Madrid (December 10th, 2019) – As ministers arrive in Madrid for the final week of negotiations in COP25, Costa Rica is urging parties to find common ground and increase their overall ambition, in order to address the climate emergency and promote human wellbeing.
The Minister of Environment and Energy, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, reached Madrid on Sunday 8th to lead the delegation in the final week of the talks at COP25.
“We must leave Madrid with the highest possible ambition and a renewed sense of urgency,” said Minister Rodríguez. “Following the spirit of PreCOP25, hosted in Costa Rica earlier this year, we must focus on action to address our climate emergency. Young people and scientists have reminded us that we need to act decisively to eradicate the use of fossil fuels, stop deforestation and transform our food production. There is a significant gap between the demands of people in the streets and what countries are delivering through current commitments and in Madrid.”
Current NDC commitments leave countries far off the twin 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement. Countries must update their NDC in 2020 to present a revised version before the next year’s meeting in Glasgow. This need to revise their NDC is particularly relevant for high-emission countries that didn’t present new pledges this year at the Climate Summit in New York.
Costa Rica is committed to present next year an enhanced NDC that aligned with its Long-Term Strategy. This strategy was presented in February 2019 under the name National Decarbonization Plan and is consistent with the 1.5°C target.
Costa Rica promotes the importance of Nature-Based Solutions in the action on climate change. The world must protect at least 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030, in line with scientific advice, in order to prevent a biodiversity crisis. There can’t be 1.5°C without the 30×30 goal.
“Costa Rica is a global leader in nature-based solutions. Ahead of the ‘super year’ of 2020, we are leading efforts to bring international support for this goal in the UNFCCC process and in the CBD,” said Minister Rodríguez.
Along with other partners, Costa Rica is supporting that the ocean takes a more prominent role during the climate talks. It is vital to have a healthy and resilient ocean to achieve the ambitious climate goals. All climate actions must follow human rights and be gender responsive, so that emission reductions include have everyone on board.
During the last week of negotiations, countries must find meeting points in ways that increase ambition. Costa Rica considers that it is critical to agree on the mode of work in matters of Transparency. All parties should have an equal and robust standards that allow for a solid transparent system to be in place after 2020.
On Article 6, Costa Rica believes countries must agree on a decision that ensures environmental integrity and enables the highest possible mitigation and adaptation ambition, including delivering an overall mitigation in global emissions. The resulting decision must avoid double counting, ensure robust accounting, maximize ambition in mitigation and adaptation and ultimately be in line with the 1.5°C target.
“Article 6 is a fundamentally important part of the Paris Agreement. We believe there are principles that the Madrid outcome should deliver on, particularly ensuring environmental integrity,” said Minister Rodríguez.
Costa Rica also expects parties to complete the revisión of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) and to strengthen it, particularly in enhancing action and support for vulnerable countries. The governance of the WIM will be critical in this process and the final outcome must ensure that vulnerable countries be supported.
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Media contact
Diego Arguedas Ortiz
comunicacion@cambioclimatico.go.cr
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