Discussing climate change with the

Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka

by Jean-Paul Monchau - on 12/21/2014

As the COP20 comes to a close in Peru,

France is starting to prepare the COP21 which it will host in 2015, H.E. Mr
Jean-Paul Monchau, the Ambassador of France explains the importance of
these conferences which are significant milestones in the field of
international climate change mitigation. Interview conducted by staff at the
French Embassy in Colombo.
What was the COP20 and what is the COP21?
COP stands for the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change; the COP
conference is an annual international event which takes place in a different
country every year. The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) will be
held in Paris in 2015.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

was adopted in 1992. It has been ratified by 195 Parties, including Sri Lanka
in June 1992. COPs have been held every year since the adoption of the
Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
In 2011, seeing the failure of the Kyoto Protocol -whose aim was to
implement the UNFCCC, the Parties declared their will to establish a new
climate agreement in 2015, with entry into force planned for 2020. France
was officially designated as the host of the 2015 COP21, one of the the
most decisive COPs of all time! It will also be the largest conference ever
hosted by France.
This year, the 20th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP20)
was held from the 1st to the 12th of December in Lima, Peru. After intense
negotiations, the parties involved have started to identify the points of
consensus and drafted an agreement on the reduction of greenhouse
gases. The COP20 has allowed stakeholders to define the national
contributions that each country must present in beginning 2015, in order to
set the groundwork for the conference in Paris next year where we hope to
form the Paris Alliance which will sign the Paris Agreement in December
2015.
COPs provide a forum for all stakeholders to sit face to face with
governmental bodies, the private sector and civil society to discuss issues
related to climate change. High-emission countries tend to shy away from
legally binding actions for mitigation through the reduction of greenhouse
gases (GHG), while low-carbon-emission countries (like Sri Lanka) feel less
responsible for the current state of affairs and wish to prioritise their own
economic development over climate change mitigation.

French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, Sgolne

Royal at the COP20 in Lima
Why is climate change so important? What is meant by climate change
and global warming? What are the foreseen consequences of this?
Climate change describes a natural phenomenon of long-term change of
average temperatures and meteorological conditions on Earth. This is what
originally enabled the development of life on Earth, without it, the
temperature on Earth would be minus -18 C! The problem is that in the
recent past, mankind has generated such immense quantities of carbon
dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases that the Earths temperature is
increasing much too fast.
Human activity (industrial production, energy consumption, transport) leads
to an increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, in particular of carbon
dioxide. These gases trap some of the heat that would otherwise be
reflected back into space, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the
greenhouse effect.
The consequences of the rapidly mounting temperatures could be
tremendous and terrible. We have now started to fear what could happen in

the future. For example, if we delve back into our ancient history: take the
last Ice Age which took place 20 000 years ago; the average difference of
temperatures as compared to nowadays- was just of 8C. Even with such a
small difference in temperatures, the sea level was an incredible 120
meters lower than it is today! This definitely makes you think, What will
happen if global warming continues at this speed? If we dont change
something fast, then the weather will be more erratic, rainfall will be
unpredictable, ice caps and glaciers will melt, sea levels will rise quickly
(even more at high tide), there will be more natural disasters, and islands,
such as the Maldives will disappear, swallowed up by the ocean.
Is there scientific consensus about global warming? Do all experts and
scientists believe in it?
Climate conditions have changed often and in an erratic manner over the
last 400 000 years but the difference is that now we are absolutely certain
that it is human production of greenhouse gases which is responsible for
global warming. As expertise in the field of modelling is getting better, we
can quantify the Earths capacity to absorb greenhouse gases (through
forests and oceans scattered around the globe). Nevertheless, a large part
of these harmful gases still remains in the atmosphere causing the
temperatures to rise inevitably.
Several reports have been released in the last few years by the
International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They have allowed us to
understand the link between human activity and rising temperatures. 1
person out of every 10 people on Earth is directly threatened by rising
water levels!
Following the present trend, we are heading towards an increase of overall
temperatures by between +3.2C and +5.4C by 2100. Let me remind you
that over the last 130 years, the temperature has only increased by 0.85C,
so, more than 3C by 2100 is very scary! At this rate, average sea levels
could rise by up to 1 metre within the next 80 years, with huge effects on

the lives of coastal populations.

France appears to be very implicated in the protection of the environment
and issues related to Climate Change. How come?
Yes, it is because of the frightening consequences of CC that France is
entirely engaged in ensuring that a binding, fair, global climate agreement
is signed in Paris in 2015, to keep global warming to 2C above preindustrial levels. In order to achieve this, GHG emissions must be reduced
drastically and must be close to zero by 2100. What we hope from the COPs
is that with strong will and united global political action to control carbon
emissions, we can monitor the increase of temperatures and manage to
keep it below 2C. To achieve this, enormous efforts will have to be made
by all stakeholders, big and small.
Even though France already has one of the lowest levels of per capita
greenhouse gas emissions of all of the developed countries, our President,
Mr Franois Hollande has declared that France would engage in real
environmental diplomacy by fighting for the ambitious targets of a 40%
reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and of 60% by 2040 in all
international arenas. Along with its European partners, France will make
every effort to tackle the challenge of climate change. France is in fact
laying the groundwork for its own ecological and energy transition towards
a future of low carbon consumption and emission as well as climate change
resilience.
Many countries have tried to promote a system which could quantify
greenhouse gas emissions, sometimes by imposing a financial penalty on
those producing them, in order to reduce the overall emission of CO2 into
the atmosphere. Has this system not worked? What should be the way
forward?
Despite a growing number of mitigation policies, man-made carbon
production hasnt stopped growing. In fact, the pace of production has
almost doubled in the past 15 years!

Although the world is now fully aware of whom the biggest producers of
GHG are, the debate still persists around finding out who is responsible for
the stock of GHG in the atmosphere: the current top GHG emitters or the
past GHG producers (responsible for the accumulated stock of GHG). As of
today, it is considered that China is responsible of 27% of global emissions,
the United States of America for 14%, the European Union for 10% and
India is responsible for 6%.
Other countries tend to think that they are not responsible for climate
change, but one must anlook at emissions per capita to better grasp the
issue: an average European citizen produces roughly 6.8 tonnes of CO2 per
year, less than a Chinese citizen who produces approximately 7.2
tonnes/year, which is far less than someone from the United States, who
generates around 16.4 tonnes per year. Poorer countries are generally low
emitters; India for example only produces 1.9 tonnes a year.
Indeed, some are perhaps more to blame than others, but in fact no one in
the world, no person and no country has the right to pollute. Thinking in
terms of what you can get away with has to be wiped out of our minds.
We cannot avoid climate change if we all feel entitled to produce a certain
amount of GHG! This is exactly why the Kyoto Protocol failed! Today, the
situation is dire and it most definitely will get worse if we dont do anything
about it.
What are the main sources of GHG? Where does Sri Lanka stand on these
issues?
On a global scale, the main sources of GHG are: power generation from
natural resources such as coal or fuel; then, the industrial sector; followed
by transport (each vehicle produces CO2 and other toxic gases) and finally
one which we often forget is agriculture, especially in countries where
extensive farming is practiced. To this, we must add the ever-increasing
deforestation. While emissions are increasing, the worlds forest reserves
are depleting and the absorption of CO2 is therefore decreasing day by day.

Sri Lankas development of cheap coal-fired plants is a positive move but

keep in mind that coal and oil are the main culprits behind global warming,
and while Ceylon Electricity Board used to be a low emitter earlier on,
pollution from power generation is increasing rapidly. The Ministry of
Environment and Renewable Energy is right in trying to increase forest
coverage as rapidly as possible, but is that enough with private car sales
booming?
In conclusion, is there any message you would like to address to Sri Lanka?
If I could give one piece of advice to Sri Lanka I would say, you have such a
beautiful island, with such a magnificent variety of flora and fauna, breathtaking beaches and evergreen mountains; you must do all you can to
protect the environment!
Sri Lanka must think of creating updated tools and indicators for measuring
GHG emissions which establish a direct link with the increase of car sales
and changing lifestyles. Sri Lanka has worked tirelessly to develop the
country after decades of war; perhaps you should try to make climate
change mitigation and adaptation a priority to protect all of this from the
dangers at hand.
We cannot give up and think that climate change is inevitable. All of us
need to stop placing blame on others and stop feeling entitled to produce
more because of historical specificities. Many countries have polluted in the
past, even more are polluting today, but hopefully, less will pollute
tomorrow!
Solutions need to be looked into and put into action; the investment is
worth it if it guarantees that we will all have a future! It is extremely
encouraging that all the countries of the world are turning towards hightech and service sectors. State-of-the-art-technology has helped us to
develop adapted machinery and equipment allowing for: use of renewable
energies (hydro, wind, solar energy) rather than coal/fuel-fired power
plants; hybrid or electric vehicles and public transport rather than old

combustion vehicles; reforestation to increase absorption of CO2; energy

efficient buildings and sustainable urban development. I sincerely hope Sri
Lanka will strive to be one of these adapted green economies!
International organisations and development partners such as the World
Bank, the Global Environment Fund and even private banks are all hoping to
finance the transition towards green economies.
So let us all work together: every country should take mitigation measures
and then implement carbon-emission-reduction-plans. Every citizen should
think about what he could humbly do to avoid producing more greenhouse
gases and let us see what the COP21 will lead to. Let us cross our fingers
and hope that France will be the breeding ground for fruitful negotiations
and an ambitious Paris Agreement!
Thank you.
Posted by Thavam