Vanuatu will be at the Paris COP21 climate talks

The French Ambassador to Vanuatu, Alain du Boispéan, says the French Government has received assurance from the Vanuatu Government that Vanuatu will be present at the world climate talks, COP21, in Paris at the end of this month.

Since July 14, in his speech to mark this year’s French national day, the French Ambassador has been advocating for every country of the Pacific to be present at these climate talks in Paris that will be chaired by France, with a goal of reaching a new global climate change agreement.

In his latest interview with 96 BuzzFM’s Kizzy Kalsakau, Ambassador du Boispéan has again emphasized the importance of the meeting and for all countries to make every effort to be at the gathering.

“France’s stand is that every country is important, especially the small islands in the Pacific. We are stressing for this meeting which France will chair, that every country is important, not only larger countries such as China, Russia and European countries,” he said.

“Every country must feel responsible for the planet and for the future of the world. That’s why we want this new climate change agreement, the document to be signed at the end of the meeting, to show what we this generation expect for the future of this world.”

“I have the tendencies to think that the small Pacific island countries also have responsibility for the future of this world in terms of climate changes,” the French Ambassador continued.

He said the Pacific area is very fragile with natural disasters and it is important that every country must contribute to this meeting.

Countries planning to attend the COP21 meeting are being encouraged to publish their INDC (intended nationally determined contributions.

“We are waiting for this country (Vanuatu) to publish their INDC document and we believe that they will do it, because we know that they are responsible. We are at this milestone where we can decide to tackle the climate change issue together,” Ambassador du Boispéan said.

“Every country will be there and we have assurance from this government that Vanuatu will be at the meeting.”

Negotiators from more than 190 nations around the world will convene in Paris from November 29 through December 11, 2015, with the goal of reaching a new global climate change agreement. These negotiations offer governments a critical opportunity to craft a broad, balanced and durable agreement strengthening the international climate effort

Technically, the conference is the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). That’s why it’s called COP 21.

The Paris negotiations were launched in Durban, South Africa, in 2011 with the aim of producing a new legal agreement among national governments to strengthen the global response to climate change. This new global agreement is expected to include commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to the impacts of climate change, and provide assistance to countries that need it.

Two years ago, at COP 19 in Warsaw, parties to the meeting were encouraged to submit their “intended nationally determined contributions” (INDCs) to the Paris agreement well in advance of COP 21. INDCs represent each country’s self-defined mitigation goals for the period beginning in 2020. To date, 156 countries accounting for about 90 percent of global emissions have submitted INDCs to the UNFCCC Secretariat.