ONU Changements climatiques Infos, 21 juin 2019 -  Aujourd'hui, la Secrétaire exécutive de l'ONU Changements climatiques, Patricia Espinosa, a reconnu le travail extrêmement important des champions de haut niveau lors d'un événement de la Conférence de Bonn sur les changements climatiques.

Les deux champions de haut niveau sont : M. Tomasz Chruszczow, Envoyé spécial du Ministère polonais de l'environnement pour le changement climatique, et M. Gonzalo Muñoz, entrepreneur social chilien et co-fondateur et PDG de la société de recyclage TriCiclos. M. Chruszczow a été champion de haut niveau en 2018 et, ayant occupé de nombreuses fonctions, est rompu de longue date au processus de la CCNUCC, tandis que M. Muñoz a reçu le prix de l'économie circulaire du Forum économique mondial 2019.

À Bonn, les champions ont présenté le plan de travail 2019-2020 du Partenariat de Marrakech pour l’action climatique mondiale. Le Partenariat de Marrakech soutient la mise en œuvre de l'Accord de Paris en permettant la collaboration entre les gouvernements et les villes, les régions, les entreprises et les investisseurs en matière d'action climatique.

Mme Espinosa a rappelé aux participants de l'événement intitule "Conversations avec les champions de haut niveau", que nous sommes dans une situation d'urgence climatique et que nous devons y répondre en conséquence :

« Les nations ne sont pas sur une trajectoire permettant d'atteindre leurs objectifs. Elles n’en sont même pas proches. Nous avons un but ultime en tant que civilisation si nous voulons éviter les pires répercussions du changement climatique : limiter les températures mondiales à 1,5 °C. Nous avons terriblement dévié de notre cap. »

En 2019 et dans un avenir proche, a-t-elle dit, il s'agit d'accélérer considérablement le rythme de ce grand changement, en profondeur, qui mènera à un avenir plus durable. Elle a souligné le rôle crucial des champions et du Partenariat de Marrakech à cet égard.

« Les Champions de haut niveau et les coalitions du Partenariat de Marrakech - ainsi que leurs initiatives - ont contribué à accroître la visibilité et le succès de l'action climatique des entités non-parties. »

La seule façon d'aller de l'avant, a-t-elle ajouté, c’est que tous les segments de la société unissent leurs forces et s'efforcent d'atteindre quatre chiffres :

1. 1. 1,5 °C : Le nombre auquel nous devons limiter l'augmentation de la température mondiale si nous voulons échapper aux pires effets du changement climatique.
   2. 2050 : La date à laquelle le monde doit atteindre la neutralité carbone si nous voulons avoir une chance d'atteindre notre objectif climatique ultime.
   3. 2030 : La date à laquelle nous devons avoir limité les émissions mondiales de 45 % - dans seulement 12 ans.
   4. 2020 : La date à laquelle les plans d'action nationaux pour le climat, nouveaux et révisés, connus sous le nom de Contributions déterminées au niveau national (CDN), sont exigibles.

En l'état actuel des choses, les CDN vont plus que doubler notre objectif de 1,5 °C, a déclaré Mme Espinosa, soulignant la nécessité d'une ambition collective beaucoup plus grande.

Les champions de haut niveau ont souligné la nécessité de mobiliser toutes les entités non-Parties et de veiller à ce que des cadres soient disponibles pour assurer la transparence non seulement de l'action gouvernementale, mais aussi des actions des entreprises, des investisseurs, des villes et des régions, sur la base de données et d'une collecte de données appropriées.

Credit: UNFCCC

Lire le discours complet ci-dessous, tel que préparé pour la distribution (en anglais) :

I’d like to welcome all of you here and begin by recognizing our two High-Level Champions.

First, Mr. Tomasz Chruszczow, who is Special Envoy for Climate Change from the Ministry of Environment in Poland. He was also a High-Level Champion in 2018 and a long-time veteran of the UNFCCC process who has worn many hats.

I’d also like to recognize Mr. Gonzalo Muñoz, who is a social entrepreneur from Chile and is the Co-Founder and CEO of TriCiclos. He’s also the recipient of the Circulars Award 2019, which was awarded by the World Economic Forum.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I know we’re all eager to hear today’s discussion, so let me briefly provide some context before we begin.

In this age, facts are important. So, here are the facts.

While nations have made important progress in the last year, the world remains far behind in the climate change challenge.

Nations are not on track to achieving their goals. They’re not even close. We have one ultimate goal as a civilization if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change: to limit global temperatures to 1.5 degrees. We are dreadfully off course.

We know climate change will impact all people. It will affect some sooner, some later, but we will all be affected.

It will make people sicker, it will lead to battles over resources like water and more. We have already seen some of these things happening. This is a climate emergency and we must respond in kind.

That means 2019 and the near future must be about more than just change. It must be about significantly advancing the pace of change needed to reflect this emergency we collectively face.

Specifically, I’m talking about the deep, transformational and systemic change that is needed throughout society—change that will result in a low-emissions, highly-resilient and more sustainable future.

We know governments can’t do this alone. It will take the combined efforts of all segments of society—including Non-Party Stakeholders such as businesses, investors, cities, subnational regions and civil society.

Together we must work towards three numbers.

The first is 1.5 degrees. That’s our long-term goal, our ultimate goal—the number at which we must limit global temperature rise if we’re to escape the worst impacts of climate change.

The second number is 2050. That’s the date by which the world must achieve carbon neutrality if we’re to have a chance to achieve our ultimate climate goal.

The third number is 2030. That’s the date by which we must have limited global emissions by 45 per cent. We’ve got 12 years left to do it. This may seem like a lot of time—it’s not.

Consider this: the time between the Rio Convention in 1992 and the adoption of last year’s Paris Agreement Work Program was 26 years—almost three decades.

The timeline is short, the goals are incredibly tough to meet, but that’s our challenge. We must meet them. It’s our responsibility.

With that in mind, I add a fourth number: 2020 – the date by which new and revised NDCs are due. Simply put, they must be more ambitious than they are now.

As they currently stand, the NDCs will more than double our 1.5 temperature goal. And that means an extremely dangerous, very unpredictable future for humanity—the recent IPCCC Special Report on 1.5 Degrees made this clear.

This makes your role and the role of the Marrakech Partnership incredibly important.

The High-Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership coalitions—as well as their initiatives—have been instrumental for raising both the visibility and success of Non-Party Stakeholder (NPS) action.

For example, over the last few years, you’ve enhanced visibility of NPS as actors and not just observers.

This has led to better collaboration not only between Parties and NPS but also across different sectors.

You facilitated the participation of over 100 high-level non-Party leaders to attend COP 24.

And the Champions have supported and encouraged the participation of more than 170 non-Party stakeholders, including leaders, for the Talanoa Dialogue at the SBs at COP 24.

You play a crucial role and we look forward to that role continuing here today.

Conversations like this one are important as every single one of you here can inspire each other and trigger change back home.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I want to end by mentioning that you can provide key support in another area: helping bridge the political divide we all face in the pursuit of our climate goals.

We have to—all of us—understand that climate change doesn’t recognize our boundaries. It doesn’t recognize our politics. It doesn’t care if we’re left wing, right wing or undecided. It’s coming all the same, and it’s going to get worse if we don’t do more to address it.

I want you, as Champions, to help drive that message home. Everyone here needs to do the same.

Let’s get on with the how. Let’s get to our discussion.

We at UN Climate Change thank you for your work and we look forward to working with and supporting the Champions.

Thank you.