Posted on November, 27 2019
GLAND, Switzerland (27 November, 2019) - Significantly enhanced climate ambition and climate action must be at the centre of next week's UN climate talks being held in Madrid. Unprecedented levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere mean any further delay will put the world on an irreversible path to an unforgiving future.
WWF calls on policymakers to make significant commitments to reduce emissions rapidly, and at scale, at this year’s climate COP.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of WWF’s global climate and energy practice said: “This past year has underscored the scale of the challenge we face and the inadequacy of the collective response so far, especially from big emitters. We know what to do, we have solutions. We now need to step into the future with bold, transformative climate action. The longer we wait, the worse the impacts and recovery costs will be while putting the planet and humanity at peril.”
Governments must use the opportunity of COP25 to announce updated, strengthened and enhanced national plans and strategies, setting out the emission reductions they will deliver by 2030 on a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Pulgar-Vidal continues:“While our priorities must ensure we sharply reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and unleash the potential of renewable energy, we must not undervalue nature’s contribution.
“Nature must be acknowledged as having a role to play in helping to solve the climate crisis - and, of course, is hugely vulnerable in a warming world. It can act as a solution to the exponential increase in climate ambition needed - transforming our relationship with it is also critical to success. It is essential that governments increase nature-based solutions in their national climate plans to aid the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to protect nature.”
WWF expects COP to finalise negotiations on carbon markets, make progress on technical aspects of loss and damage to address current and future needs; and to finalise the future of the work of non-state actors in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. WWF expects to see the important role of cities, companies, the finance sector and investors, among others, renewed and strengthened. It is a vital component of scaling national ambition.
New science and impressive grass-roots action over the past year has driven the climate crisis back up the international agenda, but it has not yet been translated into action required. This year’s COP is vital to change this if we are to have any hope of reducing the destruction that climate change brings, and bending the curve of nature loss.
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Media contact:
Karen Richards, Media Relations Manager at WWF International: krichards@wwfint.org +44 7775 552592
Notes for Editors:
1. Read WWF’s Expectations Paper for COP 25 here: http://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/wwf_cop25_expectations_paper___final.pdf
2. Read an op-ed by Manuel Pulgar-Vidal on what’s likely to shape the discussions and decisions at COP25 here: https://medium.com/@WWF/climate-ambition-must-be-the-centrepiece-of-decision-making-at-cop25-66e990ce390f?sk=e4214dd13a2950e5186fd60a87bc1e8c
3. Visit WWF’s COP25 webpage for all the latest information during COP25, including political analysis, daily updates on the state of negotiations and key announcements - https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/climate_and_energy/cop25/
4. Sign up for WWF’s daily What’s Hot in Madrid newsletter from COP25 - email COP25-comms@wwfint.org to be added to our distribution list.
5. Follow WWF on @climateWWF on twitter for COP25 updates and news.
About WWF
WWF is an independent conservation organization, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. Visit www.panda.org/news for latest news and media resources and follow us on Twitter @WWF_media.
