Rae Kwon Chung, a UN climate expert and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has told Sputnik that one should not expect too much from the upcoming climate change conference in Glasgow since negotiators at such meetings are constrained by their national policies in this area
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2020) Rae Kwon Chung, a UN climate expert and a Nobel Peace prize laureate, has told Sputnik that one should not expect too much from the upcoming climate change conference in Glasgow since negotiators at such meetings are constrained by their national policies in this area.
In November, Glasgow will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). UN chief Antonio Guterres has already called on Paris deal signatories to deliver more ambitious climate commitments. The meeting will follow COP25 in Madrid, which saw nations fail to agree on a regulatory framework for a global carbon trading system, which remains a major stumbling block for the 2016 Paris deal to become fully operational.
"From COP itself it's very difficult to expect anything positive. These are negotiators, they are really bound by national positions, it's very difficult," Chung said.
According to the Nobel laureate, it is "most critical" for the countries to change the attitude and view climate commitments as an "opportunity rather than a cost or a burden."
"We should do more about changing the perception: emissions reduction opens new opportunities. Otherwise people's behavior will not change," he stated.
Chung is an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) member, who received a personal copy of Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the IPCC in 2007 for his contribution to the panel's report on technology transfer. He also serves as Global Energy Prize International Award Committee chairman.
