Recently appointed United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa is looking to build on the foundation set by the Paris Agreement on climate change, she said in an interview released last week by the U.N. News Center. “We have the approval of the Paris Agreement, which was an historic agreement, after many, many years of negotiations. Now we have on board a huge amount of political will of governments but also the willingness from private sectors, from civil society, from individuals everywhere in the world, to work toward a low-carbon economy, a low-carbon society-global society. So I wish to make a contribution in that respect,” she said.
Espinosa, who most recently served as Mexico’s ambassador to Germany and was sworn in to her new position on Aug. 1, replaced Christiana Figueres. Her predecessor oversaw the negotiation of the Paris Agreement, which was adopted in December at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UNFCCC. Figueres is now running for U.N. secretary general.
Espinosa did not state clearly whether she believes the Paris Agreement will enter into force by the end of the year. “We have, as of today, 22 ratifications. That is, in my opinion, very good news and very encouraging. And we have also the invitation to the Secretary General’s special event on 21 September in order to promote early ratification. So I’m very hopeful,” she said in the interview.
The Paris Agreement will enter into force once 55 nations representing at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it domestically. It would require member states to take steps to prevent global temperature rise by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
