The Bhutanese Leading the way.
A delegation led by the Secretary of the National Environment Commission, Mr. Sonam P. Wangdi, attended the United Nations Conference on Climate Change Conference of Parties 24 (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland.
The Leader of the Delegation made a statement at the High Level segment of COP 24 on December 12,2018.
The delegation urged countries to be flexible, open and constructive to agree on a Rule Book for effective and robust implementation of Paris Agreement.
Bhutan’s extreme vulnerability to the effects of climate change on account of being land locked and its fragile mountain ecosystem, and the high dependence of the economy on hydropower and agriculture were also highlighted.
The delegation expressed concern over the lack of consensus to consider scientific facts presented at the Conference; and cautioned that if the concerns of small and vulnerable states like Bhutan were not taken into consideration, climate change threatens to derail the significant economic gains Bhutan has made; and may even prevent its goal of graduating from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) status by 2023.
The delegation highlighted the important pledge made by Bhutan to remain carbon neutral in 2009 and the ongoing efforts to build resilience to climate change.
