The relevance of CHOGM for COP21 was instantly apparent when I met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Summer UN Climate gathering in New York this year, when he remarked that it should give added momentum to COP21, as it will be happening literally on the eve of the Paris Climate Summit.

CHOGM actually ends on Sunday 29, while world leaders will all gather in Paris to give a political start to COP21 the day after.

In the words of Janos Pastor, Assistant UN Secretary General for Climate Change, through his presence in Malta the UN Secretary General will try and help unlock several sticking points that remain outstanding regarding COP21.

One may ask but what makes CHOGM itself so ideal as a forum to lend itself so commendably for such an initiative? The actual make up and composition of CHOGM speaks for itself. It is a tapestry of diversity.

CHOGM members range from the most affluent and industrialised countries to the poorest and the most vulnerable. The organisation represents a quarter of all UNFCCC participant states as well as a third of the global population. At the same time it has a global outreach cutting right across most continents and oceans.

One key point that must be driven home is that climate action is not just about the environment although this remains pivotal. It also has important socio-economic, cultural and even geo-strategic dimensions.

Otherwise why would military planners, intelligence agencies and such bodies as NASA invest so much effort and money in studying its effects and trying to predict its future trends? It can be a game changer because it is in itself an instrument that can bring havoc and instability while turning the clock back on various international, regional and national pro-development initiatives carried out right across the globe.

Unless we accept the fact that it has an inherent existential threat while recognising that it is actually happening now, we risk remaining in climate denial.

During CHOGM world leaders must adopt a yes we can attitude on climate change

Malta’s 1988 historical initiative should be given all the merit it deserves. We as a nation had put climate change on the UN’s agenda as a common concern of mankind. This brings with it the need to ensure that any agreement will be ambitious, equitable, inclusive, rules based, durable and hopefully legally binding.

We need to strive to put the international community on track to ensure that our economies and societies will be at once based on low emissions and climate resilience.

In different ways and varying proportions we all contribute to climate change so no one can remain indifferent towards this global challenge. There are certain issues that remain in need of clarity before a UN pact to limit global warming can be struck.

This is why we met in past months during various inter-ministerial meetings held in Paris. Not to take over the role of negotiators but rather to give added political leverage to technical meetings that risked getting bogged down in cumbersome bureaucratic wrangling that could leave us permanently stranded.

There can be no general agreement that does not address in a global manner mitigiation, adaptation and even means of implementation. Both equity and differentiation need to be reflected in the final text.

CHOGM can help give added momentum to the way we should address these challenges. The reason being that CHOGM brings together both donors, those who made multi-million pledges, as well as the developing and the emerging economies for whom finance and burden sharing matters to varying degrees.

If we can inch closer towards weaning ourselves off fossil fuels we will be truly on track. Because in doing so we will be addressing the actual cause of global warming. The tougher the daunting tasks of the next few days might seem, during CHOGM world leaders must adopt a yes we can attitude.

The recent movement we have seen from the sides of the US, China and other major powers offers much hope that the world’s largest carbon polluters have read the message well.

Tensions will no doubt continue simmering beneath the surface till a deal is struck.

I am confident that given the right political will all leaders attending CHOGM can help make it truly matter to COP21 and even beyond.

Leo Brincat is Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change.

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