Peru's Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal acknowledged the 20th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP20) in Lima is a great chance for Peru to become more environmental.
“I think the COP is a good opportunity for us to raise the environmental discussion, to make Peru more environmental and climate-responsible and also to leave a legacy to the citizens,” he said.
These statements were made in an
interview with a Deutsche Welle reporter on the sideline of the Climate Change Conference taking place in Bonn through October 25.
Pulgar-Vidal, who serves as president of COP20, went on to note Peru’s vulnerability to climate change and its dependence on fishing activities, which is affected by the El Nino phenomenon as a consequence of global warming.
He also explained Peru has 70 percent of all tropical glaciers of the world. So the glacier melting is a problem in relation to agri-biodiversity, due to the different native crops observed.
In addition, he highlighted the adaptation agenda is significant for developing countries, as it’s the only way to address the consequences of climate change.
“For us [Peru] it’s really important not only to have a very clear mitigation objective, but also to push the adaptation agenda,” he added.
He recognized that Peru as a party [in the negotiations] – also has its own expectations, demands and claims, but if countries move forward together, that will not be a problem to reach an agreement. In fact, “that it is the only way to bring common solutions to the world.”
“I think that by working with different countries, with different blocs and hearing the voices of everybody, like the business sector, the indigenous people and the civil society voices, we will succeed in these negotiations,” he sated.
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Published: 10/23/2014