The head of the Environment Department discussed the results of his role in the negotiations and referred to the scope of the declaration at the local level.
After intense days in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the COP28 came to an end, which was held against a backdrop of the severe devastation being caused on the planet by the climate crisis. On the way back to Chile from a stopover in Paris, France, the Minister of the Environment, Maisa Rojas, spoke to DF about the work generated at the summit and the challenges ahead.
Rojas recognizes that it was clear that this COP was going to be measured by the issue of how much progress could be made on fossil fuels. "And, finally in the text and for the first time in 28 years, although it sounds incredible, fossil fuels are mentioned. And that is clearly a sign that the fossil fuel era is coming to an end," he stresses. He also describes as "historic" the approval of the implementation of a loss and damage fund that provides resources for countries vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
In this version of the meeting, the Minister had the role of co-facilitating one of the most relevant negotiations: the global adaptation goal. According to her, a framework was approved that will raise the standard of how adaptation works at a global level, which is unprecedented considering that it did not exist before.
"We are very much aligned with the Paris Agreement commitments, because we have a law that says we are going to be carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest."
"Given that the effects already exist, we must also take charge of the consequences of climate change and this is done through adaptation. Having a framework that applies to all countries is very important, because it will allow us to monitor progress in a much more systematic way, because we have the diagnosis from all sides that progress is very little and that there is also very little funding for them," says Rojas.
With an orderly framework, which everyone will have to adopt, "it will allow us to level the playing field with the adaptation and that is very important," he says.
Next year - the Secretary of State already anticipates - a new global funding target must be defined.
- What are the aspects that were not promoted in a better way?
- Each COP has its own purpose. The important thing in this case was to introduce this language that we are going to transition towards the end of the use of fossil fuels (...) Someone during the week said that this was a marathon, so here we are living a small stage, but the marathon continues. There is another aspect that I think there was a lot of consensus on is that for all this to finally happen, climate action, we need very urgently the whole global financial system to align with climate action. That is something that is not for the Convention to solve, because we are talking about the banks here, but the Convention can give the signal.
We need this, but this is work that happens on the outside in the background of the Convention and this is also where efforts should be focused very urgently during the time to come. Because in the Convention one can mobilize funds. Countries can commit, but here it is also the global financial system that has to be aligned.
- But are there any important pending issues that perhaps this COP was expected to be able to make progress on, understanding that there will always be pending issues?
- That is what I meant when I said that this is a marathon. The important thing is that all the elements that we need to advance have advanced sufficiently. Probably not everything we need, because the urgency is very great, but progress was made on all fronts and I would particularly like to emphasize that after 28 years, for the first time we have been able to include the word "fossil fuels" in a text, which is very significant.
- Although a framework for adaptation was achieved, was it possible to define goals?
- It has goals, but it also obviously has a mandate to keep working on the metrics to be able to advance the goals. But it has important goals. That's why I say it's going to allow the implementation of this new framework, it's going to allow us to raise the standard and level the playing field at the bottom.
- Are they targets by country or geographic area, considering that they are different realities?
- All targets are global, applicable to the whole world. There are targets for what is called the adaptation policy cycle. The adaptation policy cycle has four stages. One is to make an assessment of the risks that each country has and the second stage is to plan. That means you end up with an adaptation plan. The third is to implement that plan and the fourth is to monitor, evaluate and learn. And then you go back to stage one. That is obviously applicable to every country in the world. What is going to change is what comes out in your adaptation plan, that is going to be country specific.
Then comes the second part, which is the goals by sectors. There are very general things, such as access to water, safeguarding the ecosystem, resilient infrastructure, things like that, which are surely also applicable to all countries. But the emphasis of how much one wants there will depend on each country, so in this way we achieve goals that are global, applicable to all, but still allow each country to make its own emphasis according to its own risks.
Local impact
- How can the statement agreed at this COP impact local regulation and also companies operating in Chile?
- In the case of Chile we are very much aligned with the commitments of the Paris Agreement, because we have a law that says that we are going to be carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest and we came to say in this COP that for that we are going to stop burning fossil fuels. We have a very advanced energy transition agenda and we are going to be resilient to the adverse effects of climate change. Chile is very well prepared to implement all the agreements reached at this COP. For example, in the case of energy transition, it is said that renewable energies must be tripled and energy efficiency doubled by 2030. This signal given at the COP means that the market is going to move in that direction and this should help us to achieve our objectives as well.
Therefore, these international signals are very significant for the national agenda and let us remember, for example, that we are on the verge of reforming the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA), a system that must help us, among other things, in our decarbonization agenda.
Chile's environmental institutions are consistent with our international commitments. There is no dissociation. It is not that we commit ourselves to certain things in international forums that later do not translate into Chile. Quite the contrary.
- Does the fossil fuel declaration put pressure on industries that are not sufficiently advanced on the path to decarbonization?
- Exactly. It is an international call for where we are moving and that should help the development of renewable energy, that energy transition, to happen as quickly as possible.
- How do you take up the agenda in Chile, considering that the SEIA reform is expected to be approved?
- This is very important because it is going to enter soon, so it is a very important project for us as Ministry of the Environment, part of the fiscal pact that should help us to modernize a system to also accelerate our decarbonization agenda, where Chile sees great opportunities for economic growth, which is also in the government's interest. That is where we will be concentrating our energy.
- Is the reform still on schedule for this month? The idea is to match its presentation with the draft permits...
- It is imminent. That already depends on Segpres. We are in charge of the environmental evaluation part and the project of the Minister of Economy is for the post environmental evaluation sectorial permits. And that particular project I think is also very well expected, a great modernization of the State.
Author: Karen Peña / Diario Financiero
Photo Credit: Julio Castro
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