Pre-2020 review of Paris pledges mulled: Tubiana

OREANDA-NEWS. October 28, 2015. UN climate negotiators are mulling a 2018-19 start for a five-year review cycle of countries' pledges under a new global climate deal that will become operational in 2020, France's special climate change envoy Laurence Tubiana has said.

France insists on a five-year review and "we are talking about having the first review in 2018-19, before the agreement enters into force," Tubiana said today at London-based think-tank Chatham House's Building Agreement Towards 2°C, Paris and Beyond conference. France is hosting the 21st Conference of the Parties (Cop 21) in December in Paris, where the post-Kyoto deal is meant to be sealed.

France has made efforts to clarify a pathway to the \\$100bn/yr pledged by developed countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the developing world. France has pledged €5bn/yr until 2020 and the UK and Germany have come forward with new pledges. "We are hoping many others will follow by 30 November," Tubiana said.

"We've asked central banks to reconsider their regulatory policy to clearly expose the risks climate change poses to asset values," she said. This partly prompted Bank of England governor Mark Carney's recent warning about investment portfolios' risk exposure to climate change and mitigation policy, Tubiana said. "This will probably create a new environment for finance," she said. "We need to get all institutions to think climate and be mindful of the 2°C target."

France's special climate envoy underlined the importance of understanding individual countries' changing interests to secure a compromise. Climate change is very broad, which is why it is difficult to identify the gains and losses that countries will be willing to accept, she said.

In this complex regime, many other investment signals apart from the Paris agreement are needed, Tubiana said. "Because the money is not only in the agreement, it is everywhere," she said.

"We have to send signals to many different actors so that they believe in a low-carbon future. That's why France has deployed an enormous amount of energy to secure commitments from a vast range of actors such as firms and local authorities."

Paris needs to create a massive wave, a belief that a "new normal" is under way, she said. "We need to foster the belief that the transition to a low-emission, climate resilient world is feasible and inevitable. Only then will people's lifestyles evolve," she said.

"It's not just about securing an agreement to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — it's about changing mindsets and strategies," Tubiana said.