The nodal climate agency of the United Nations, the UNFCCC, is seeking alternative sources of funding, in the face of likely budget cuts by the United States, its Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said here.
Her comments on Wednesday came a day after the U.S. government postponed a meeting to decide whether to remain in the Paris Agreement.
In an exclusive interaction with The Hindu at the end of her two-day visit to New Delhi, Ms. Espinosa, who leads the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said she was optimistic that the “Trump phenomenon” would not topple global climate action, despite the uncertainty it has cast on the future of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
“More countries have ratified the treaty after Trump became President,” she said.
Stressing that it was in America’s own interest to support the climate pact, she said multilateral agreements were signed by a sovereign state with the conviction that such a rules-based world would help them further their interests.
The U.S. government’s budget proposal which aimed at slashing funds for the Global Climate Change Initiative could lead to a reduction of 20% of funding towards the UNFCCC’s operational costs.
So was the nodal UN climate body fighting for survival, and to keep alive the Paris Agreement it helped create in 2015?
“This is a proposal that needs to be discussed in the U.S. Congress and is part of a bigger package of negotiations. We are currently looking at other sources for financing our organisation. Not only because of this particular move, but because many countries are facing a critical situation on the budget,” Ms. Espinosa said.
Fossil fuels unviable
Governments can no longer ignore the issue of climate change because of its widely felt impact, the Executive Secretary, a former Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister, said.
Making clean water, clean air and cheap energy accessible to citizens was on the agenda of every government and the best way to make this happen was by moving away from use of fossil fuels, as they were becoming increasingly risky and unviable.
On the recent executive orders issued by U.S. President Donald Trump, seeking to reverse the Obama administration’s climate-friendly policies, she said, “The Trump administration has asked the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] to review the Clean Power Plan to make recommendations on what they should do with that policy. We need to wait and see what comes out of that revision.”
The veteran diplomat said the economy of the future had been aligned with the climate agenda, as sustainable use of natural resources was key to survival.
During her visit, Ms. Espinosa met the Union Ministers of Environment, Power and Railways, and interacted with industry representatives.
Read the full interview here.
The article has been edited post publication.
