22 March 2011: Addressing the Stakeholder dialogue on “Implementing the Cancun Agreements,” held on 22 March 2011, in Mexico City, Mexico, Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, said that the Cancun Agreements offer important incentives to develop national climate change policies that can work in tandem with international policy.

Recognizing that the Cancun Conference constituted an important crossroads for the intergovernmental climate change process, she called on the international community to “move on from the crossroads and begin walking purposefully down the path that will both solidify the Cancun Agreements – and lead to their implementation.” Figueres described what has happened since Cancun, and outlined what needs to happen going forward.

On adaptation, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary stressed that “national policy efforts are still in their infancy, although they are urgently needed.” She underscored that national policy efforts for mitigation are more advanced. In concluding, she underlined the importance of the active involvement of stakeholders “from every walk of life” in the full implementation of the Cancun Agreements. [UNFCCC Executive Secretary’s Statement]