Crisis and Support Centre ____Head of the Humanitarian Action Mission ____
No. / CDCS / Paris, 20 March 2015
Talking points
1. The latest climate crises (Vanuatu and Tuvalu; further back in time, the Philippines, Serbia, as well as Bolivia, Malawi and Mozambique and, finally, Madagascar at present also) are a tragic reminder of the impact of climate change on the global humanitarian situation.
2. Population movements in Bangladesh, Africa and the Mediterranean are all potential sources of insecurity, conflicts and struggles in the sharing of natural resources that fuels future conflicts.
3. This observation, alongside the difficulty in responding to the considerable upsurge in humanitarian emergencies, prompts us to promote the humanitarian dimension in debates on climate change, as well as the integration of the climate change problem by humanitarian stakeholders.
4. We must stop regarding certain natural disasters as non-man-induced. We will be judged on such responsibilities if we fail to commit ourselves collectively to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions during COP21. This commitment is today supported by the French Presidency of the Conference of the Parties.
5. COP21 will take place at the Parc des expositions du Bourget (located between Paris and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport) from 30 November to 11 December, on premises with an area of 145,000 m2. A civil society village designed as an area for holding exhibitions, exchanges and debates will be proposed to civil society organizations. It will be up to NGOs and businesses to propose the events they will want to organize in that area.
6. The current debates that will be finalized next December are based on the compromise text adopted during the latter meeting in Geneva. Formal negotiating sessions will be organized in June, September and October. Themed informal consultations will take place at technical or ministerial level between these negotiating rounds, in a small and varying format (20 to 25 representations, yet with none debarred). They will focus on the principal stumbling blocks. The first of these themed consultations was just held in Lima from 20 to 22 March.
7. Civil society, in particular humanitarian NGOs which see the concrete and devastating effects of climate change on a daily basis, will be able to take advantage of various events to make itself heard:
· EU Capitals and Large Cities Meeting on Climate which is now taking place in Paris (on 26 March).
· Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Forum in New York in May.
· Business and Climate Summit in Paris, in May.
· Clean Energy Ministerial in Mexico, in May.
· Climate change event convened at the initiative of the President of the UN General Assembly, in New York, in June.
· Evénement Climat et Humanitaire – Climate and Humanitarian Event, organized in September in Paris with our humanitarian NGO partners from the North and the South.
· Cool Earth Forum, in Japan, in October.
8. The core element of the future Paris call will be the level of contributions by each State of the planet to reducing CO2 emissions. Governments should announce their contributions now, as a matter of urgency, similarly to the European Union. This is also the best way of showing the international community each country's commitment to global security and well-being. (pro mem.: the EU and Switzerland alone submitted their contributions in good time).
9. Support mechanisms for preparing these contributions have been established by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNDP, the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA, created by the EU), Germany, and France through its support facility aimed at certain African and island States, funded by the AFD (Agence française de développement) and operated by Expertise France.
10. This commitment by each State implies that all public, private and association stakeholders help share the burden at their level.
11. It should also rely on the Agenda of Solutions which make it possible to achieve the targets set. France wanted this Agenda to be a set of measures and of achievements to be made in terms of renewables, clean transport and gas emissions, a set of measures also designed to ensure improved population resilience and reduce vulnerabilities. By working on the resilience of affected populations, even as a matter of urgency, we can help reduce the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable populations.
12. NGOs are working on those issues, together with the French businesses that were represented at this year's Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition (DIHAD), namely: Triangle, Secours Islamique France (SIF) and Secours populaire français (SPF) which have gained long-standing experience in resilience, including recently in the Philippines; HumaniTerra, which is capable of intervening in natural disaster situations to provide populations with medical assistance; Electricians without borders (ESF), which has helped integrate environmental concerns into humanitarian action by installing SUNNA solar lighting in refugee camps. Businesses can also help States meet their commitments: GDF Suez and Thalès provide innovative solutions, while Airbus Helicopters and LOSBERGER provide means of transport and suitable building materials.
13. In conclusion, the French Presidency's ambitions is to achieve an agreement that will be:
· Universal, through a legally binding text
· Differentiated and balanced, thanks to national contributions and commitments
· Sustainable and dynamic, through civil society involvement and its Agenda of Solutions
· Significant and powerful, with the adoption of a significant financial component.
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