Ex-UN climate chief doesn't see Paris-type moment in Glasgow

GLASGOW – Christiana Figueres knows however to hammer retired a clime deal, and she doesn’t expect the United Nations league that conscionable started successful Glasgow to extremity with the benignant of large infinitesimal she engineered successful Paris six years ago. But she remains optimistic, saying nonaccomplishment “is not going to hap here.”

Figueres, the erstwhile enforcement caput of the U.N.'s clime alteration program, was a cardinal designer down the historical 2015 Paris clime agreement. She says the negotiations starring to the two-week league successful Scotland person not progressed capable to scope the U.N.’s goals of cutting planetary greenhouse emissions successful fractional from existent levels and securing $100 cardinal a twelvemonth successful clime assistance from affluent nations to mediocre ones.

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Those goals astir apt won’t beryllium deed for different 2 years, but that’s OK, Figueres told The Associated Press.

“From a subject perspective, we’re inactive successful time, adjacent if we bash it successful 2 years,” Figueres said successful a precocious Sunday sit-down interrogation astatine the negotiations site. “From a governmental perspective, it is simply a disappointment for many, and I understand. So I bash not observe it, but I deliberation that we person a work to beryllium honorable and to truly recognize the complexity of what we’re doing here.”

Asked if that means the negotiations volition extremity successful failure, similar the U.N.'s 2009 clime talks successful Copenhagen, she said: “It’s not going to hap here. No, no, no. There's really been excessively overmuch advancement and excessively overmuch has precocious for thing similar that.”

Figueres called the clime statements that came retired of the two-day Group of 20 summit successful Rome that ended Sunday “lackluster.” Still she said she looks astatine “where we are today, which is sizably overmuch amended than what we were successful Paris six years ago.”

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Knowing what details worked to marque the historical Paris 2015 statement and the individuals inactive moving connected the contented makes her optimistic, Figueres said. In fact, she present runs a nonprofit enactment called Global Optimism.

After the Copenhagen failure, Figueres’ bureau spent 2 years dissecting what went incorrect and wrote a 300-page autopsy. One of the large changes was having the league commencement with much than 100 heads of authorities attending for 2 days alternatively of leaders coming successful astatine the extremity of the two-week yearly meeting.

That works amended due to the fact that the leaders tin acceptable the code and person much negotiating abstraction to “chart the course” alternatively of getting bogged down successful details looming astatine the end, said Figueres, who successful Paris besides kept the vigor of U.N. unit members up with evening creation sessions aft astir radical left.

“For heads of state, it is really a overmuch amended usage of their strategical thinking,” Figueres said.

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Before leaving Rome for Glasgow connected Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden called it “disappointing" that Russia and China "basically didn’t amusement up” up of the clime league with commitments to trim greenhouse state emissions. Two hours earlier, Figueres painted a acold brighter representation of China’s efforts and the strained U.S.-China relationship.

Figueres said it was unfair to accidental China was not showing up for the Glasgow league due to the fact that President Xi Jiping was not coming successful person. She said China’s long-time clime negotiator, who worked connected 4 bilateral agreements that led to the 2015 Paris accord with past U.S. Secretary of State Jon Kerry, is simply a large force.

And she said China and the United States had high-level aggravated talks during the past 2 days “and I americium joyously expectant to perceive results from that.”

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