President Tommy Remengesau Jr. will be attending the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany.
The official delegations of the parties to the UNFCCC, will come from 198 countries including Palau.
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COP 23 takes place from 6-17 November 2017 and in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference in November, the Fijian Presidency of the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UNFCCC convened the 2017 Ministerial Dialogue, known as the “Pre-COP.”
The Pre-COP was held in Fiji last week where Remengesau also attended.
In that meeting the countries especially the Pacific nations urged progress for the Paris Agreement on Climate change.
Fiji hold presidency of this meeting as Germany, where the UNFCC headquarters sits, holds the position of host.
Because Fiji takes the helm as the head of COP 23, the meeting will highlight how Pacific nations are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
At the UN Assembly in September. Remengesau stated the need to the full implementation of the Paris Agreement.
“Palau in the Pacific have experienced, first hand, the impact of climate extremes,” he said, adding: “[Climate change impact] is a ticking time-bomb – no one knows when or where the next disaster will strike – but we are a keenly aware that it can wipe out years of progress in a span of hours.”
President Remengesau also spoke of the need of strong multilateral efforts, within the UN framework, to resolve challenges ranging from international peace and security, global terrorism, large-scale migration and many other difficult issues.
The Paris Agreement is a long-term global strategy to keep the average global temperature rise since the late 19th century well below 2C degrees and as close to 1.5C as possible. But with about one degree of that rise already in the system and extreme climate events rising by the year, a faster, bigger and united response is required. (By: B. Carreon) [/restrict]