Final day views from the PwC team in Warsaw
November 22, 2013
Dr Celine Herweijer, and Jonathan Grant comment on the final day's proceedings at the UN Climate Summit in Warsaw.
Dr Celine Herweijer, partner, PwC sustainability & climate change:
"What we do know from previous COPs, is that a lot can happen in the inevitable long final day and night. Today may provide the vital direction countries need to do their homework in the months ahead and make Lima the final hurdle for Paris, not just another staging post in negotiations.
"Countries need to leave Warsaw with a clear understanding of what they need to do in the next 12 months before the COP in Lima, so they can arrive in Peru with commitments on finance and emissions reduction to put on the table. If Peru does not deliver this, it pretty much puts the nail in the coffin for a climate deal in Paris 2015.
"We're so close now to 2015, yet the nature of the beast that the climate negotiations have become, means we are crawling slowly towards what we all hope will be the finish line.
"The significance of this summit and possible outcomes have been down played by many before the fortnight in Warsaw began. This was no doubt a tactic to better manage expectations, and it's succeeded. The flip side however is that it has also quelled any real sense of ambition and urgency to make progress on key issues, at a time when progress is critical. Indeed, unfortunately for some countries the progress has been backwards, with some backtracking on earlier mitigation and finance commitments."
Jonathan Grant, director, PwC sustainability and climate change said
"An agreement is in reach but as of Friday afternoon, it's hanging in the balance. An agreement is needed to give structure to the agenda for the climate talks over next two years. To those outside of the UN process this may not sound like much. But it is vital that ministers agree a clear agenda - in particular we need to see ambition in commitments, progress on finance and action on markets. Otherwise Paris in 2015 threatens to be another Copenhagen, and the world doesn't have time for that."
For further comment / interview today and over the weekend, contact Rowena Mearley : [email protected] or +44 7841 563 180 or: