The Conference opened yesterday in Warsaw with speeches by the newly elected President of COP 19/CMP 9, His Excellency Marcin Korolec (Poland's Environment Minister), and Ms. Christiana Figueres (Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC).
Cutting through the usual soundbites, a poignant statement was made by the Philippines' Climate Commissioner, Naderev Sano, who told the Conference that, in light of the destruction caused by typhoon Haiyan, he "will voluntarily refrain from eating food (during the conference) until a meaningful outcome is in sight".
Positive statements on ambition came from the EU which, among others, called for progress on the loss and damage mechanism, the implementation agenda, and working towards a fair and ambitious post-2020 regime. Conversely, the U.S. State Department envoy, Trigg Tally, announced that the United States is focusing on meeting its commitment to reduce greenhouse gases ("GHG") emissions by 17% in 2020 from 2005 levels, and refrained from creating expectations on improving its commitment.
China, speaking on behalf of Brazil, South Africa, India and China ("BASIC"), said that advancing the implementation of previous commitments is paramount to creating the necessary conditions for work under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action ("AWG – DP"), and further urged for a clear roadmap towards the provision of US$100 billion of annual funding by 2020.
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