Share this on social media
Post-COP24 stocktake praises Katowice rulebook, ‘Cañete’s baby’
(EurActiv, 24 Jan 2019) In December, international negotiators managed to agree the set of rules needed to “bring the Paris Agreement to life”. But unfinished business and a tight schedule mean that the job of honouring the landmark deal is far from done.
During a post-COP24 stock-take in Brussels on Tuesday (22 January), EU climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete and President of the COP Michał Kurtyka discussed how the Katowice summit went and if it had achieved its objectives.
2015’s Paris Agreement will come into force in 2020, so Katowice was billed as the last chance for the 195 signatories to agree on the all-important rules needed to ensure transparency and reporting.
That urgency was reflected by the fact that COP24 kicked off a day early and wrapped up a day late, in order to give negotiators extra time to find an agreement. “A successful outcome was not guaranteed but we achieved it,” said Cañete.
The EU’s climate chief and Kurtyka admitted that at the mid-point of the summit “the smiles were not on our faces”, the latter revealing that there was a point when he feared there would be no agreement.
The Polish State-Secretary for Energy said during the event that he was only “instrumental in realising your [Cañete’s] project” and that the “Katowice rulebook” is in fact the Spanish Commissioner’s “baby”.
External link
EurActiv, 24 Jan 2019: Post-COP24 stocktake praises Katowice rulebook, ‘Cañete’s baby’
