The climate summit in Paris ends but delegates leave with "glass half full or glass half empty" perceptions
ADVERTISEMENTThe "One planet" summit was an opportunity to galvanise politicians and both the private and public sectors into action on climate change.
But as always the bottom line is money...and delegates appear to have come away with different perceptions on what was achieved.
Feike Sijbesma, CEO of DSM said the the idea was to get the voice of the business sector heard at the summit:
“We create a kind of level playing field, we have still some differences but there is no escape anymore. This is what business wanted: stability, more jurisdiction in the world joining a meaningful price on carbon. This is a great day to get our Paris goals track on track”.
Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation which was one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, was keen to get the involvement of the private sector:
“Finance will not mobilise itself by miracle. Of course there is a sort of movement, everybody going in the same direction, you know that on financial market so the way that there are now many many more green bonds, more companies or investors saying that they de-invest from fossil fuel, it's just think that it's positive."
Alexandre Naulot, speaking for Oxfam - France was disappointed with the outcome of the summit:
"We were waiting for a big meeting devoted to the question of financing for adapting to climate change, ie to help the world's poorest populations who are directly effected by climate change.. .typhoons, droughts, floods. But in the end funding was not high on the agenda.
Reporting for euronews in Paris Grégoire Lory said that Most of the participants welcomed the political momentum and financial efforts announced at the summit. However, many observers have pointed out that the promises made will not be enough to limit global warming to below the critical two degrees.