come with the idea that it is necessary to help to have an agreement.

The Latin American realities are very different and the opinions are very different, but I felt, since it touches me a little on a personal level, very supported by the countries of the region.

Q: Egypt will host COP27 next year. What will be the objectives?

A: Egypt has not yet defined what the priorities are as the incoming presidency, but they are definitely talking about an African COP. And considering that Africa’s priorities are adaptation, loss and damage, and financing, I think those will be the central issues.

Source: The Energy Newspaper