BONN, Germany — The world’s nations have no choice but to join forces to stop global warming, but achieving a legally binding treaty this year should not be the only focus, the new U.N. climate chief said Wednesday.
Christiana Figueres said that “governments will meet this challenge, for the simple reason that humanity must meet this challenge.”
“We just don’t have another option,” said Figueres, who replaces Yvo de Boer next month as head of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Her comments came as another two-week climate meeting in Bonn was nearing its end without much visible progress toward reaching a comprehensive global climate deal. These were the first full-fledged climate negotiations since the disappointing December summit in Copenhagen which came up only with a nonbinding political declaration.
The Bonn meeting is to pave the way to the next U.N. climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of the year, which some countries hope will provide a breakthrough.
Figueres did not say if she thinks a deal is possible in Cancun.
“It is too simplistic to focus on: Do we have a legally binding treaty and if so by when,” she said.
Even if a treaty is agreed on, “I don’t believe that we will ever have a final agreement on climate, certainly not in my lifetime.”
Her predecessor de Boer, who had struck a pessimistic note on Monday saying in his final speech to Bonn delegates that he had given up on ambitious short-term climate goals, said he was hopeful for the long term.
