Act now to remove roadblocks and lay the groundwork for Paris climate deal, say experts including Kofi Anan as Bonn talks stumble
Crunch time now: the tlatest round of pre-Paris talks have ended with many key issues unresolved. Photograph: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images
World leaders must step into the ongoing UN climate change negotiations, to remove roadblocks and ensure their negotiating teams can lay the groundwork for an agreement at landmark talk in December, an influential group of former leaders has urged.
The Elders – a group including former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, Graca Machel, the Mozambican politician and widow of Nelson Mandela, and Mary Robinson, formerly president of Ireland and a UN high commissioner – made their call on Friday, as the latest round of pre-Paris negotiations ended with many key issues left open. That stalemate leaves only five official negotiating days left before the Paris climate conference, at which governments are supposed to forge a new global climate change agreement to take effect from 2020.
“[This year] will conclude two of the most important international processes of our times [sustainable development goals, and a Paris agreement],” the group said, addressing heads of government. “You can prove to be a historic generation of leaders who will have a profound and positive impact that echoes through the century.”