Discussing Climate Change With the Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka

8/10/2019 Discussing Climate Change With the Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka

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Discussing climate change with theAmbassador of France in Sri Lanka

byJean-Paul Monchau - on 12/21/2014

As the COP20 comes to a close in Peru,

France is starting to reare the COP21 !hich it !ill host in 201", #$%$ MrJean-Paul Monchau, the Ambassa&or o' France e(lains the imortance o'

these con'erences !hich are signi)cant milestones in the )el& o'

international climate change mitigation$ *nter+ie! con&ucte& by sta at the

French %mbassy in Colombo$

hat !as the COP20 an& !hat is the COP21.

COP stan&s 'or the Con'erence o' the Parties on Climate Change the COP

con'erence is an annual international e+ent !hich taes lace in a &ierent

country e+ery year$ he 21st session o' the Con'erence o' the Parties to the

3nite& ations Frame!or Con+ention on Climate Change 5COP 216 !ill be

hel& in Paris in 201"$

he 3nite& ations Frame!or Con+ention on Climate Change 53FCCC6
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!as a&ote& in 1772$ *t has been rati)e& by 17" Parties, inclu&ing 8ri 9ana

in June 1772$ COPs ha+e been hel& e+ery year since the a&otion o' the

:yoto Protocol in 177;$

*n 2011, seeing the 'ailure o' the :yoto Protocol -!hose aim !as to

imlement the 3FCCC, the Parties &eclare& their !ill to establish a ne!

climate agreement in 201", !ith entry into 'orce lanne& 'or 2020$ France

!as oecember in 9ima, Peru$ A'ter intense

negotiations, the arties in+ol+e& ha+e starte& to i&enti'y the oints o'

consensus an& &ra'te& an agreement on the re&uction o' greenhouse

gases$ he COP20 has allo!e& staehol&ers to &e)ne the national

contributions that each country must resent in beginning 201", in or&er to

set the groun&!or 'or the con'erence in Paris ne(t year !here !e hoe to

'orm the Paris Alliance !hich !ill sign the Paris Agreement in >ecember

201"$

COPs ro+i&e a 'orum 'or all staehol&ers to sit 'ace to 'ace !ith

go+ernmental bo&ies, the ri+ate sector an& ci+il society to &iscuss issues

relate& to climate change$ #igh-emission countries ten& to shy a!ay 'rom

legally bin&ing actions 'or mitigation through the re&uction o' greenhouse

gases 5?#?6, !hile lo!-carbon-emission countries 5lie 8ri 9ana6 'eel less

resonsible 'or the current state o' aairs an& !ish to rioritise their o!n

economic &e+eloment o+er climate change mitigation$


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French Minister o' %cology, 8ustainable >e+eloment an& %nergy, 8@golne

Boyal at the COP20 in 9ima

hy is climate change so imortant. hat is meant by climate change

an& global !arming. hat are the 'oreseen conseDuences o' this.

Climate change &escribes a natural henomenon o' long-term change o'

a+erage temeratures an& meteorological con&itions on %arth$ his is !hat

originally enable& the &e+eloment o' li'e on %arth, !ithout it, the

temerature on %arth !oul& be minus -1E C= he roblem is that in the

recent ast, manin& has generate& such immense Duantities o' carbon

&io(i&e 5CO26 an& other greenhouse gases that the %arthGs temerature is

increasing much too 'ast$

#uman acti+ity 5in&ustrial ro&uction, energy consumtion, transort6 lea&s

to an increase in emissions o' greenhouse gases, in articular o' carbon

&io(i&e$ hese gases tra some o' the heat that !oul& other!ise be

reHecte& bac into sace, a henomenon commonly re'erre& to as the

greenhouse eect$

he conseDuences o' the rai&ly mounting temeratures coul& be

tremen&ous an& terrible$ e ha+e no! starte& to 'ear !hat coul& haen in
http://groundviews.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/s%C3%A9gol%C3%A8ne-royal.jpg


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the 'uture$ For e(amle, i' !e &el+e bac into our ancient historyI tae the

last *ce Age !hich too lace 20 000 years ago the a+erage &ierence o'

temeratures as comare& to no!a&ays- !as Kust o' EC$ %+en !ith such a

small &ierence in temeratures, the sea le+el !as an incre&ible 120

meters lo!er than it is to&ay= his &e)nitely maes you thin, hat !ill

haen i' global !arming continues at this see&. *' !e &onGt change

something 'ast, then the !eather !ill be more erratic, rain'all !ill be

unre&ictable, ice cas an& glaciers !ill melt, sea le+els !ill rise Duicly

5e+en more at high ti&e6, there !ill be more natural &isasters, an& islan&s,

such as the Mal&i+es !ill &isaear, s!allo!e& u by the ocean$

*s there scienti)c consensus about global !arming. >o all e(erts an&

scientists belie+e in it.

Climate con&itions ha+e change& o'ten an& in an erratic manner o+er the

last 400 000 years but the &ierence is that no! !e are absolutely certain

that it is human ro&uction o' greenhouse gases !hich is resonsible 'or

global !arming$ As e(ertise in the )el& o' mo&elling is getting better, !e

can Duanti'y the %arthGs caacity to absorb greenhouse gases 5through

'orests an& oceans scattere& aroun& the globe6$ e+ertheless, a large art

o' these harm'ul gases still remains in the atmoshere causing the

temeratures to rise ine+itably$

8e+eral reorts ha+e been release& in the last 'e! years by the

*nternational Panel on Climate Change 5*PCC6$ hey ha+e allo!e& us to

un&erstan& the lin bet!een human acti+ity an& rising temeratures$ 1

erson out o' e+ery 10 eole on %arth is &irectly threatene& by rising

!ater le+els=Follo!ing the resent tren&, !e are hea&ing to!ar&s an increase o' o+erall

temeratures by bet!een L$2C an& L"$4C by 2100$ 9et me remin& you

that o+er the last 10 years, the temerature has only increase& by 0$E"C,

so, more than C by 2100 is +ery scary= At this rate, a+erage sea le+els

coul& rise by u to 1 metre !ithin the ne(t E0 years, !ith huge eects on


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the li+es o' coastal oulations$

France aears to be +ery imlicate& in the rotection o' the en+ironment

an& issues relate& to Climate Change$ #o! come.

Nes, it is because o' the 'rightening conseDuences o' CC that France is

entirely engage& in ensuring that a bin&ing, 'air, global climate agreement

is signe& in Paris in 201", to ee global !arming to 2C abo+e re-

in&ustrial le+els$ *n or&er to achie+e this, ?#? emissions must be re&uce&

&rastically an& must be close to ero by 2100$ hat !e hoe 'rom the COPs

is that !ith strong !ill an& unite& global olitical action to control carbon

emissions, !e can monitor the increase o' temeratures an& manage to

ee it belo! 2C$ o achie+e this, enormous eorts !ill ha+e to be ma&e

by all staehol&ers, big an& small$

%+en though France alrea&y has one o' the lo!est le+els o' er caita

greenhouse gas emissions o' all o' the &e+eloe& countries, our Presi&ent,

Mr Franois #ollan&e has &eclare& that France !oul& engage in real

en+ironmental &ilomacy by )ghting 'or the ambitious targets o' a 40Q

re&uction in greenhouse gases by 200 an& o' R0Q by 2040 in all

international arenas$ Along !ith its %uroean artners, France !ill mae

e+ery eort to tacle the challenge o' climate change$ France is in 'act

laying the groun&!or 'or its o!n ecological an& energy transition to!ar&s

a 'uture o' lo! carbon consumtion an& emission as !ell as climate change

resilience$

Many countries ha+e trie& to romote a system !hich coul& Duanti'y

greenhouse gas emissions, sometimes by imosing a )nancial enalty on

those ro&ucing them, in or&er to re&uce the o+erall emission o' CO2 intothe atmoshere$ #as this system not !ore&. hat shoul& be the !ay

'or!ar&.

>esite a gro!ing number o' mitigation olicies, man-ma&e carbon

ro&uction hasnGt stoe& gro!ing$ *n 'act, the ace o' ro&uction has

almost &ouble& in the ast 1" years=


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Although the !orl& is no! 'ully a!are o' !hom the biggest ro&ucers o'

?#? are, the &ebate still ersists aroun& )n&ing out !ho is resonsible 'or

the stoc o' ?#? in the atmoshereI the current to ?#? emitters or the

ast ?#? ro&ucers 5resonsible 'or the accumulate& stoc o' ?#?6$ As o'

to&ay, it is consi&ere& that China is resonsible o' 2;Q o' global emissions,

the 3nite& 8tates o' America 'or 14Q, the %uroean 3nion 'or 10Q an&

*n&ia is resonsible 'or RQ$

Other countries ten& to thin that they are not resonsible 'or climate

change, but one must anloo at emissions er caita to better gras the

issueI an a+erage %uroean citien ro&uces roughly R$E tonnes o' CO2 er

year, less than a Chinese citien !ho ro&uces aro(imately ;$2

tonnes/year, !hich is 'ar less than someone 'rom the 3nite& 8tates, !ho

generates aroun& 1R$4 tonnes er year$ Poorer countries are generally lo!

emitters *n&ia 'or e(amle only ro&uces 1$7 tonnes a year$

*n&ee&, some are erhas more to blame than others, but in 'act no one in

the !orl&, no erson an& no country has the right to ollute$ hining in

terms o' !hat you can get a!ay !ith has to be !ie& out o' our min&s$

e cannot a+oi& climate change i' !e all 'eel entitle& to ro&uce a certain

amount o' ?#?= his is e(actly !hy the :yoto Protocol 'aile&= o&ay, the

situation is &ire an& it most &e)nitely !ill get !orse i' !e &onGt &o anything

about it$

hat are the main sources o' ?#?. here &oes 8ri 9ana stan& on these

issues.

On a global scale, the main sources o' ?#? areI o!er generation 'rom

natural resources such as coal or 'uel then, the in&ustrial sector 'ollo!e&by transort 5each +ehicle ro&uces CO2 an& other to(ic gases6 an& )nally

one !hich !e o'ten 'orget is agriculture, esecially in countries !here

e(tensi+e 'arming is ractice&$ o this, !e must a&& the e+er-increasing

&e'orestation$ hile emissions are increasing, the !orl&Gs 'orest reser+es

are &eleting an& the absortion o' CO2 is there'ore &ecreasing &ay by &ay$


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8ri 9anaGs &e+eloment o' chea coal-)re& lants is a ositi+e mo+e but

ee in min& that coal an& oil are the main culrits behin& global !arming,

an& !hile Ceylon %lectricity Soar& use& to be a lo! emitter earlier on,

ollution 'rom o!er generation is increasing rai&ly$ he Ministry o'

%n+ironment an& Bene!able %nergy is right in trying to increase 'orest

co+erage as rai&ly as ossible, but is that enough !ith ri+ate car sales

booming.

*n conclusion, is there any message you !oul& lie to a&&ress to 8ri 9ana.

*' * coul& gi+e one iece o' a&+ice to 8ri 9ana * !oul& say, you ha+e such a

beauti'ul islan&, !ith such a magni)cent +ariety o' Hora an& 'auna, breath-

taing beaches an& e+ergreen mountains you must &o all you can to

rotect the en+ironment=

8ri 9ana must thin o' creating u&ate& tools an& in&icators 'or measuring

?#? emissions !hich establish a &irect lin !ith the increase o' car sales

an& changing li'estyles$ 8ri 9ana has !ore& tirelessly to &e+elo the

country a'ter &eca&es o' !ar erhas you shoul& try to mae climate

change mitigation an& a&atation a riority to rotect all o' this 'rom the

&angers at han&$

e cannot gi+e u an& thin that climate change is ine+itable$ All o' us

nee& to sto lacing blame on others an& sto 'eeling entitle& to ro&uce

more because o' historical seci)cities$ Many countries ha+e ollute& in the

ast, e+en more are olluting to&ay, but hoe'ully, less !ill ollute

tomorro!=

8olutions nee& to be looe& into an& ut into action the in+estment is

!orth it i' it guarantees that !e !ill all ha+e a 'uture= *t is e(tremelyencouraging that all the countries o' the !orl& are turning to!ar&s high-

tech an& ser+ice sectors$ 8tate-o'-the-art-technology has hele& us to

&e+elo a&ate& machinery an& eDuiment allo!ing 'orI use o' rene!able

energies 5hy&ro, !in&, solar energy6 rather than coal/'uel-)re& o!er

lants hybri& or electric +ehicles an& ublic transort rather than ol&


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combustion +ehicles re'orestation to increase absortion o' CO2 energy

e

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Discussing Climate Change With the Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka