Christiana Figueres urged progress at the notoriously fractious talks amid a slew of new warnings of potentially disastrous global warming as a Filipino negotiator made a tearful undertaking to fast until the talks yield a tangible result.
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In the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international codename:
Haiyan) Philippine climate change representative Naderev "Yeb" Sano
pleaded at a new round of global talks to cut Earth-warming greenhouse
gases, to take immediate, drastic action.
Nations launched a new round of talks Monday for a 2015 deal to cut Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions, in the aftermath of a devastating typhoon in the Philippines which the UN's climate chief labeled "sobering".
source: InterAksyon.com
Christiana Figueres urged progress at the notoriously fractious talks amid a slew of new warnings of potentially disastrous global warming as a Filipino negotiator made a tearful undertaking to fast until the talks yield a tangible result.
"What happens in this stadium (talks venue) is not a game. There are not two sides but the whole of humanity. There are no winners and losers, we all either win or lose in the future we make for ourselves," said Figueres, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
"The recent very painful events of cyclone Haiyan... have reminded the countries gathered here... of the urgency of coming to a resolution of how all countries are going to collaborate with each other to address climate change in a timely manner."
The meeting was taking place under the weight of many "sobering realities", of which Yolanda in the Philippines was one, said Figueres.
The typhoon is feared to have killed 10,000 people, with Filipino delegate Sano among those anxiously waiting for news on loved ones.
"In solidarity with my countrymen who are struggling to find food back home and with my brother who has not had food for the last three days... I will now commence a voluntary fasting," he told fellow negotiators as the 12-day talks got underway.
"I will refrain from eating food during this COP (conference of parties) until a meaningful outcome is in sight" - which could include pledges of money for a Green Climate Fund meant to disburse resources to developing countries for coping with climate change.
Sano was given a standing ovation.
The UN has set a target of limiting global average warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels -- at which scientists believe we can avoid the worst effects of climate change.
The world seeks to reach that goal by curbing emissions of invisible, heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels which provide the backbone of the world's energy supply today.source: InterAksyon.com
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