The One Planet Summit is being held today, 12 December, in Paris. The objective: to secure the financing needed for projects to combat climate change.
The capital mobilised so far by the international community to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement – reached exactly two years ago, on 12 December 2015 – and save the planet from climate catastrophe is not sufficient. It is for this reason that, just one month after the end of Cop 23 in Bonn, the world has gathered once again in the French capital for the One Planet Summit, organised at the initiative of French president Emmanuel Macron, the United Nations and the World Bank. The objective: to leave the day's proceedings with concrete results in hand – that is, with funds that can be allocated immediately.
Around fifty heads of stateand government are present in Paris: those who, according to the organisers, are ready to commit themselves (and their resources) to the fight against climate change. This is why, for example, United States president Donald Trump was not invited: the Washington administration is represented only by an ambassador. But "America is there", French authorities have assured: starting with the presence of influential figures such as former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former New York mayor and founder of the C40 network of cities Michael Bloomberg, as well as one of the architects of We are still in, an association of cities, federal states, businesses and universities that reject Donald Trump's position on the environment.
Alongside him, the current president of C40 and mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, who speaking from the summit stage recalled: "Cities are on the front line of the ecological transition. They will be able to contribute to meeting 40 per cent of the objectives of the Paris Agreement."
How? For example, "by pushing forward the idea aimed at ending the private car in urban areas: I am convinced that we can guide and persuade governments. We are no longer content to think globally and act locally. What is needed is a new revolution in climate governance, one that leads us to think locally in order to act globally. We must allow our children and grandchildren to continue living on this planet."
"Very concrete commitments, new projects and new ways of working together will be taken on at the One Planet Summit," the Élysée assured. The conference's final declaration, however, will be in no way binding on the participating states. It is for this reason that environmental non-governmental organisations – which have been accusing president Macron for weeks of failing to turn words into concrete actions – called on France "to stop putting on a show on the climate issue," as stated by Sarah Fayolle, a representative of Greenpeace, during a joint press conference with other associations.
For this reason, while the world's leading figures gather inside the futuristic Seine Musicale building, the NGOs have arranged to meet at the Pantheon, to reiterate the actions needed to save the world, starting with the abandonment of "any support for projects exploiting fossil fuels".
"This summit must not represent merely a political showcase, nor limit itself to recycling old announcements that we already know are insufficient to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. All public financing for gas, oil and coal must be halted. And genuine climate justice must be guaranteed," explained Lucile Dufour of the Réseau action climat. "What is at stake," added Armelle Le Comte of Oxfam France, "is Macron's credibility: the president has made many announcements, now he must move to implementation."
