Environmental News Service, 9th May 2018
BONN, Germany, May 9, 2018 (ENS) – “We need to dramatically increase our ambitions. We are witnessing the severe impacts of climate change throughout the world,” said Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change Patricia Espinosa of Brazil, at a news conference in Bonn.
“Every credible scientific source is telling us that these impacts will only get worse if we do not address climate change, and it also tells us that our window of time for addressing it is closing very soon,” she warned.
Espinosa was speaking at the latest round of United Nations climate change negotiations taking place in Bonn. Talks, which opened April 30 and run through May 10, are focused on developing the operating manual for implementing the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.
The accord aims to keep temperature rises this century well below 2 degrees Celsius as compared with pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC chief outlined three priorities:
First, all stakeholders, including governments, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, investors and citizens, must accelerate climate action by 2020.