The 29th United Nations conference on climate change, or COP29, opens this Monday in Baku (Azerbaijan). Belgium will be represented by a delegation of 140 people. What role can our country play? Will the Belgians have to contribute to the effort? We asked the question to an IPCC expert.
François Gemenne is a member of the IPCC, the group of experts mandated by the UN. At our microphone, he explains that the political situation in Belgium risks compromising the country’s commitment: “This complicates things enormously and clearly, it reduces the ambition that our country can have. On the one hand, having current affairs ministers who will have difficulty engaging the next government. On the other hand, to have so many ministers. It is disconcerting for the partners who see different ministers succeeding each other behind the Belgium box at each conference.“
He adds: “This is why Belgium has relatively little influence in these negotiations compared to other countries of the same size..”
Will the Belgians have to contribute to the effort?
One of the objectives of this COP is to see how much industrialized countries like ours will pay to the countries most vulnerable to climate change. So who will contribute to this effort?
“All industrialized countries that bear a heavy responsibility for climate change must contribute to the effort. It is also a form of reparation for damages. And therefore, Belgium is concerned“, replies François Gemenne.
He specifies: “That being said, it must be understood that this contribution is also a form of investment. If the climate transition does not also take place in the countries of the South, it is certain that it will compromise all the efforts that can be made here and in Europe. So, you really have to see it, both as a duty, but also as an investment. The big question is how we are going to find this money. We know that the pockets of governments are often quite empty. This is where, I believe, we will also have to involve the private sector. And that will be one of the challenges of the negotiations at COP29.“
cop29 environment belgium government in current affairs climate baku
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