"Parliamentarians have a strategic and pivotal role to play in building political resolve towards strong multilateral actionm, and in setting the necessary regulatory frameworks domestically," said Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma. He was speaking at a conference organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch.
Swift and collective action needed to address climate change
7 July 2009
Parliamentarians have pivotal role to play in building political resolve - Sharma
In the run-up to the climate change conference in Copenhagen and beyond, the world is looking to parliamentarians to work in committee, to vote budgetary resources to support action and to strengthen co-ordinating mechanisms at a national level, the Commonwealth Secretary-General has said.
Speaking at an international parliamentary conference on climate change in London, UK, on 7 July 2009, organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch, Kamalesh Sharma encouraged parliamentarians to develop the capacity of civil servants who drive policies and negotiations.
“Parliamentarians are uniquely placed with a role in both international, top-down approaches, and in grassroots, bottom-up mechanisms,” he said. “This can be accomplished only through legislators working towards cross-party consensus to ensure a long-term commitment to building the necessary skills, planning frameworks and policies.”
Countdown to Copenhagen
· Between 7 and 18 December 2009 the annual meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
· The purpose of the current climate change negotiations is to: (a) agree the next generation of greenhouse gas emission cuts beyond the end of the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period in 2012; and (b) to agree a wider agenda of action on climate change under the Convention set by the 2007 Bali Action Plan.
The conference, which is being held in the Houses of Parliament between 5 and 11 July, brings together some 100 international parliamentarians and observers to debate critical climate change issues. It aims to equip parliamentarians to hold their executive branch to account on effective responses to climate change in the countdown to the Copenhagen negotiations this December.
In focusing on some of the key priorities for parliamentarians Mr Sharma outlined three challenges and two opportunities.
The challenges are:
· to push for strong action despite the current economic crisis;
· to build trust and strengthen good faith within the negotiations; and
· to ensure that the Copenhagen deal is inclusive and leaves no country or group behind.
The first opportunity outlined by the Secretary-General is that of reflecting the growing concern of citizens for a decisive and substantial agreement on climate change.
“Citizens are looking to their political representatives to show both visionary and consequential dedication to public policy responses and a long-term commitment to climate change,” he said. “Within parliament, you can ensure that climate change is taken into account across all areas of government.”
The second opportunity is in using the global economic and environmental crises we have before us to resolve some of the long-standing development challenges and re-engineer the world economy towards a more sustainable model.
“Perhaps this moment of economic crisis, water crisis and climate crisis will be the moment at which we begin to grapple with what a truly sustainable world economy could look like, and build the institutional architecture to make it happen. That is the opportunity we must create within our current travails.”
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