PreCOP25 To Raise Climate Ambition Through Sharing Best Practices
With a focus on raising the ambition required to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and adapting to the worst impacts of climate change, Costa Rica opened three days of exchanging best practices for climate action and discussions at PreCOP25. The conference has gathered delegates from 100 countries and more than 1,500 participants and is taking place prior to the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be held in Santiago de Chile in December.
More than at the preparatory meetings of previous years, this PreCOP is focused on the exchange of experiences on possible solutions to accelerate the decarbonization and resilience of the world’s economies. Costa Rica is focusing PreCOP25 on climate science and the need to increase climate ambition. Global emissions need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050 to limit global average temperature rise to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the central goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
“Environmental ambition is profitable. Each country will make its own assessments, in the light of its experiences and circumstances. Costa Rica is a “decarbonization laboratory” which proves that ambitious decarbonization objectives are also good economic business, ”said Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada in his speech during the inaugural plenary. This year’s PreCOP has three guiding topics: cities and electric mobility, nature-based solutions and the blue economy. The conference also has two cross-cutting topics: gender and human rights, and finance. “It is time to act with high ambition. The negotiation process is moving decisively and now the countries of the world need to focus on solutions. We see this PreCOP as a great opportunity to focus on the implementation of measures to transform our development model,” said Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez.
Costa Rica this year presented a detailed plan to decarbonize its economy by 2050 and hopes to provide a template for other nations to act. The country covers around 99% of its power from clean, renewable sources of energy. In September, the country received the 2019 “Champions of the Earth award from UNEP, the UN’s highest environmental honor, for its role in the protection of nature and its commitment to ambitious policies to combat climate change.