Khartoum (Zuleikha Abdul Raziq - Mona Alihimir ) - Ten days after the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change, world leaders showed strong

support for the implementation of this agreement at the opening of the high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Conference in Marrakech (COP 22) on Tuesday.
“Countries have strongly supported the Agreement because they realize their own national interest is best secured by pursuing the common good. Now we have to translate words into effective policies and actions”, said the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, in remarks at the opening of the high-level segment, in the presence of King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
“This is critical to protect our planet, safeguard the most vulnerable and drive shared prosperity. Low-emission development and climate resilience will advance all the Sustainable Development Goals”, added Mr. Ban.
Adopted by 196 States Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last December, the Paris Agreement, so-named after the French capital where it was approved, aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It entered into force in record time on 4 November 2016.
The UN Secretary-General said that the United Nations will help countries implement the Agreement and he called on developed countries “to honour their commitment to mobilize climate finance - $100 billion by 2020 to help developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate vulnerability”.
In his remarks, the President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, encouraged all Parties to the Paris Agreement to implement and enhance ambition of their Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) “without delay”. He added that urgent action on climate change “must be seen as a moral, environmental, scientific, and developmental imperative, guided by ambition, action and equity”.
Ahead of the official opening of the high-level segment of the Conference, Ban Ki-moon said at a press conference on Tuesday morning that “every country is aware that climate change is a reality” and “no country, however resourceful or powerful, is immune from the impacts of climate change”.
Asked about comments made by US President-elect Donald Trump on the Paris Agreement and climate change, Mr. Ban said that he remains “very optimistic about our efforts to combat climate change”. “The global unity around climate change once seemed unthinkable but now it has become unstoppable”, he told reporters.
Now, 109 countries have joined the Paris agreement and Ban Ki-moon urged “all the rest to ratify as soon as possible”. He also strongly urged all countries to increase the level of ambition in their national climate plans over the next two years and he called on other sectors of society to accelerate their climate efforts.
“Cities, citizens and CEOs were crucial to mobilizing political support for the Paris Agreement. They are also among the most visionary and ambitious actors building low-carbon, resilient economies that will prosper in a climate-changed world. Businesses can do more to seize the many potential opportunities”, he said.
Ban Ki-moon noted the growth of renewable, the thriving public-private partnerships working to transform key sectors of the economy from land use and agriculture to sustainable transport. “I call on civil society organizations to continue to keep governments accountable to their promises”, he added.
Sudan is a signatory to the Paris Climate Change agreement and the Sudanese delegation to the Conference is headed by the President of the Republic Omer Al Bashir..
On other hand , the King of Morocco, the country hosting COP22 in his address in the opening sessions said that humanity have high hopes on the outcome of this important conference.. Adding that the convening f the conference in an African country should enhance the efforts to address the challenges of climate change in the content.