Climate Change: Alain Wong: “Water supply by 2030 may not be sufficient”

COP22 took place in Marrakech in the first week of November. The Minister of the Environment, Mr. Alain Wong, participated in the forum where discussions were held between decision-makers, experts and investors on opportunities for the development and deployment of renewable energy solutions with focus on decisions taken in Paris during COP 21 conference.

Was COP 22 successful at focusing on objectives?

The main objective of the twenty second session of the Conference of Parties (COP 22) of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was to focus on issues relating to the rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement which came into force on 4 November 2016, that is, on the eve of COP 22 which took place from 7 to 18 November 2016, and the pre-2020 actions in line with existing commitments under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol

How much progress has been achieved since COP 21?

Since COP 21, the biggest achievement is the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change. As at date, 193 out of 197 parties signed the Paris Agreement and 115 parties (representing around 79% of emissions) have ratified same. Mauritius is among the first 15 countries to sign and ratify the Agreement on the 22nd April 2016 at the UN Headquarters in New York. It is historic that the Paris Agreement entered into force in less than a year and it is also remarkable to note that major emitters of greenhouse gases such as the USA (2nd largest emitter) and members of the European Union as well as emerging countries such as China (1st largest emitter) and India have ratified the Agreement.

Unfortunately, according to the recently released United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2016, indicates that global emissions will be 12 to 14 gigatonnes above levels needed to limit global warming to 2°C. In other words, the air temperature is very likely to rise beyond the 2°C as agreed in Paris, and is heading for a temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4°C by the end of this century.

In terms of funding, the Green Climate Fund is now fully operational. It raised USD 10.3 billion from 43 governments in 2015. The GCF board has already approved an amount of USD 1 billion at its June and October 2016 board meetings. The GCF board is “working towards achieving an aspirational goal of approving USD 2.5 billion in GCF funding this year”.

At the level of Mauritius, my Ministry in collaboration with concerned stakeholders 

1. has mobilized a grant of USD 1.6 million for the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) and a low carbon development strategy, and 
2. completed the Third National Communication Report on Climate Change (TNC). The TNC was presented at the COP 22.

What was your main message at the conference?

I emphasized on the vulnerabilities of Mauritius to the dangers of climate change and measures taken so far by the government and stakeholders to enhance resilience to impacts of climate change on society. According to the 2016 World Risk Report, Mauritius is ranked 13th on the list of countries at high risk of becoming the victim of a disaster resulting from an extreme climatic event. Some observed effects of climate change on our country are the increase in air temperature by up to 1.1°C degree Celsius over the last few decades and an accelerated rate of sea level rise by 5.6 mm per year. Global average for sea level rise amounts to 3.4 mm per year, a figure lower than that experienced in Mauritius. The impact of sea level rise was observed on the width of our beaches which has reduced by some ten metres over the last eight years in some coastal zones.

With a reduction of 8 per cent in the annual precipitation over the last 50 years, Mauritius may face water supply challenges. It is projected that water supply by 2030 may not be sufficient to satisfy projected demand, while agricultural production may decline by as much as 30%.

I therefore urged developed country parties to up their emission reduction targets so as to prevent a 2°C rise which will have serious impacts of ecosystem, economy and livelihoods of vulnerable countries. The Public Expenditure Environment Review report released by the UNDP in March 2016 highlighted that the government is investing more than 2% of its GDP annually on climate change measures that represent roughly USD 230 million.

I called upon international partners on the need for support in terms of financial resources and capacity building and technology transfer to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability of Mauritius to climate change impacts as well as to achieve the adaptation and mitigation objectives spelt out in our Nationally Determined Contributions.

How far participating countries agreed on the 2°C target?

The 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2014, states that global warming of 2°C or more would have serious detrimental consequences on ecosystems, coral reefs and coastal wetlands, biodiversity and water resources, human settlements and tourism, human health, relocation and migration, livelihoods, agriculture and low lying infrastructure. Drastic changes in terms of intensity and frequency of extreme climatic events have been observed since 1950. 

In Copenhagen in 2009, world leaders stated their determination to limit global warming to 2°C between then and 2100. To reach this target, climate experts estimate that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 40-70% by 2050 and that carbon neutrality (zero emissions) needs to be reached by the end of the century at the latest.

Parties at the COP 21in Paris agreed to set an ambitious goal of keeping global temperature well below 2°C. After lengthy negotiation, it was upon the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and countries in Africa insistence and perseverance that reference to the aspired long term temperature target of limiting warming to 1.5°C was agreed for inclusion in the Paris Agreement.

What were the final conclusions reached at the end of the conference?

The key decisions taken at COP22 were as follows:

1. Discussions would continue on issues such as mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, finance, capacity building, technology transfer, global stock-take and transparency for the implementation of the Paris decision and Paris Agreement. Parties set a deadline of 2018 to complete the rule book for operationalising the Paris Agreement;
2. A Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency Trust Fund with an initial funding of USD 50 million was launched. It aims at enhancing capacities of developing countries to have a transparent, accurate and sustainable greenhouse gas inventory system;
3. Developing countries would be eligible to a grant of up to USD 3 million from the Green Climate Fund for the preparation of their National Adaptation Plans;
4. The Climate Technology and Climate Network (CTCN) would continue to deliver tailored capacity building and technical assistance at the request of developing countries across a broad range of mitigation and adaptation technology and policy sectors. In this respect, developed countries have pledged over USD 23 million to enhance support for technology transfer in developing countries through the CTCN; and
5. The Paris Committee on Capacity Building would be operationalised.