By Chuks Oyema-Aziken (Baku, Azerbaijan)
The interim Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, American Geophysical Union, (AGU), Janice LeChance, has stressed need for clear, unbiased data that’s available for climate change negotiations.
She stated this in an exclusive interview with THE AUTHORITY at the ongoing COP29 in Baku Azerbaijan.
She said “Well, we’re here in COP 29 because we want to make sure that science is integrated into all of the decision making and the negotiations that occur here. There is so much at stake at this COP and science has to be the foundation of it. There needs to be clear, unbiased data that’s available to the negotiators,
“Very, very strong, legitimate, responsible research. And so we are here to make sure that the parties have access to all of that.
She harped on fairness, equity and objectivity in climate change negotiations, especially when it comes to the vulnerable countries.
“And so we want to be sure that fairness, equity, and objectivity is a part of every decision. We want to give everyone a voice in what impacts them. So this notion of making sure that people in developing nations are not just receiving decisions, but that they are part of the decision-making and that they have a voice and that the process is transparent. That’s what we stand for.
LeChance is optimistic that the second coming of President Donald Trump will not affect global climate change actions.
“He has made some very strong statements about climate change during the campaign. However, we believe that where we are at this point in climate change, in negotiations, in the just transition to clean energy, people are not going to want to go back.
“They understand all of the extreme weather, all of the impacts that have touched them personally. They know we cannot go back. So regardless of the rhetoric that’s being articulated at the higher levels, the reality is that there’s a movement towards justice and
transparency and we don’t think that people are going to allow that to stop.”
