Leaders from countries and international organizations pledged to work together to pursue growth in a post-pandemic recovery in line with the Paris climate change accord, in a declaration adopted at the conclusion Monday of a climate change summit hosted by South Korea.
The two-day P4G Seoul Summit, held mainly online under the theme of “Inclusive Green Recovery towards Carbon Neutrality,” drew more than 60 leaders, such as South Korean President Moon Jae In and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
“We acknowledge that green recovery should steer our efforts to rebuild the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to limit the temperature increase to well below 2 C aiming for 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris Agreement,” the declaration reads.
“We will strive to pursue green recovery as an inclusive process that reflects a just transition, taking into account different national circumstances as well as socially and environmentally vulnerable communities,” it adds.
P4G is shorthand for Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, an initiative launched in 2017 by a group of countries, international organizations, corporations and civic groups to deliver on sustainable development goals set by the United Nations and on the 2015 Paris accord. It brings together 12 “middle power” countries such as South Korea, Denmark, Vietnam and Mexico.
During a session on Monday attended by Moon, Kerry and others, the South Korean president suggested that the international community strengthen cooperation for achieving inclusive green recovery, while focusing on technology, financial resources and capacity building.
In a video message on Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, whose country bills itself as the “largest developing country,” said that after the pandemic, countries should not return to the path of development with heavy pollution and high emissions, and that they must resist the impulse for extensive growth.
Li also signaled that advanced countries must assume larger responsibilities than less developed countries. Moon, during his opening speech the same day, promised that South Korea will help developing countries that depend mostly on coal energy change their main energy source, pledging to substantially increase its official development assistance for climate change.
The president said South Korea will serve as a “bridge” between advanced and developing countries. Moon also said his government will “carry out voluntary and preemptive policies so that a journey toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 could become a way for sustainable growth.”
The president also unveiled plans for South Korea to bid to host a U.N. climate change conference in 2023. Kerry called 2020 to 2030 “the decisive decade.” “If we fail to make sufficient progress by 2030, it will become scientifically, physically…impossible to be able to make the reductions that get us to net zero by 2050,” he said, adding, “We can do this, but we need the political will and the commitment.” The second P4G summit followed the inaugural one held in Copenhagen in 2018.
Source: kyodonews.net
The Ethiopian Herald June 2/2021
