COP22 on climate in Marrakech from 7 to 18 November 2016 was the first meeting after the memorable  conclusion of the Paris Agreement on Climate signed by 194 Parties, which came into effect on 4 November 2016 after enough Parties of the Convention (55) together producing not less than 55% of total greenhouse gases had ratified the agreement.

The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States (which had also ratified the Agreement) – a well-known “denier” of the influence of human activity on global warming, sharply contrasting with what had been acknowledged in the Paris Agreement – has forced the American delegation to drop their proactive stance and take a more prudent position.

The COP22 was consequently an interim Conference which resulted in no further progress towards reducing CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere.

The final resolution, which was approved unanimously, underscored the importance of the Paris Agreement, reaffirming “all its ambitious goals”, and hoped that the action of governments will be driven “by science, business and global action of all types at all levels”.

A significant number of countries together with a large number of companies (including some oil companies) and NGOs, formed the “Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action” in whose founding declaration the participants’ “call is loud and clear: nothing can stop global climate action” and they undertook to present proposals for limiting emissions starting from the period 2017-2020, unlike the Paris Agreement which defers every effect to the period after 2020.  This has been criticized by federalists as “contradictory to the stated need to take action without delay”.

Very important and significant was the forthright appeal made by Pope Francis to the Heads of State and Government present at Marrakech.

The Pope insists that the Paris commitments must be implemented “without delay”, otherwise the countries will be guilty of failing in their “serious ethical and moral responsibility”.

The following important points were also included:

• “nations must work together in building our common home”;
• after Paris we must “now go into the more practical side of elaborating rules, institutional mechanisms, and formulating the elements necessary for the proper and effective implementation” of the Paris Agreement;
• these issues cannot be simply delegated to technical experts “but require continuous political support and encouragement based on the conviction that we are one single human family” “There are no barriers, political or social, behind which we can hide, still less is there room for the globalization of indifference”.

Furthermore the Catholic Church presented an Interfaith Statement signed by 298 spiritual leaders from 50 countries including Buddhists, Hindus, Quakers, Muslims, Sikhs, Protestants, and also the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu: a very forward-looking and concrete document that emphasizes the need to move beyond the age of carbon for the survival of humanity.

The United States’ no longer active role has been offset by the Vatican delegation that has tirelessly fought for the advancement of the decarbonization of the world by means of collective institutions.

The Paris Agreement has paved the way for federalist and environmentalist suggestions to set up a world organization for the environment which would have supranational powers and would be given $100m a year (which is the amount given to the Green Climate Fund), with the task of managing the decarbonization process of the global economy, to be swiftly set up (Trump permitting).

Representatives of the major faiths are now in agreement with the environmentalists on the proposal, giving it further impetus.

Also the action of the EU delegation was coherent and in line with its traditional leadership role.

At the same time, however, climate scientists are sending up red flags.

After two successive record-breaking years, 2016 is shaping up to be the hottest ever registered.

“If we don’t start taking additional action now” warned UN Environment Programme head, Erik Solheim, “we will grieve over the avoidable human tragedy”.