UN Environment Head Says Optimistic Katowice Agreement To Be Signed At COP24

The Katowice Agreement is likely to be signed at the end of the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) without delay, UN Assistant Secretary-General Satya Tripathi told Sputnik on Tuesday.

KATOWICE (Poland) (UrduPoint news / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) The Katowice Agreement is likely to be signed at the end of the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) without delay, UN Assistant Secretary-General Satya Tripathi told Sputnik on Tuesday.

COP24 is taking place on December 2-14 in the Polish city of Katowice. The main goal of the conference participants is to discuss ways of implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

"I don't think so, although I might be proven wrong at the end of the conference but I see a lot of enthusiasm. I see the negotiations progressing with a lot of intensity and I sincerely hope that the member states come together to decide and agree on the rule book and the implementation parameters," Tripathi said, when answering the question on whether the signing of the Katowice agreement could be delayed.

The United Nations has all the tools needed to implement the Katowice agreement, according to the assistant secretary-general, who also heads the New York Office of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

"There is no obstacle in technical terms. We have the tools to make sure that whatever the member nations agree can be implemented in all fairness. So I think it's a question of political will so I sincerely hope that they find the political will to come together and agree on the road map," Tripathi said.

The assistant secretary-general went on to call on the global community to follow the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which has said that global warming should be decreased to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) rather than 2 degrees set out in the Paris deal in order to avoid weather disasters.

"It's not for me to comment, but the facts are speaking for themselves and I think that as a world community we really need to take note of what it says and raise our ambitions to do things that we really need to do. Time is running out," Tripathi added, referring to the report.

The issue with the IPCC report came up during COP24 as Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States insisted that the report be "noted" rather than "welcomed." According to the US State Department, Washington did not want to endorse the report, even though it was prepared to "express appreciation to the scientists who developed it."

The Paris climate deal, created within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, went into force on November 4, 2016. It has been ratified by 184 of the 197 parties to the accord. The deal aims to keep the increase in average global temperature at below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.