Bonn, 15 November 2017: Leaders from business, civil society, Government and the United Nations convened in Bonn to discuss an accelerated pathway forward towards implementing the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the COP 23/CMP 13: High-Level Meeting of Caring for Climate.
Jointly hosted by the UN Global Compact, UN Environment Programme and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, the meeting served as a high-level stakeholder consultation — with a focus on business engagement — to inform the process leading up to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit to be held in 2019.
In the opening address of the High-Level Meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on business to urge Governments to make stronger commitments by 2020, saying, “Be more vocal, be more demanding… I am asking you to misbehave. Make sure that your voice is heard and… that you are clearly demonstrating [climate action] in the way you invest and the way you act as entrepreneurs in today’s world.” Underscoring the importance of the next two years, the Secretary-General added, “We need to make sure that the agreements that are made are fully implemented, but that we go beyond that. In 2020, there will be stronger commitments than the ones that were made in Paris [at COP 21].”
Fijian Minister Inia Seruiratu, High-Level Climate Champion reiterated the show of progress by business and non-state actors to accelerate climate action and called for all actors to embrace the Marrakech Partnership for Climate Action. Reflecting on the moral case for responsible corporate action, he added, “Development is not only about economic gains. Development at the expense of the environment is irresponsible development. And development at the expense of the people with serious social implications is also not responsible development.”
Discussing the importance of corporate climate action leading up to 2020, Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, observed that mainstream business are still continuing with a business-as-usual scenario.” She added: “Global leaders have the power to accelerate ambition and action — we need to embrace a new era of business-unusual.”
The day also saw the release of the Global Climate Action Playbook 2018, which equips business with a set of policy updates, tools and analysis to enhance Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the SDGs. Launched by the UN Global Compact together with its partners, including the World Resources Institute, the Playbook is designed to help business and Governments work together to enhance country level ambition and action to implement the Paris Agreement leading up to 2020.
Kenya through the ministry of Environment and Natural Resources launched the Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (GESIP) in 2016 to enable Kenya to attain a higher economic growth rate consistent with Vision 2030, the strategy firmly embeds the principles of sustainable development in the overall national growth strategy. The policy framework for Green Economy is designed to support a globally competitive low carbon development path through promoting economic resilience and resource efficiency, sustainable management of natural resources, development of sustainable infrastructure and providing support for social inclusion
In 2016, Kenya made a commitment to the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. To achieve this the country seeks to promote and implement the following mitigation activities
- Expansion in geothermal, solar and wind energy production, other renewables and clean energy options. Enhancement of Energy and resource efficiency across the different sectors.
- Make progress towards achieving a tree cover of at least 10% of the land area of Kenya.
- Clean energy technologies to reduce over - reliance on wood fuels.
- Low carbon and efficient transportation systems.
- Climate smart agriculture (CSA) in line with the National CSA Framework.
- Sustainable waste management systems.