As discussions wrapped up on Tuesday, representatives of countries on both sides expressed disappointment with the process that is intended to result in an agreement on a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) at COP29 in Baku in November.

They will leave the German city with a 35-page informal “input paper” stuffed with wildly divergent views and repeatedly described as “unbalanced” by negotiators during the final session of the talks.

“It is time we get down to serious business,” said a negotiator from Barbados, pleading with colleagues to accelerate discussions before “more and more SIDS [small island developing states] and LDCs [least-developed countries] disappear from this gathering because we disappear from this planet”.

Show us the money

For most developing countries, the sticking point is the lack of negotiations on the size of the new goal – known as the “quantum” in technical language. Governments have already agreed that the new target should be set “from a floor of $100 billion per year” – the existing commitment – and should take into account “the needs and priorities of developing countries”.

Developing countries suggest rich nations tax arms, fashion and tech firms for climate

The Arab and the African groups landed their proposals for a new dollar amount on the table in Bonn – between $1.1 trillion and $1.3 trillion a year for the five years from 2025. Meanwhile, they accused rich states of failing to do the same and refusing to talk about numbers.

“We haven’t heard anything from them on their vision for the quantum,” said Egypt’s negotiator. “Every time there’s been [one] excuse or another why we couldn’t discuss quantum,” reiterated Saudi Arabia’s delegate.

Egypt’s negotiator Mohamed Nasr (middle) speaking with other delegates in Bonn. Photo: IISD/ENB – Kiara Worth

China echoed the same sentiment, but went further in its tirade against some developed countries. “We have been dealing with [a] few insincere and self-serving nations that have no intention of honoring international treaties,” the country’s negotiator said, referring to the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“We have no intention to make your number look good or be part of your responsibility as we are doing all we can to save the world,” he added, hinting at rich countries’ long-standing attempts to broaden the list of finance contributors to developing countries that are wealthier and more polluting.

‘A long way to go’

Developed countries accused their counterparts of entrenching their established positions instead of looking for areas of common ground.

Australia’s representative said the current document – which is not a negotiating text – shows “how much we disagree”. She added that there won’t be an agreement in Baku “if we engage in a game of striking out each other’s texts […] or a tug-of war”.

She expressed her government’s view that a numerical dollar target is “the star on the top of the Christmas tree” and should only be decided once the structure of the goal has been settled.

The UK’s negotiator noted that “we have a long way to go”, as “we are not in a process that will help us get to a final text”.

A delegate from the United States called for a “step change” in the process. “I feel most of what we’ve been doing is repeating views and not going into details on what folks mean,” he added.

No shortage of public money to pay for a just energy transition

Following the comments from developed nations, Saudi Arabia’s negotiator took to the floor again for the Arab Group. “I have to defend members of my group,” he said. “We are being gas-lit”.

It is now be up to the co-chairs of the talks to prepare a new informal document laying out a path forward based on the divergent views. The new paper will be sent to governments ahead of the next round of talks, which are yet to be scheduled.

“We encourage you to reach out to others using the inter-sessional period [between meetings] to discuss areas where you see fertile common ground,” said co-chair Zaheer Fakir in closing remarks. “Up until now we have not seen concrete efforts to reach out to your partners.”

(Reporting by Matteo Civillini and Joe Lo; editing by Megan Rowling)

The post Bonn talks on climate finance goal end in stalemate on numbers appeared first on Climate Home News.

After surprising everyone by finally agreeing to a loss and damage fund at Cop27, developed countries were back to playing Scrooge in Bonn the last two weeks.

They wanted to talk about narrowing the gap to 1.5C but not if that also meant talking about paying more to help developing countries reduce that gap.

After nine days of debate and a desperate plea from the talks’ chair, they and a group of developing countries with Bolivia as their spokesperson made a compromise. It was the worst of both worlds: no formal emission cut talks and no talks on finance.

Small islands were “disappointed” while the chair of the world’s poorest countries (LDCs) said, “it doesn’t seem like everyone is ready to address this climate crisis with the urgency it requires”.

In Bonn, developed countries claimed their opposition was just procedural. But in Rotterdam last year, the EU’s climate lead Frans Timmermans was perhaps more honest when he claimed his citizens “will not buy” the argument that the historic polluters should pay to fix the climate crisis.

As they head to Paris for Thursday and Friday’s global financing summit, the supporters of Mia Mottley’s Bridgetown Agenda seem resigned to this.

They’ll talk about changes to equity-to-loan ratios, debt suspensions after climate disasters, renewable investment and shipping levies – any way to help developing countries finance climate action without actually taxing the citizens of developed countries.

This week’s news:

• After “difficult experience” at Cop27, Mexico leads anti-harassment push in Bonn
• Last-minute compromise avoids breaking point on adaptation goals
• UN head Guterres contradicts Cop28 host on fossil fuel phaseout
• Small islands “disappointed” as talking about emissions cuts proves too controversial for climate negotiators
• Bonn climate talks at risk of collapse, after 7-day agenda debate
• The Overshoot Commission is talking about solar geoengineering. Not everyone thinks it should

…and comment

• China is quick to combat social media’s climate lies – but not when they are about their critics

Another sign of how bad things are is the growing seriousness with which geoengineering is being treated.

A group of researchers who want to cool down the planet by blocking the sun has teamed up with a high-profile group of ex-politicians, scientists and youngsters to form the Overshoot Commission.

Several of these commissioners told Climate Home they are worried about the commission’s focus on techno-fixes to climate change.

But others, like the former president of the sinking islands of Kiribati feel the situation is so desperate that these risky measures can’t be ignored. “What other options do we have?” he asked.

The post Scrooges block progress in Bonn – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

The fraught negotiations in Germany centered on the framework for the global goal on adaptation, an initiative aimed at enhancing nations’ resilience to extreme weather events, flooding, droughts and sea level rise.

Nations reached a compromise on the outcome of the two-week-long discussions, averting the real possibility of having to start all again from scratch at Cop28.

In that scenario – negotiators and observers told Climate Home – it would have been virtually impossible to find an agreement on adaptation goals at the summit in Dubai.

“That would have been a real catastrophe”, a negotiator from a country at the forefront of the climate crisis told Climate Home.

Contrasting expectations

Argentine negotiator Pilar Bueno Rubial said from the beginning it was clear the two factions had entered the talks with diverging expectations.

“Developed countries just wanted to start the conversation, while developing nations wanted to focus on the substance”, she told Climate Home.

World Bank set to take on risk of insuring carbon credits amid market upheaval

A coalition of 135 developing countries, called G77+China, wanted to agree on an eight page draft text that included a list of options for specific adaptation targets.

These included measures to preserve land and water, to protect all humanity with early warning systems for hazardous events by 2027, and to enhance the global population’s resilience to the effects of climate change by at least 50% by 2030

“For us, this captured the conversation fairly and laid the foundation for an ambitious agreement in Dubai”, a negotiator from a developing country told Climate Home.

But rich nations, led by the US, EU and the UK, pushed instead for a one-page text focussing only on the main structure of a future decision without outlining detailed measures, according to four people in the negotiating room.

This option delegated the development of specific targets to future workshops. In their own submissions, the EU and the US specifically pushed for the inclusion of no specific targets.

UN head Guterres contradicts Cop28 host on fossil fuel phaseout

To complicate matters further, Bueno Rubial claimed that adaptation negotiations had been “taken hostage” as part of broader divisions between the two blocks over whether emission reductions talks and climate finance should be on the official agenda in Bonn.

The contrasting positions were clearly reflected in the options put forward by the two sides for a final decision to be adopted at the end of the Bonn talks.

Adaptation struggle

Defining what adaptation is and how to measure it has always been a complicated task. Unlike efforts to cut the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, less clear metrics are available to track the many diverse activities that can be called adaptation.

Measures can include seawalls, air conditioning, early warning systems, improved mobile phone and internet coverage and changes to farming methods.

A session of the Global Goal on Adaptation body. Photo: IISD/ENB – Kiara Worth

The Paris Agreement established a global goal on adaptation, but stopped short of defining its content. Six years later, at Cop26 countries agreed to launch a two-year long work program to solve this problem and turn a vague commitment into concrete actions.

Small islands “disappointed” as talking about emissions cuts proves too controversial for climate negotiators

The body is due to end its work in Dubai, where developing countries are keen to achieve ambitious targets. This – they hope – will in turn lead to more money being invested in measures to boost resilience to climate change.

The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) estimates that rich countries should will need to provide developing ones with $71 billion a year every year until 2030 to cover their adaptation needs. But, in 2020, they only provided $29 billion.

Less engaged

A negotiator from a developing country group claimed adaptation is less of a problem for rich nations so they appear to be less engaged in the talks.

In Bonn, the rift reached boiling point in the final meeting of the body tasked with sketching out the framework. In what observers described as a heated exchange, countries were unable to reach an agreement and stared at the possibility of ending the talks without any formal resolution.

On Thursday, just hours before the end of the talks, the body’s chairs offered a compromise text in what negotiators described as a “take it or leave it” situation. The document is more similar to the option developed nations fought for but includes – as a footnote – a link to an informal note on the specific targets. Developing nations have hailed that as a victory.

All eyes on Dubai

Mokoena France, the lead negotiator for the least developed countries, said the group is pleased to see a proper outcome, but it is concerning that it took until the very last minute. “Nevertheless we hope to see more progress and successful adoption of the framework at Cop28”, she added.

The Overshoot Commission is talking about solar geoengineering. Not everyone thinks it should

A negotiator from a developing country said he was seriously worried the same dynamic will play out in Dubai.

David Waskow, International Climate Director at the World Resources Institute, said the failure to make progress on the global goal on adaptation leaves much to deliberate ahead of Cop28.

“It is critical that countries agree on an ambitious set of targets for adaptation action and finance must be made much more accessible”, he added.

The EU and the US have not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

The post Last-minute compromise avoids break down on adaptation goals appeared first on Climate Home News.

Talks on issues like reducing emissions and adapting to climate change have continued but the Pakistani co-chair of the talks Nabeel Munir warned that all their work could be wasted if the agenda is not officially adopted.

Towards the end of a two-hour open meeting, Munir told negotiators they were like “a class of primary school” and urged them to “please wake up, what is happening around you is unbelievable”. The room of negotiators and campaigners applauded his words.

Munir said 33 million people had been impacted by floods in Pakistan last year, worsened by the climate crisis. “A third of the country [is] under water and I go back and tell my people that we were fighting for agenda for 2 weeks. Come on, is it worth it?” he said.

The Overshoot Commission is talking about solar geoengineering. Not everyone thinks it should

Urging agreement, Zambia’s lead negotiator Ephraim Mwepya Shitima warned there was a “danger” of losing progress, affecting “the credibility of the process” and “even disrupting some of the critical functions of the [UN climate change agency] if we leave this places without adopting the agenda”.

The Bonn talks happen every June and allow negotiators to progress technical talks and prepare the ground for the following Cop summit each November. A failure to agree an agenda in Bonn would make constructive talks at Cop28 difficult.

The last time they collapsed without an agenda being agreed was in 2013, when Russia objected to being ignored at the previous Cop meeting in Qatar and insisted on discussing that in Bonn.

Finance split

Developed countries and some developing nations are split on how prominent to make climate finance on the agenda.

A group of developing countries want an agenda item on “urgently scaling up financial support from developed country parties” to be added.

Rich world’s leaders fail to commit to Paris global financing summit

But developed countries and some more climate vulnerable developing ones oppose this, arguing that the agenda item was proposed too late and that finance is discussed elsewhere in climate talks.

This second group wants an agenda item on talks, known as the mitigation work programme, to reduce emissions to give the world a better chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C. But the first group opposes this, without their agenda item being included.

The push

Bolivian negotiator Diego Pacheco, who represents the Like-Minded Developing Country coalition, made the first group’s arguments most prominently yesterday.

“In our hunger for action, discussions have centred exclusively on scaling up ambition against the backdrop of broken promises, failed commitments and low delivery of means of implementation and support from developed countries,” Pacheco said.

World Bank set to take on risk of insuring carbon credits amid market upheaval

Speaking on behalf of the G77+China group, which includes all developing countries, Cuba’s negotiator Pedro Luis Pedroso Cuesta said an agenda item on finance was “long overdue” as the “promised finance hasn’t been there since 2009”.

It is clear that there is no intention to talk about financing… Muy despite the fact that on a day like today in 1992 in Rio, this United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was opened for signature, @UNFCCC, let’s live up to it and stop talking nonsense.#CubaqG77 pic.twitter.com/mdbFmkOXtZ

— Pedro Luis Pedroso C (@PedroPedrosoC) June 12, 2023

In 2009, developed countries collectively promised to deliver $100 billion a year by 2020 to developing countries to help them reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. They failed to do so and have yet to reach this target, although they expect to this year.

Cuesta yesterday said the $100 billion promise was a “fraud” and that developing countries need somewhere between $6,000 billion and $100,000 billion.

At Cop28, countries will renew discussions on a new climate finance target set to be adopted by 2024, which is expected to supersede the previous $100 billion finance goal. But negotiations at last year’s Cop27 did not resolve substantive matters yet, such as the exact amount of the new goal.

The Arab group proposed a new goal of $1.1 trillion per year by 2030, while a report commissioned by the UK presidency of Cop26 estimated a similar amount of $1 trillion needed for developing countries (excluding China) to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts.

Tom Evans, policy advisor at E3G said developed countries were keen to see other major emitters like China playing a much bigger role when it comes to financing the climate transition.

The resistance

Developed countries like the European Union, USA and the United Kingdom opposed this agenda item on finance. They said they accepted that finance was important but argued that the agenda item was proposed too late and that finance is being discussed in other parts of the climate talks including the mitigation work programme that Bolivia and others are blocking.

The EU’s negotiator said she was “confused as to why we now have new proposals on the table now after having already launched the work for the session last Monday”, adding that “we have already ample places that we are negotiating on finance”.

China’s negotiator said that the proposal was new because other countries had added items too. When they got to Bonn, he said, a reference to the mitigation work programme had been added, which “motivated” them to add other items as well.

Confusion surrounds China’s pledged climate finance towards the Global South

The US’s negotiator Trigg Talley said that adding a new agenda item in response to an agenda item is “unprecedented” and the precedent of doing this should not be set.

China’s representative said that the other places finance is discussed, which the EU had mentioned, are just “dialogues” rather than “negotiations”. Negotiations involve more decision-making than dialogues, which are just an exchange of views.

CAN International campaigner Harjeet Singh said developed nations were “side-stepping critical finance discussions, thereby evading their obligations and historical accountability for the climate crisis”.

The other nations

Bolivia’s proposal was supported by Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, on behalf of the Arab Group and Senegal, on behalf of the world’s poorest countries.

But both the Aosis group of small island nations and Costa Rica, on behalf of the Ailac group of Latin American states, opposed finance having its own agenda item, proposing to include it in the mitigation work programme discussions instead.

Turkiye joins Australia in race to host Cop31 climate talks

Developed nations like Norway, New Zealand, Australia and Canada backed the EU and US’s position. They were supported by Switzerland’s negotiator Franz Perez.

He said that the split was not between developed and developing nations, as he was speaking on behalf of the environmental integrity group which includes Mexico and South Korea, which are considered developing nations under the United Nations classification.

While resisting an agenda item on finance, developed countries did agree to developing nations proposal for an agenda item on governments plans to adapt to climate change.

The post Bonn climate talks at risk of collapse, after 7-day agenda debate appeared first on Climate Home News.

But let’s hope Dubai is nothing like what’s been happening on the banks of the Rhine this week.

Although talks have been going on regardless, governments have yet to officially agree on the agenda, placing whatever is agreed upon on a shaky legal footing.

Rich countries and vulnerable developing countries want an emphasis in talks on reducing emissions to keep 1.5C within reach.

But the big emerging nations aren’t so keen, at least without an emphasis on rich countries paying for it.

All developing countries – big and small – want to discuss their plans to adapt to climate change.

But, again, for rich nations, that raises the awkward question of who should fund this adaptation.

Agenda talk can all seem distant from the real world. But when things get talked about, things get done.

The last Cop’s breakthrough on loss and damage was only possible because developing countries and campaigners fought hard in Bonn for the issue to even be on the official agenda of Cop27. Developing countries hope finance for adaptation is next.

This week’s news:

• Rich world’s leaders fail to commit to Paris global financing summit
• World Bank set to take on risk of insuring carbon credits amid market upheaval
• Confusion surrounds China’s pledged climate finance towards the Global South
• Bitter conflicts stop Eastern Europe from choosing next year’s Cop host
• Turkiye joins Australia in race to host Cop31 climate talks
• Fake social media profiles wage “organised” propaganda campaign on Cop28
• Colombia accuses Drummond coal mining exec of funding paramilitary group

…and comment

• Republicans’ anti-ESG attack may be silencing insurers, but it isn’t changing their pro-climate business decisions
• Bonn talks offer opportunity to bridge the adaptation gap

And the internal meetings of the Eastern Europe group in Bonn have been no less contentious, as the region talks about which of its members should host next year’s Cop.

Bulgaria has put itself forward but Russia says, because of the EU’s support for Ukraine, they will veto any EU member state.

Luckily, two non-EU states have thrown their hat in the ring. Unluckily, those two are Azerbaijan and Armenia, who were recently at war with each other and are likely to veto each other.

If the group can’t agree, there are three possible solutions: the talks could be in Bonn, the UAE could host again or Australia or Turkiye – who are bidding for Cop31 – could swap turns with the Eastern Europe group.

The post Bonn’s battles – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

The state department confirmed to Climate Home News that Obama appointee Shannon would represent the US at the high-level segment of the UN COP23 talks in Bonn, Germany next month.

It will be the first rejoining of climate negotiators since Trump announced the US planned to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, which the US signed along with almost 200 other nations in 2015.

In 2015, Shannon called climate change “one of the world’s great challenges”. In 2016, he gave interviews in the Indian press in which he called for the south Asian nation to speedily ratify the Paris deal.

All the COP23 news: Not just Donald Trump! Climate Home will be taking its largest ever team to the climate talks in Bonn. Sign up for our daily newsletter from the meeting

But the administration Shannon now represents holds a different view on climate change and Paris. Shannon’s immediate boss, Rex Tillerson is the former CEO of ExxonMobil who wrongly told his senate confirmation hearing that the ability of scientists to predict the global effects of greenhouse pollution was “very limited”.

Tillerson did argue Trump should keep the US inside the Paris deal, in order to protect US interests.

In 2015, the Paris climate conference was attended by president Barack Obama. Last year, days after Trump’s election victory, then US secretary of state John Kerry attended the climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco.

In an emotional speech, Kerry said: “No-one, no-one should doubt the overwhelming majority of citizens of the United States who know climate change is happening and who are determined to keep our commitments that were made in Paris.”

While the US commitment to the UN climate process is certainly reduced, the simple fact of a lower level diplomat attending this year’s conference is not of itself unusual. The 2017 edition of the talks are billed to be more procedural than some previous years and may therefore attract fewer heads of state and ministers.

The post US climate talks delegation to be led by under secretary Thomas Shannon appeared first on Climate Home News.

In the past fortnight, UN negotiators continued writing the rules for an agreement designed to change the global energy system. At the same time, they have been faced with the potential withdrawal of the US – the world’s largest economy – from that process.

“The ball is being passed to Fiji this year at a very critical time,” said Bainimarama, whose tiny island nation will not actually host the next meeting. Instead talks will recommence in Bonn later this year, presided over by the Fijians.

Despite the inevitably more inclement weather, Bainimarama promised the meeting would be infused with a Fijian spirit of “inclusiveness, friendliness and solidarity”.

You can also be sure the islanders will highlight how exposed they are to the increasingly intense cyclones, rising sea levels and acidifying oceans that come with global warming.

“We who are most vulnerable must be heard,” said Bainimarama, making a point to include residents of Miami and New York in a list of those in peril. “We must speak out for the whole world – every global citizen – because no-one, no matter who they are or where they live, will ultimately escape the impact of climate change.”

Report: Directionless, US climate negotiators head to UN talks

When negotiators reconvened in Bonn last Monday, the session was predicted to be – depending on whom you asked – dull as a day with no sun or total mayhem.

US president Donald Trump was fulminating in the White House over whether to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement. The US team, for years a lynchpin of the negotiations, was arriving with no mandate.

And yet, when the plenary hall filled up last Monday morning, with media standing at the back like vultures waiting for a battle, nothing much happened. The great cogs of a process that has run for more than two decades clunked back into gear and the whole show creaked on.

In the world outside, a cascade of announcements bolstered the political, legal and economic case for the Paris accord.

Trump’s imminent decision was addressed in the first call from France’s newly elected president Emmanuel Macron. He was quickly joined by China’s president Xi Jinping. India’s energy minister also reaffirmed that critical nation’s commitment to the deal.

The business community across the world, especially in the US, rallied. Corporations, many of whose leaders sit on Trump’s business council, took out letters in major newspapers urging Trump to remain within the agreement.

In Bonn, the head of the UN’s climate secretariat Patricia Espinosa told the press that the Paris agreement, and the process itself, had “an incredible amount of support”, evinced by the number of ratifications on the books – now 146 out of 197 parties.

Meanwhile, delegates warned darkly of diplomatic and trade consequences for the US if they did upset the apple cart.

To the extent that he might withdraw from the process during the meeting in Bonn, the Trump threat had all been a merry dance. By last Tuesday, news had come from Washington DC that the president would put off the Paris decision until after the G7 in late May.

Report: India reaffirms Paris climate commitments

On Thursday, as the second week of talks wrapped up, observers were satisfied the train remained on the rails. Two weeks of technical discussions ultimately threw up little political dust.

Thoriq Ibrahim, environment minister for the Maldives and chair of the Small Island States negotiating bloc said in a statement: “Even with uncertain politics hanging over the meeting here, the international community showed it is determined to press on.”

NGOs, who coordinate their messaging carefully around these talks, were all on song.

“We’ve seen about as much progress here as you could reasonably expect in the best circumstances,” said Elliot Diringer, executive vice president of the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, a US NGO. “The process is proving remarkably resilient.”

Former French diplomat Laurence Tubiana, who helped to craft the Paris accord and now leads the European Climate Foundation said: “The Bonn negotiations have shown that countries remain committed to international collaboration, and that they will advance the Paris Agreement no matter what.”

Tubiana noted that leaders of the G7 – including Trump – would soon gather in Italy and it had been important to demonstrate that the world was aligned on climate action. “The signal coming out of Bonn is clear: it is in the interest of all countries to commit to the Paris Agreement, and to work together to ensure its implementation,” she said.

Report: Trump warned leaving Paris accord risks bad deals at G7, G20

Yet the spectre of US withdrawal – or for that matter continued participation – is not irrelevant. Negotiators told Climate Home that contingencies for a US withdrawal were being discussed “in the margins”, if not openly in meetings. “No-one knows how to deal with that,” said one.

In the face of US upheaval, many have asked whether China and the EU – uneasy bedfellows over so much else – could join forces to spearhead the next phase of global climate negotiations, which aim to write the rules that will govern the Paris accord.

But the so-called “rule-book” being discussed in Bonn contains measures around transparency that China has been trying to water down. The US has proven the only nation able to stand up to the Chinese on this matter. As a group of 28 nations that represents a multiplicity of views, the EU is inherently compromised.

Further, limiting concerns to the health of the UN process is to ignore what this is all about – cutting greenhouse gas pollution in the real world.

If the US pulls out of the agreement, “there is a risk of a corrosive effect on global ambition,” said Diringer. He said other countries may be less inclined to pursue aggressive policies at home, even if they remain constructively engaged in the talks.

If Trump stays in the agreement, it is inevitable his administration’s domestic climate policies will be less ambitious than those of his predecessor Barack Obama. That alone could water down other nations’ resolve, when in reality their commitments to the Paris accord remain undercooked.

“Whether the US is in or out, that’s not an issue,” said Gebru Jember Endalew, the chair of the least developed countries negotiating group. “What the issue for us is the concrete action that they are taking on the ground. Are they really contributing towards addressing the issue of climate change on the ground or not? That should be the focus for us.”

Comment: How Fiji can bring climate damages home

The rules that govern that action are to be hammered out back in Bonn in November. There, aligned against the forces of nationalism and insularity, will be talanoa.

This, according to Bainimarama, is a Pacific islander “process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue that builds empathy and leads to decision making for the collective good. It is not about finger pointing and laying blame but is about listening to each other”.

Such a traditional negotiating device – the Zulu and Xhosa concept of indaba – was used at the Durban climate talks, and returned to in Paris in 2015.

At this fortnight’s meeting, there was little to test the solidarity of participants. But in November there will be real political questions to be answered over the Paris rules. Then, with the US position clarified and ministers getting involved, Bainimarama’s talanoa will truly be tested.

The post Climate talks end in call for solidarity, but real Trump test is to come appeared first on Climate Home News.

With president Donald Trump reportedly set to announce a final decision on the whether the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord – which the US helped to create in 2015 – on Tuesday, the state department’s engagement with the UN process has been downgraded.

A spokesman for the department told Climate Home the US was continuing to participate in international meetings on climate change “at this time”. But he said: “Our participation should not be taken as an indication of the outcome of our ongoing review.”

Weekly briefing: Sign up for your essential climate news update

Negotiators from the 195 signatories to the Paris agreement will meet this week to discuss how to construct the rule book for the accord. The Bonn meeting, a regular mid-year fixture, is generally a technical affair. But this year the gathering has been politically charged by Trump’s imminent decision.

“The US delegation to these meetings will be much smaller this year than in recent years,” said the spokesman. There were just seven registered US officials on the UN’s list of participants – Algeria sent twice that number.  The US delegation has previously been one of, if not the, largest contingents of diplomats from any single country.

The role of US negotiators in Bonn is set to be little more than a watchdog for what the White House has defined as US interests, which are now unaligned to the global effort to stave off dangerous climate change.

“We are focused on ensuring that decisions are not taken at these meetings that would prejudice our future policy, undermine the competitiveness of US businesses, or hamper our broader objective of advancing US economic growth and prosperity,” the state department spokesman said.

The delegation will be led by Trigg Talley, a senior diplomat who has lead climate negotiating teams for the state department at previous meetings. Like Talley, many current state department staff were among those who worked to create the Paris agreement.

Trump’s decision on that accord – if it were to come on Tuesday – would land in the first week of climate talks, just as his election occurred in the first week of the last major talks in Marrakech. Like his surprise win in November, a withdrawal would throw the talks into confusion.

Trump has repeatedly criticised the Paris deal for being a drag on the US economy and a job killer.

Reports citing sources within the White House have said the upper hand in an arm wrestle between advisors over the agreement has swung toward taking the US out of the agreement.

Karl Mathiesen will be attending the Bonn climate talks. Follow him on twitter @karlmathiesen and email tips to km@climatehome.org

The post US sends “much smaller” team to climate talks in Bonn appeared first on Climate Home News.

Under the multilateral assessment part of the UN climate process, negotiators have a chance to question developed countries’ emission reduction plans.

On Thursday, the US answers were posted to the UN website. US officials will also take oral questions at climate talks in Bonn, Germany on Monday.

Report: Directionless, US climate negotiators head to UN talks

When asked by China how the US planned to meet its 2020 targets after the Trump administration had scrapped Barack Obama’s clean power plan – which was affecting emissions even before it came into force – the US said only: “The Administration is reviewing existing policies and regulations in the context of a focus on strengthening US economic growth and promoting jobs for American workers, and will not support policies or regulations that have adverse effects on energy independence and US competitiveness.”

This stock phrase was deployed throughout the document, including to a question posed by Brazil on how the US planned to increase its ambition over time.

China asked whether the US had plans to deploy a market mechanism – a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme – to meet its 2020 target. The US responded in one word: “No.”

Former US government officials told Climate Home this week that US climate negotiators were flying into Bonn with little guidance on their position at the talks.

Sbi46 Usa Questionsandanswers by Karl Mathiesen on Scribd

President Donald Trump is reviewing US participation in the Paris climate agreement. During the 2016 election, he campaigned on a platform that blamed Obama’s climate change commitments for the slow death of the US coal industry. This has been refuted repeatedly by economists.

On Thursday, UN environment chief Erik Solheim told Reuters the US would lose jobs if it withdrew from the Paris accord or pulled back from clean energy technologies: “There is no doubt where the future is and that is what all the private sector companies have understood… The future is green.

“Obviously if you are not a party to the Paris agreement, you will lose out. And the main losers of course will be the people of the United States itself because all the interesting, fascinating new green jobs would go to China and to the other parts of the world that are investing heavily in this.”

The post US to UN: jobs come before carbon cuts appeared first on Climate Home News.

The post Podcast: What did we learn from last week’s UN climate talks? appeared first on Climate Home News.

Christiana Figueres and Laurence Tubiana give a press conference (Flickr/UNclimatechange)

By Ed King

There is no secret text in the making for a UN climate deal in the making. The 55-pager published last Friday is all there is. Get on with it.

France’s chief climate diplomat Laurence Tubiana could not have been clearer: “There is no plan B,” she told media at the end of a gruelling week of negotiations between 195 countries in Bonn.

“I can’t be more explicit than I have been all along the week.. I don’t think parties should shy away from responsibilities. We don’t need another text… we don’t need to invest in a new one.”

In most other arenas having a backup plan is a good idea. In the context of the global UN climate talks it’s the worst one possible.

Six years ago Denmark, hosts of the 2009 Copenhagen summit, screwed up years of careful diplomacy and the prospects of a deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions by working on a secret plan with a few countries.

Those left out were incensed. The meeting descended into acrimony.

Tubiana – an advisor to one of the UN’s top officials at that meeting – saw at close hand that trust between all parties is the essential ingredient for any proposed pact.

And so the French government has adopted a win-or-nothing approach for Paris. With strong emphasis on winning.

Report: UN calls for ministers as climate talks head for Paris

After last week’s talks there’s now a 51-page document containing a set of proposals agreed by all countries taking part.

That’s not to say they’re nearing consensus on what a deal will look like. Far from it, according to Alden Meyer from the US Union of Concerned Scientists, who was in Bonn last week.

“For some of the toughest issues, such as ramping up climate finance for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries, as well as helping vulnerable countries cope with increasingly severe climate change impacts, little or no progress was made,” he said.

There is a fine line between charting as path for all countries to a low carbon future and ensuring poorer, vulnerable states are offered as much help as possible if and when they are hit by projected extreme weather events.

The 134-strong G77 + China bloc of developing countries wants more evidence there’s cash in the pipeline to hit goals outlined in climate plans and protect their communities from future extreme weather events.

They also want a plan for irreversible loss and damage linked to carbon emissions to be enshrined in a Paris deal. Wealthier nations fear this is a trojan horse for huge compensation claims.

Known as loss and damage, it’s a divisive, contested issue and will be a bargaining chip when the December summit opens.

Be serious

But this, argued Tubiana, is exactly why there are these discussions.

Otherwise we would all be home drinking hot chocolate and not worrying about average temperatures blowing the 2C above pre-industrial levels threshold.

Now it’s time for countries “to be serious and engage in real negotiation” she warned. “The point is the negotiators did not make compromises here. They wait for the final moment clearly. That’s how this process works.”

Speaking to reporters from Washington DC on a Friday evening conference call, lead US envoy Todd Stern said he was not “at all worried or concerned”. The text would be “refined and shrunk” he said.

Some expressed concern at the lack of time. An envoy from Barbados declared himself “not encouraged”. Hope springs eternal, he added gloomily.

Mexico envoy Roberto Dondisch cited Hurricane Patricia as evidence the frog was already in the boiling water. “I don’t think I need to say more about the urgency to get this deal done,” he said in an emotional address.

Russia’s Oleg Shamanov called for an extra session of talks. “The most experienced lawyers on this Earth would not be in a position to interpret this text,” he said.

That request was not backed by the other 194 countries in Bonn. Instead ministers from those governments will try working their way through the heavily bracketed text at a 8-10 November meeting in Paris.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: It’s (not) all these climate negotiators are asking

Amid the gloom there are some green shoots. Despite an overwhelming narrative of developed v developing countries some small yet extraordinary alliances across the divide developed last week.

One – made up of Australia, Brazil, China, European Union, LDCs, Marshall Islands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the US – submitted a proposal relating to the communication of greenhouse gas cuts now and in the future.

Another involving 47 countries offered thoughts on how carbon markets could be used to tackle global warming. The US, South Africa, EU, Brazil, Kenya and Togo were among those involved, as was Bolivia, long an opponent to all types of markets.

“The diversity of the countries represented here is unusual for the process and makes it more likely that this proposal will continue to be referred to in Paris,” said Jeff Swartz, head of policy at the International Emissions Trading Association.

“Whenever you’ve seen good outcomes [here] it’s because an odd bunch of countries have got together, and that’s happening here,” said Liz Gallagher, head of climate diplomacy at the E3G think tank.

There’s also the huge political investment many world leaders have made in this process to think of. US president Barack Obama doesn’t go for a few days now without mentioning climate change.

France’s desire for a Paris deal is a given, but China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi have also talked tough on the need to curb emissions while ensuring their economies grow.

Australia’s climate sceptic PM Tony Abbott is gone, while incoming Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said last week the country’s days as a climate villain were “behind us”.

The price of renewables continues to fall, air pollution concerns in emerging economies dependent on coal continues to rise. Even the head of ExxonMobil is offering his views on a way forward – make of that what you will.

Tight timeline

Still – Everest awaits. The number of brackets surrounding words or phrases indicates there is no agreement, and this currently stands at 1500.

Last week’s talks ensured a “critical first step” had been taken said Gurdial Singh, a Malaysian diplomat who speaks for a group of oil-reliant states including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The credibility of the UN process had been “restored” he added.

A fundamental task for countries in Paris will be to try and connect the positivity about climate action outside these talks to what is going on inside.

The ultimate aim is not simply a nicely worded document but a strong message to the world that the journey to a low emissions world is under way.

So far, that path may be clear to those diplomats and wonks working on the draft text, but it’s “not very clear to anyone walking down the street” said UN climate chief Christiana Figueres.

“Does it put pressure on Paris? Well…that is what Paris is for.”

The post No secret Paris climate deal in making, stresses Tubiana appeared first on Climate Home News.

Don’t mess with Claudia Salerno (Pic: IISD/ENB)

By Ed King in Bonn

“It does’t end well. It gets extremely nasty.”

It was late on Thursday evening, a deal to tackle global warming may be at stake at UN climate talks in Bonn, but Claudia Salerno was determined to impress on her colleagues this could not happen without her.

The Venezuelan diplomat – famous for slicing open her hand in protest at the 2009 climate negotiations – had travelled all the way from Brussels to be here, she said.

Those 230 kilometres – a shorter commute than most of her peers – were not wasted.

“We don’t want a repetition of things that we have seen before,” said Salerno, before dropping the ‘C’ word – Copenhagen – in case anyone was in any doubt.

Strictly speaking, like Voldemort in Harry Potter, this word should only be used at crisis situations at the UN.

But then this was a crisis.

All of a sudden, Salerno’s role as one of the leading voices of the world’s poor had been upstaged.

Life or death: G77 demands climate finance guarantee

Her colourful, twitter-friendly diplomacy has been replaced by the guile of climate talks veteran Joyce Mxakato-Diseko, a South African ambassador.

Under her leadership, the world’s 134 developing countries have united under the G77 + China banner, and are fighting hard for the financial assurances they say they are owed as part of a global pact.

And if there is one thing Mxakato-Diseko demands – particularly from the two men co-chairing this process – it is respect.

That means not starting a meeting without her, especially not one involving all 190+ countries aimed at summing up what had been achieved so far.

If Salerno had the first word, Mxakato-Diseko had the last. Each word was followed by a gulp of air – she had run hard to make it to the room.

“We – have – seen – some – process – that – is – coming – out… we – must – be – careful – not – to – insert – levels – of – mistrust,” she said.

Mxakato-Diseko made no threats – publicly at least. She didn’t need to. She has a commanding presence on the floor that comes from the knowledge more than half the countries in the world are behind her.

Like the great US boxer Floyd Mayweather, she jabs – then ducks – always resisting going for a knockout – effortlessly accruing points.

With around eight weeks until a UN climate deal is set to be signed off in Paris, her corner is strong, her strategy gaining traction.

The co-chairs are now dancing to her tune, seemingly powerless to resist. Ice beats fire at global warming negotiations. It’s enough to send some diplomats Caracas.

The post R-E-S-P-E-C-T: It’s (not) all these negotiators are asking appeared first on Climate Home News.

South African negotiator Joyce Mxakato-Diseko speaks for the G77+China bloc (Pic: IISD)

By Ed King in Bonn

Faced with a common threat, the world’s developing countries are pulling together.

With eight weeks to go until a global climate pact is set to be signed off in Paris, the 134-strong G77 + China group of nations has regained a voice many thought had been silenced.

The reason? Finance. Or lack of it, from their perspective.

They contend proposals for a UN deal are not specific enough on the levels of funding poorer countries will get to green their economies and adapt to global warming impacts.

“It’s a matter of life or death… and we are dead serious,” ambassador Joyce Mxakato-Diseko, the South African official who chairs the G77, told media in a briefing on Thursday.

“As a matter of urgency we need finance both now and far into the future. Paris will succeed on whether this is part of the core agreement in Paris.”

Such is the strength of feeling among developing countries they took the unprecedented step of emailing journalists in Bonn to ask them to report fairly on this issue.

Report: OECD estimates climate finance flows at $60 billion

The numbers initially appear simple. In 2009, rich countries committed to raise US$100 billion of climate finance a year from public and private sectors by 2020.

According to a recent report by the Paris-based OECD, $62.8 billion was mobilised in 2014 from a sources including government funds, multilateral development banks and the private sector.

Even China announced last month it would chip in, with a $3.1 billion pledge.

These figures were greeted by the World Bank, IMF and head of the UN climate convention Christiana Figueres as proof money was flowing.

The G77 disagrees. “No mandate was given to the OECD,” said Mxakato-Diseko, arguing it had included forms of finance such as development aid that should not have been counted.

It’s a view backed by one of her key allies in the G77, the least developed countries grouping, led by Angolan diplomat Giza Gaspar Martins.

“There are serious and valid concerns over the way that $62 billion figure was arrived at. It accounts for credit guarantees, loans that have to be repaid,” he said.

Comment: Loans or grants for climate finance?

It’s a debate that cuts to the heart of these talks. Developing countries want a legally binding target for long term funding to come out of Paris.

Envoys for developed countries Climate Home has spoken to in Bonn tend to disagree, saying billions could be leveraged from the private sector in the event of a Paris deal.

Under a G77 proposal released this week, developing countries would get to determine what money flowed where.

These would, the formula states, be scaled up from a floor of US$100 billion per year from 2020 “in line with needs and priorities identified by developing country Parties”.

This is significantly different to a plan from the US, Australia, New Zealand and Russia.

“Over time, finance flows should be consistent with the transformation to low-emission and climate resilient societies and economies,” it says.

Report: What game theorists predict for a Paris climate deal

The two texts on offer are light years apart, but leading G77 members say they will not back down on their demand.

Beyond 2020, the $100 billion goal must be considered as a “floor”, said Gaspar Martins,

“We are going to adopt a durable agreement and we should recall that finance is key. We are not involved in a process that will simply reiterate what we have already agreed,” he said.

Many NGOs following these talks agree.

Li Shuo, senior campaigner from Greenpeace said the provision of specific financial support would re-inject “ambition and balance” to the process.

ActionAid highlighted the importance of money for adaptation to impacts like flooding and drought. With the latest carbon-cutting commitments not enough to limit warming to 2C, the agreed goal, concerns are increasing for the world’s poor.

“The current climate talks are reflecting the contrasting order of priority of issues between developed and developing nations,” said the charity’s Harjeet Singh. “Rich nations need to recognise the crisis is here and now.”

Still, as Jake Schmidt, head of international climate at the US-based NRDC pointed out, the US version would allow them to get the text through without the need of approval from Congress. Any specific figure could trigger a call for ratification from lawmakers.

Apples, apartheid and surgery: The pick of climate analogies

As talks near the crunch point, negotiators are ramping up the rhetoric.

Earlier this week Mxakato-Diseko said the talks had echoes of apartheid, given the treatment of poorer nations.

Today she elaborated on that theme, suggesting that despite economic progress across the world, the old industrialised powers still want to maintain control.

“If the world had changed we would all be permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto powers,” she said.

It was a rebuke to rich world expectations that emerging economies increasingly take responsibility for carbon cuts and finance.

Analysis: Rich-poor climate reconciliation in sight at UN talks

Under her leadership, the G77 resurgence has sent shockwaves through the international process at a time when plans for Paris are delicately balanced.

The diverse coalition includes leading emerging economies, tiny Pacific islands, rich Gulf petro-states and the African continent.

Boasting over two-thirds of the 195 countries participating in UN climate negotiations, it has always had a numerical advantage. But since the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, ties bonding the group together have become frayed.

In 2011, small island states and the least developed countries formed a loose alliance with the EU to drive through plans for a 2015 global deal, in the face of initial opposition from India, Bolivia and Venezuela.

Those days have passed.

“The nature of the text that was put before us to be the basis for further negotiations was too far of a departure for any of the fundamentals around which developing countries coals around,” said Gaspar Martins.

“There was a need to restore some balance in these negotiations – and that is certainly reflected in finance – fundamentally developing countries are united in terms of the approach we should be taking.”

The post Life or death: G77 demands climate finance guarantee appeared first on Climate Home News.

Youth participate in a demonstration titled ‘Zero by 2050 – The Future We Want’. 125 civil society groups have criticised a move to exclude them from talks (credit: ISSD reporting services)

By Alex Pashley

Green and development groups have condemned a decision to bar observers from negotiating sessions at a preparatory meeting in Bonn.

Japan proposed on Tuesday to exclude civil society from overseeing discussions, in a bid to spur progress on a revised negotiating text.

That text stood at 34 pages on Tuesday morning, up from a 20-page document by UN officials, after countries reinserted elements they complained had been left out.

Delegates were dispatched into closed spin-off groups to work at slimming down different contentious sections, from climate compensation to a long term zero-carbon goal.

“It leaves us truly in the dark,” Anabella Rosemberg, an advisor at the International Trade Union Congress, said at press conference.

“It’s a bad step in the run-up to Paris. I hope the decision is reversed.”

Report: UN climate text swells as G77 flexes muscles in Bonn

There are less than three formal negotiating days left before a decisive summit in Paris, where a new global warming treaty is expected to be signed in December.

In a sign of north-south divisions, envoys heading developing country negotiating blocs joined 125 groups in urging the co-chairs to let NGOs back into the rooms.

“This should be an open forum where everything happens in a transparent setting and nothing is hidden,” said Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Congolese diplomat and chair of the least developed countries bloc.

“We want to ensure on the way to Paris this is an open, inclusive process, and we don’t fall back in the mishaps of Copenhagen.”

Civil society demands at #ADP2 #keepusintheroom #COP21 pic.twitter.com/ApQ8odSCxm

— CARE Climate Change (@CAREClimate) October 21, 2015

The last attempt to sign a global warming pact in the Danish capital in 2009 failed, with poor countries accusing wealthy nations of cooking an agreement away from public scrutiny.

Civil society groups were the “canary in the coalmine,” whose presence indicated a “healthy atmosphere,” in climate talks, said Gita Parihar, legal head of Friends of the Earth International.

Senyi Nafo, African Group spokesperson, said he would urge the G77+China negotiating bloc to halt talks until groups were reinstated.

Report: US, EU ‘avoiding fair share’ of climate effort

Transparency concerns were well-founded but delegates needed the chance to make progress, said Richard Black, director of think tank ECIU.

“In an ideal world, of course you would have all sessions open to observers and journalists. The reality is at UN climate talks, all the really hard work has always been done behind closed doors in private rooms.”

A ‘spin-off’ group debates mitigation (credit: ISSD reporting services)

As a sign of the scale of the challenge, he noted there were more than 900 square brackets in the latest draft text, indicating language that has yet to be agreed.

Accredited observers may oversee negotiations, but cannot directly participate.

Noelene Nabulivou, a Fijian observer, argued civil society played a useful role in assisting under-equipped countries like Pacific island states on contentious points.

But Black said they do have technical support. “It’s frankly slightly insulting to imply they need outside help,” he added.

The post NGOs criticise closed-door UN climate negotiating sessions appeared first on Climate Home News.

Ghana’s capital Accra needs funding to prepare for sea level rise and storm surges, and invest in cleaner forms of power (Pic: World Bank/Flickr)

By Ed King

The world’s richest countries are back on the hook.

For a few balmy weeks in October a proposed draft UN deal offered a chance they might not have to fork out billons to help developing countries climate-proof their economies.

They were disabused of that notion at 4am on Tuesday morning, when a new pumped-up text emerged, the result of a negotiations blow-out on Monday in Bonn, home to a week of UN talks.

A section detailing what assistance poorer countries will require to invest in green energy and protect communities against climate impacts had swelled from 12 paragraphs to 2.5 pages.

“The storm was useful – we need predictable and adequate finance for developing countries,” said Alix Mazounie from the Climate Action Network.

“Now it has everything it needs… all the essential pieces… clinging on to every paragraph. From that perspective it’s a good start,” said Oxfam’s Jan Kowalzig, a seasoned observer of these talks.

Kowalzig emphasised the document’s renewed stress on a target of US$100 billion a year by 2020 represented a floor, not a ceiling on cash flows.

A round of talks on the finance chapter runs from 7-9pm CET tonight, as diplomats hone language for a global deal to be finalised in Paris this December. Wallets will need to remain open.

Report: OECD estimates climate finance flows at $60 billion

Finance is key at UN climate talks. It lurks at the centre of a web of contentious issues including adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage.

Addressing a meeting of business and finance chiefs in Washington DC on Tuesday, US secretary of state John Kerry could not have been clearer.

“The road through Paris is paved through investment decisions we are going to make this week,” he said.

Poorer countries say they will need funds to adapt to future extreme weather events, funds to mitigate carbon emissions by using clean energy, funds to invest in early weather warning systems.

Poor countries need support to cope with increasingly extreme weather (Pic: Department for International Development/Rafiqur Rahman Raqu)

The good news, say UN officials, is that wealthy countries are already over halfway to providing the $100 billion, a goal first detailed in 2009.

A recent OECD study revealed climate finance flows topped $60 billion in 2014, a calculation that includes public and private funds, multilateral bank contributions and export credits.

Many believe the OECD – a forum representing the world’s developed economies – has overblown these figures by including flows of cash not directly linked to climate change.

The UN’s climate chief Christiana Figueres told media in Bonn it was a “robust input” but admitted the figures had not been discussed or agreed by envoys.

France foreign minister Laurent Fabius – charged with steering these discussions during the December meet in Paris – called for a new assessment to add clarity by the end of next month.

Analysis: What does a strong Paris finance package look like?

Still, others appear optimistic this most toxic of issues could be put to bed – notably Rachel Kyte, the World Bank’s top climate official.

At the recent IMF/World Bank annual meeting in Lima the top multilateral development banks (MDBs) pledged to double their green finance flows up to 2020.

“It’s not our job to do the maths but that gets you along the way if not all to where you need to be, and I think you can honestly say there is a politically credible pathway to the $100 billion,” she told Climate Home in an interview.

Kyte described the 150+ national climate plans (known as INDCs) submitted to the UN in anticipation of a Paris deal as a “first generation investment prospectus” for climate-related projects.

“For us an INDC is going to form part of our dialogue and that will determine what our lending programme will be for that country in the next period,” she said. “Some are seminal documents and the process has already had an impact.”

Adaptation gap

A major headache for envoys in Bonn is the abject lack of finance on offer for adaptation. This can include sea walls to ward off sea level rises, better irrigation for parched land or heat-resilient plant seeds.

Just 16% of funds were directed towards these types of projects from 2013 – 2014, the OECD study revealed. That figure fell to 10% for private sector funds.

There are some explanations for the shortfall. Adaptation projects often take place in poorer countries where costs are low, and they also can take longer covering multiple budget cycles.

Comment: Loans or grants for climate finance?

Still, as Bangladesh scientist Saleemul Huq observed on Climate Home, most banks want a return on their investments. They’re more likely to get that from a clean energy plant than a sea wall.

Kyte tends to agree. “If you are investing in a massive solar array then that finance will flow and it’s a big ticket item,” she said.

This is a problem many hope Paris will solve. One new addition to the text under debate in Bonn stipulates that 50% of all funding flows should be for adaptation [page 12, paragraph 6bis].

This is a red line demand for climate vulnerable countries, said Kowalzig, explaining they “need some confidence that will actually happen.”

The overnight inclusion of a global goal for adaptation [page 9, para 1] in the text could also help, suggested Mazounie, offering a specific date poorer countries can tie demands for cash to.

Growing consensus?

Amid the maelstrom of Bonn and twitter rage from NGOs banned from private government talks, signs of compromise are emerging.

No-one disputes the need for finance to support climate goals. A recent study sponsored by developed and developing countries reported $90 trillion will be invested in infrastructure by 2030, whether green or brown.

The 134-strong G77 has dropped its politically toxic demand for 1% of rich countries’ GDP to help drive a green revolution, said Kowalzig.

Some of its members are already contributors to the Green Climate Fund and China recently stunned observers with a $3.1 billion finance offer, decapitating the idea that only “developed” countries should make these types of pledges.

“Now the question is how do you ensure that money is flowing where it is needed… are all the channels of finance – like the Heineken advert – getting it to where it is needed?” said Kyte.

Textual differences remain. Where the G77 + China group talks of direct financial “support” the US-led Umbrella group refers to “mobilising” funds from public and private sources.

But outside the negotiating halls, the finance picture is getting clearer.

More funds are expected to be pledged in November; the EU’s much vaunted “finance toolbox” will be released; the G20 will announce its own plans after its Antalya summit.

Will it be enough?

It’s unlikely in an arena where nearly 200 parties are continually trialling their own versions of game theory, but they appear to be heading in the right direction.

“The thing about this process… given it’s party driven – there will always be new things that come in and those that go,” said Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s climate advisor.

“That’s the nature of negotiations – it’s a process of give and take.”

The post Pathway to $100bn emerging ahead of Paris climate summit appeared first on Climate Home News.

View of the ADP Contact Group stocktaking session (Pic: IISD Reporting Services)

By Ed King

Time-pressed talks on a global climate deal faced delays on Monday after the co-chairs guiding the process accepted their proposed draft agreement lacked support from most countries.

UN officials had presented a radically cut 20-page set of proposals earlier this month, but their work was shredded in an intense and angry morning session in Bonn.

Instead of planned negotiations, the text swelled rapidly on a binge of over 50 so-called “surgical insertions” from countries, most ranging between 1-2 pages.

Most submissions came from the Africa Group and G77+ China, reflecting their frustration at what they argued was a text tilted in favour of richer nations.

Report: Developing countries demand additions to slimmed-down climate text

South African ambassador Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko, representing the 134-strong G77+ China group, said developing country views had been excised from the shorter text.

The obligation of rich countries to provide climate finance and help poorer nations cope with expected extreme weather events were specific concerns raised by her group.

Experts say planned greenhouse gas emission cuts from major economies are nowhere near enough to limit warming to below the 2C danger zone, meaning many vulnerable countries could face more floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

Evoking memories of apartheid, she said the document produced by US State Department veteran Dan Reifsnyder and Algeria’s Ahmed Djoglaf had left a potential Paris deal unbalanced and lopsided.

“To the G77 this text seems to rewrite, re-interpret and replace the convention… it jeopardises the interests of developing countries,” Diseko said.

Report: US, EU ‘avoiding fair share’ of climate effort

Diseko’s stance found allies across the vast negotiating chamber, and a plenary meeting scheduled to last 30 minutes rapidly spiralled beyond two hours.

“Credit us with a little wisdom,” said Malaysia’s Gurdal Singh. The document was an “injustice” added Amjad Abdulla, chief negotiator for the alliance of small island states (AOSIS).

Cuba, Sudan, Sierra Leone all echoed their complaints. G77 heavyweights India, China and Brazil looked on impassively.

Steve Cornelius, a former UK negotiator now working for WWF-UK, said the language used was some of the strongest since the final hours of the ill-fated Copenhagen summit of 2009.

Harjeet Singh, representing ActionAid, said the rhetoric was a result of a lack of trust in the two co-chairs. It would “seriously hamper” the process moving forward, he warned.

“Most options that G77 put forward were not reflected… adaptation, loss and damage, finance – you don’t see those options,” he added.

“Equity is at the core of it… they have not mentioned it… it does not say who has to do more.”

.@azebgt, @ldcwatch2012: The #ADP2 text has been hijacked by the rich and powerful #UStext #COP21 pic.twitter.com/j7bF4LeOfE

— Denise Fontanilla (@denisemf_) October 19, 2015

On twitter – never the most reliable barometer at these talks – rumours the text had been penned by the US State Department reached fever pitch, spawning the hashtag #UStext.

Liz Gallagher, an analyst with the London-based E3G think tank dismissed suggestions of a “super conspiracy”, arguing instead this was the result of pre-Paris tensions.

“It was never going to be a totally smooth process to whittle down the negotiating text; the stakes are so high,” she said.

One reason nerves are on edge is that what comes out of Bonn will be the basis for ministerial talks at the start of November and the heads of state conflab on day 1 of the Paris summit.

“The G77 will be asking to see their previous proposals on adaptation and loss and damage reflected in the iteration of the text that goes to ministers at high level events,” said Saleemul Huq, a Bangladeshi scientist.

Report: Paris climate talks ‘not a north-south fight’

One veteran of this process Climate Home spoke to dismissed Monday’s excitement as “nothing new”, but there were evident signs of nerves from the UN and negotiating teams.

Switzerland’s environment ambassador Franz Perrez described himself as “very concerned with how this process is going.”

Trigg Talley, a usually phlegmatic US number 2 negotiator, struck a note of warning, mindful perhaps of the political capital the White House has invested in this process.

“We have 5 days left before Paris… before our leaders come to give us all momentum,” he said.

“I guess I’m wondering to see what the whole picture is… I’m starting to worry we actually will find we get bogged down and will not understand what the full picture is.”

Mindful of the oncoming storm, the outgoing Peruvian president of this process, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, had recorded a greeting message that was played out first thing Monday.

“We have 2 options… the first is to throw into the waste basket what we have in front of us, but all of us know that if we do that we will suffer what we suffered in 2009,” he said.

On that, at least, there was widespread agreement. But the road to Paris remains fraught with difficulties.

The post UN climate text swells as G77 flexes muscles in Bonn appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Pic: UNFCCC/Flickr)

By Ed King

India’s climate chief could not have been clearer: “I am not happy with the text. We should certainly have a different text for the Paris to become success.”

In an interview with the Times of India this week, Prakash Javadekar piled into a draft document published by the UN that could form the basis of a global climate change agreement.

It was disappointing, he wanted changes, India would soon offer new suggestions. If it had been a boxing match the text’s corner would have thrown in the towel after round 1.

Javadekar’s blast sets the tone for what is sure to be a lively 5-day set of climate negotiations in Bonn next week, the last chance for technical progress before December’s UN summit in Paris.

AREAS OF CONTENTION

-Finance: no predictability or adequacy
-Loss and damage: just notes the problem
-Long term goal: no mention of decarbonisation
-Mitigation cycles: when will these happen?
-How binding will the national commitments be?

Envoys arrive to discuss a revised set of proposals that was slashed from 85 to 20 pages by the two officials chairing these talks, and published at the start of October.

The two chairs – Algerian Ahmed Djoglaf and US official Dan Reifsnyder – distilled the legion of suggestions in the original behemoth at the request of the 190+ governments at the talks.

But it has left many unhappy and not just India.

“This … text cannot be it. We must improve it. Next session in Bonn will be crucial. The EU and many others will work hard to improve it,” tweeted EU climate chief Miguel Arias Canete.

Giza Gaspar Martins, head of the least developed countries grouping, also has issues.

“A proposal on loss and damage by 134 countries gets ignored in the draft global agreement on climate change,” he said – again on twitter.

Most countries will “love or hate it” says Liz Gallagher, a climate diplomacy analyst at the E3G think tank who follows these negotiations closely.

Cardboard house

The structure of the agreement is there, says Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid, citing references in the new text to finance, regular reviews, carbon cuts and adaptation.

But he contends it is missing key details, such as specifics on climate finance contributions from rich to poor countries and how regular reviews of emission cuts would work.

The latter are deemed essential, since the 150 national climate plans sent to the UN will not limit warming to below 2C.

“It’s like a cardboard house: from afar it looks solid, with lots of enticing activity happening in each room but when you get up close, you realise the windows are painted on and the whole thing is likely to fall over,” he says.

References to a long term carbon cutting goal – deemed a critical component of any agreement by UN climate chief Christiana Figueres – are equally vague.

“Parties aim to reach by [X date] [a peaking of global greenhouse gas emissions][zero net greenhouse gas emissions][a[n] X per cent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions][global low-carbon transformation][global low-emission transformation][carbon neutrality][climate neutrality],” reads the relevant piece of text.

Square brackets indicate language that has yet to be agreed.

Report: Paris climate talks not a ‘north-south fight’ 

Envoys will start working through these heavily bracketed paragraphs line-by-line on Monday, provided there are no fireworks in the opening session.

Many developing countries under the vast G77 + China bloc will be upset that reams of suggestions they had inserted into the UN draft text earlier this year have gone, says Oxfam’s Jan Kowalzig.

He suspects the chairs deliberately took a chainsaw to the original document, which grew rapidly from a February set of talks in Geneva into an 85-page beast by the summer.

“Maybe they did it deliberately to force countries to focus in the core essentials they need in this treaty, maybe it is a strategy” he says.

If it is a cunning plan by Djoglaf and Reifsnyder then it’s high risk.

Kowalzig expects countries will accept their work as the basis for moving forward, but it could be a feisty opening session.

And he’s certain some of that initial anger will focus on what is, he said, a weak proposal on helping vulnerable countries cope with loss and damage caused by climate-related events.

An original formula crafted by developed countries called for a loss and damage mechanism to be part of a core Paris deal, and suggested the creation of new displacement facility to help communities made homeless by extreme weather.

The re-jigged plan is thinner and loses these details:“It is a joke, and it just recognises there is a problem, but it doesn’t lead to any actions,” says Kowalzig.

The post Bonn set for fireworks as UN climate talks resume appeared first on Climate Home News.

Christiana Figueres and Laurence Tubiana give a press conference (Flickr/UNclimatechange)

By Ed King in Bonn

Work on building a global climate deal showed progress on the final day of a UN conference in Bonn, with officials chairing the process revealing they would release a new, slimmer draft text in early October.

Dan Reifsnyder, a State Department diplomat co-chairing the talks told reporters the proposed new text would be “coherent, concise, and comprehensive.”

“What I hope we will be able to do this next time is something that will truly be a better basis for the parties to go forward, see the issues from end to end and negotiate on the substance in detail – with options,” he said.

UN climate chief Christiana Figures said work on the new text, which received wide support from all 195 governments on Friday afternoon, would represent a “change of pace” at the talks.

Report: Rich countries to unveil climate finance package

The current set of proposals ranges to over 80 pages and encompasses widely differing views on how the world can avoid global warming above the 2C danger level.

Most observers RTCC spoke to said the document as it stood was not suitable but few countries at this week’s talks have offered a sense of how the text could be radically slashed in time for a December summit where a deal is set to be signed off.

Reifsnyder said progress had been made on clarifying the general objectives of the deal but admitted talks on who will provide climate finance and adaptation were complex.

Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s climate advisor, said talks had allowed better understanding on a long term emissions goal and how reviews of national climate plans every five years could work.

Inaction kills – one of the few “actions” from youth at #ADP2 this week pic.twitter.com/sdQYaDDkWm

— Edward King (@rtcc_edking) September 4, 2015

Countries were also edging closer over the issue of loss and damage from climate related extremes, said Maldives diplomat Amjad Abdulla.

“There’s a growing recognition of the issue, and that’s positive, but it’s a matter of where and a narration of the issue,” he said.

France’s chief climate diplomat Laurence Tubiana acknowledged the slow pace of the talks, but said it had allowed countries to “know the position of everybody”.

“Now we have to go from this to a global picture and assemble all the pieces of the puzzle,” she added.

Moving forward

WWF climate talks expert Tasneep Essop said news countries would allow the co-chairs to craft a text was a sign of the trust they had built with countries since taking control of talks in January.

“We would want to leave this session with a very clear idea of what the next steps are in terms of a text that can be negotiated from day 1 in the October session,” she said.

Elina Bardram, lead negotiator for the European Union, said a new draft text should be concise, wipe out duplicated ideas and offer a coherent narrative.

“This would allow us to make real headway in the negotiations,” she said.

Initial steps to cut the text down to size started this week, revealed veteran climate negotiations expert Alden Meyer from the US Union of Concerned Scientists.

“I don’t know how far they have gone but work has started and those parties can continue to work jointly between now and October to make suggestions of additional proposals,” he said.

Five days remain for discussions on a global deal ahead of the two-week Paris summit. A final Bonn conference is scheduled for the end of next month.

The post UN climate talks inch forward as countries agree path to Paris appeared first on Climate Home News.

UN climate change body chief Christiana Figueres (far left) and French foreign affairs minster Laurent Fabius on Day One in Bonn (Photo: UN)

By Alex Pashley

Progress was glacial at UN climate talks in Bonn as delegates tarried in slimming down a draft global warming treaty to be adopted in Paris in December.

After four days, negotiators had trimmed just 5% of the 90-page rough copy, head of the Alliance of Small Islands States delegation, Amjad Abdulla told RTCC.

“We are deeply concerned at the slow pace,” said the Maldivian official leading the 44-country bloc threatened by rising sea levels.

Over 190 nations are haggling over the content of a climate pact, committing all countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions from 2020.

As the summit opened, French foreign minister and chair of the December summit, Laurent Fabius sought to breathe life into talks by urging a ‘pre-agreement’ by October, with Paris “adding the finishing touches”.

But slow progress could dash chances of a swift deal. France has said it may intervene with its own text to strike a deal at the crunch summit if negotiations stall.

Action areas

Delegates are expected to move forward on three main areas throughout the two-week conference.

Those are establishing regular intervals binding nations to deeper carbon cuts; a goal to reduce emissions to ‘net zero’ in the next half of the century; and deciding who pays what into a $100 billion a year climate fund for poor countries vulnerable to climate impacts.

“Negotiators are going to need to get much further along before they reach Paris, so they can present those critical questions to leaders,” said David Waskow from the World Resources Institute.

He said declarations at the G7 summit, gathering leading industrialised nations in Germany this weekend, could spur the talks.

Officials had cleared some of the “low hanging fruit”, making minor changes like cutting out duplicated areas of text, said Abdulla.

He expected a shorter version of 50-60 pages at the end of the two-week conference.

Delegates work away at the conference (photo: UN)

Right action

Though it wasn’t a case of making the text shorter, but stronger, said Lou Leonard at WWF-US in a statement.

“Right now you have almost every option you could want in the text. Parties need to focus on maintaining the elements that would trigger the most ambition,” she said.

So far, almost 40 have submitted pledges to cut emissions, known in UN parlance as intended nationally determined contributions.

But analysts say they won’t be collectively adequate to prevent temperatures rising over 2C by 2100 since the Industrial Revolution.

For that reason countries like the EU call for countries to be bound to deeper cuts after certain intervals.

The world needs to cease the burning of fossil fuels between 2055-2070 to stay within 2C according to scientists.

And countries’ interrogation of each other is key to ensuring a robust pact.

The US, Brazil and China voiced doubts over Australia’s commitment to slash emissions by 5% by 2020 on 2000 levels. Canada was taken to task over tar sands emissions causing it to miss targets.

Q: US asks Canada will you actually regulate tar sands emissions since you estimate that pollution from that source will double #UNFCCC

— Jake Schmidt – NRDC (@jschmidtnrdc) June 4, 2015

While Japan was awarded the ‘Fossil of the Day award’, an accolade critical of its climate action by campaigners, for its ‘weak’ INDC announced by PM Shinzo Abe this week.

It said it would target a 26% reduction on 2013 levels by 2030, a level critics say will mean it will miss a goal by rich countries to decarbonise by 80% on 1990 levels by mid-century.

Three strikes and you’re out! Japan awarded THREE Fossil of the Day awards at UN climate talks http://t.co/Ny0LiV4KGx pic.twitter.com/ArDzdHQ80e

— CAN-International (@CANIntl) June 4, 2015

Six more days remain in the Bonn talks. Delegates will gather again in September and October, some 20 days to refine the text before the crunch Paris summit starts.

“The engine is rumbling and in gear,” David Waskow said, “but they have to get it a couple of gears higher.”

The post Bonn climate talks start slow as hefty text avoids chop appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pic: IISD/ENB

By Sophie Yeo

Climate negotiators are set for a heavy workload at December’s summit in Lima, after a week of interim discussions in Bonn returned no conclusions.

Key issues, including the nature of pledges to be made by countries early next year, remain unresolved as negotiators prepare to leave the UN’s climate headquarters in Germany.

But while the main negotiations remained stagnant, negotiators and observers told RTCC informal conversations behind the scenes had put the process on a more positive footing.

“Things are moving, not at the pace we’d like for what needs to be done in Lima, but you can see some people put out things they didn’t put out in the past, trying to find solutions to deadlocks,” said Ronny Jumeau, a negotiator from the Seychelles.

Contributions

This week’s main task was to determine the information countries should be required to put in their “intended nationally determined contributions” (INDCs).

These national plans, due to be submitted by the end of March 2015, will provide the building blocks for an international deal later in the year.

Observers and some parties had hoped to have an agreement on the form of INDCs by this stage, ahead of the annual conference of parties in Lima this December.

But negotiating groups are at loggerheads over what should be included.

Broadly, developed countries want the plans to focus on mitigation – cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

Key blocs of developing nations disagree, saying that measures to adapt to the changing climate and provide finance for the green transition should also be included.

US negotiators warned that including adaptation in their INDC could delay submission.

The co-chairs of the meeting, Kishan Kumarsingh and Artur Runge-Metzger, have today released a new text taking into account the views offered by parties during the talks this week, which can then be negotiated in Lima.

It includes all options, including adaptation and finance, as well as the possibility of voluntary mitigation commitments from developing countries.

“We could be going much faster and it will be a big challenge in Lima to wrap things up,” one EU negotiator told RTCC.

But it had been a useful meeting, he insisted. “We’re not in a stalemate.”

Earnest negotiations

At a stock-take of the meeting held on Thursday, a negotiator for Egypt, speaking on behalf of the like minded developing country bloc, said it was time for negotiations to begin in earnest.

“The time for conceptual, brainstorming-type discussions is over,” said Egypt’s negotiator.

“Action now is what is needed. Through such negotiations, we can narrow differences, find convergence, and arrive at a collectively constructed consensus in Lima, first on the elements and then on the information and workstream 2 [pre-2020 action].”

His remarks reflected a wider frustration among some parties in the limited progress this week, as the Lima deadline looms.

There are now three papers on the table for discussion, but this week they were still being discussed in general terms, rather than the line-by-line analysis that shows parties are nearing a deal.

But despite countries sticking to positions publicly, behind the scenes there have been more attempts at flexibility, negotiators said.

“I think people are reaching out to each other, feeling how far they’re prepared to go,” said the Seychelles’ Jumeau, although he added that strident tones could make a comeback when it comes to preparing a final text.

Bonn binaries

While there was little in the way of formal outcomes from this week’s meeting, several new ideas emerged.

Brazil, traditionally keen for developed countries to pay for their historical responsibility for climate change, suggested a way to dismantle the old division between rich and poor countries.

This division is embedded in the original 1992 convention which guides the discussions.

It has become contentious as many countries argue the world has changed dramatically over the last two decades. Others say that no recent changes undo the historical responsibility that the US and the EU, for instance, bear for climate change.

The least developed countries bloc also put forward a proposal to break this impasse.

US negotiator Todd Stern has made clear he will reject any deal based on the old binary approach.

External developments

There have been some developments outside the talks that have influenced the negotiations.

Today, European leaders signed off a 2030 climate package, committing the EU to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by “at least” 40%.

“The European Union has sent a positive signal to the world, showing that it is still serious about tackling climate change,” said Jennifer Morgan, head of the climate division at the World Resources Institute.

The inclusion of “at least” provides a positive model for the international discussions, said the EU negotiator in Bonn, as it indicates targets are a benchmark which can be improved at a later stage.

Such flexibility could be important, considering recent comments from Todd Stern, the US special envoy on climate change.

In a speech at Yale last week, he said that the US would support non-legally binding targets, so that countries aren’t afraid to pledge high.

This approach has been supported by New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

Jumeau said that his small island states bloc was willing to discuss the idea, but it wouldn’t be “rattled” by the big players.

“The days when big powers would say something and have the whole world running around like a headless chicken are over,” he said.

“Now, it’s more of a dialogue, a conversation.”

The post Inconclusive Bonn climate talks leave a heavy Lima workload appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pic: IISD

By Sophie Yeo

Deeply entrenched positions are holding back attempts to negotiate a draft text for the UN climate deal at talks this week in Bonn.

In just over a year, countries must reach consensus on politically difficult issues for an agreement in Paris, including whether rich countries should compensate now for their historical emissions.

Officials met in Bonn for what co-chairs of the process called the “bridge building session”. But remarks from some negotiators and officials guiding the talks showed there was a way to go.

“Sticking to positions is not negotiating,” said Kishan Kumarsingh, co-chair of the talks, opening the session on Monday.

Speaking on behalf of G77+China, a large bloc of developing countries, a negotiator from Bolivia said on Tuesday: “It is important to listen to each other. We need a more interactive and dynamic process. We need to question. We need clarifications and to look for common ground, even texts, if possible.”

Difficult discussions

As the EU heads into domestic negotiations over its 2030 targets, a statement sent out by a bloc of countries including India, China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Ecuador, said that they were “gravely concerned” that rich countries “no longer seem willing to live up to their commitments”.

The statement accused developed countries of backing out of promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide support to developing countries.

This group, known as the like minded developing countries (LMDCs), is pushing back against the notion that rich and poor countries must both take on binding commitments under the new deal.

US negotiator Todd Stern has made clear that any deal which perpetuates the division between developed and developing countries – as used in the Kyoto Protocol, the UN’s only climate treaty to date – will be a non-starter.

But the controversy at the heart of this week’s negotiations is what information countries need to include when they submit their contributions to the new deal to the UN by March next year.

Some want these pledges to include mitigation only, while others want to see promises of finance, adaptation, technology transfer and other elements that will be included in the final agreement.

The US is backing a proposal put forward by New Zealand, also backed by Australia. But it has not been welcomed by some other blocs, who reject its outright focus on mitigation.

Compromise

Andres Pirazzoli, an envoy representing Chile, told RTCC that countries were beginning to show flexibility on the talks relating to pre-2020 ambition on climate action, but that the spirit of compromise was still lagging in the post-2020 part of the talks.

“The sad thing is – and this is probably the case for the entire history of the negotiations – the most creative, flexible and active listeners in this business are the most vulnerable ones,” he said.

He said the least developed countries, small island states, and the Africa group were working hard to accommodate others, while his own grouping – a progressive Latin American alliance called AILAC – was trying to build bridges.

For the session to be a success, he added, there would need to be convergence between countries on the type of information that countries should provide in their contributions to the new agreement, as well as more agreement on how the elements of the final text should work.

A text by the co-chairs of the session, Kishan Kumarsingh and Artur Runge-Metzger, was welcomed by his group as the basis for the negotiations. “We feel very comfortable empowering the co-chairs to guide our negotiations,” said Pirazzoli.

Bridge building

The co-chairs said at the outset they had nicknamed this round of negotiations the “bridge building session”.

But their approach has rankled with other countries, with some rejecting outright the text compiled by the co-chairs on the information that parties should put forward.

“There was a general expression of unhappiness with the co-chair’s text,” said Alden Meyer, an observer of the negotiations from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The like minded developing countries did not think the co-chairs should be involved with drafting the text, he explained.

They also complained it was overly concerned with mitigation, at the expense of elements such as finance and adaptation.

The president of the next meeting in Lima, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, stressed that he wanted parties to arrive with “clear and substantive” ideas for the draft text, but he was confident that countries were beginning to move towards consensus.

Despite his confidence, the UN is already considering when it will hold extra sessions for negotiations next year, as diplomats attempt to cram in all the work that needs to be done ahead of next year’s vital Paris deal.

“The word I should use is hope. I’m hopeful… Nothing has really taken shape,” said Ruel Yamuna, a diplomat representing Papua New Guinea.

The post UN climate talks: Countries urged to build bridges appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pic: UNclimatechange/Flickr

By Sven Harmeling

This week’s climate talks in Bonn are an important stepping stone ahead of this December’s UN climate conference in Lima (COP20).

Once that concludes, only 12 months remain before 195+ governments aim to finalise a new legally binding climate agreement at the end of 2015 in Paris.

Many vulnerable developing countries have made it clear that they want to see far more action to address the impacts of growing climate disruption in addition to substantial emissions cuts.

As an organisation working to support vulnerable communities living on the climate change front lines, often in partnership with developing country governments, we couldn’t agree more with these priorities.

So, what do governments need to do in Bonn this week to lay the foundations of a 2015 agreement that really supports vulnerable countries and communities in the face of climate change?

Ensure adaptation is part and parcel of the INDCs

The so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) are likely to be a hot topic in Bonn.

Put simply, these are the climate pledges that all countries are expected to deliver early next year for the period after 2020. We want to see governments keep emissions reductions at the very heart of the INDCs, but there is also a pressing need for countries to clarify how and in which ways they can demonstrate their contributions to global adaptation efforts.

The AILAC group of countries from Latin America, for example, has stressed the benefits of covering adaptation, in addition to mitigation, in the INDCs. They rightly see this approach as a way to strengthen adaptation measures in both the international and domestic contexts.

That said, there are some important caveats. First, discussions about adaptation in the INDCs should be conducted in a way that does not distract from the importance of mitigation. Second, including adaptation in the INDCs should be voluntary, and ultimately this decision is up to each individual country. Third, including adaptation in the INDCs must seek to strengthen rather than interfere with adaptation planning efforts already underway as countries move forward with preparing their National Adaptation Plans.

We’ll be watching closely to make sure that this is the case.

Agree to a global adaptation goal

The Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF) agreed in Mexico in 2010 was an early and commendable attempt to set out key parameters for international cooperation on adaptation in support of vulnerable developing countries. Yet, the CAF actually fails to link the level of adaptation action required with the climate impacts that poor countries can expect to experience in the coming years.

This is a problem because any temperature increase beyond 1.5 or 2C would, in many countries, require vast amounts of adaptation. What is more, such levels of warming may also require tough decisions to be taken, including identifying areas where adaptation measures would fail altogether.

The current 2015 negotiation text mentions a number of these critical issues, including proposals for a global adaptation goal – but it’s not there yet.

What’s missing in particular is a financial commitment (and target) from developed countries to help pay for adaptation in poor countries, as part of a global adaptation goal.

Although we cannot expect to see any progress in Bonn on the scale of the funding, negotiators should not forget that, sooner or later, they’ll need to signal just how much money they’re willing to commit to adaptation – and ensure they have processes in place to allocate it fairly and effectively based on the needs of the most vulnerable communities.

It must also be accessible to civil society. What needs to happen in Bonn is in depth discussion around the key pillars of the 2015 agreement relating to the adaptation goals and how to assess progress made towards achieving these goals, including finance.

If governments can identify the key sticking points that will require further work, this will give them a fighting chance of coming to an agreement by Paris.

Recognise the needs of the most vulnerable

To really serve the needs of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, the 2015 agreement must highlight the need for all climate action to be rights-based, gender-equitable and participatory, as set out by CARE, the Mary Robinson Foundation, and others.

Though the 2010 Cancun Adaptation Framework contains a catalogue of ‘guiding principles’ for action on adaptation, and urges “a country-driven gender-sensitive, participatory and fully transparent approach” so far these positive steps are yet to make it into the draft text which will underpin the 2015 climate agreement. The Bonn session is the time to fix this.

In fact, of the three international frameworks currently under discussion on climate, development and disaster risks, the UNFCCC agreement is now the least people-centred and rights-based of all.

In contrast, the proposal for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlights that “people are at the centre of sustainable development” and makes clear reference to human rights.

The draft post-2015 Disaster Risk Reduction Framework also states that “managing the risk of disasters should also be aimed at protecting persons, their livelihoods and property, while respecting their human rights.” The UNFCCC has some serious catching up to do here.

Commit to tackling loss and damage

After decades of failure to sufficiently reduce global emissions, loss and damage is becoming a reality for millions of poor and vulnerable people worldwide.

Last year’s decision in Warsaw to establish an international mechanism on loss and damage was a milestone in itself, but much work remains to be done to move this critical issue forward.

The current 2015 draft text highlights the need “to include provisions for loss and damage for cases where mitigation and adaptation will not be sufficient”. Governments must now prepare to come up with some answers.

The poorest nations will be seeking reassurances that those countries that bear the greatest responsibility for past emissions will be held accountable. Making additional money available to pay for climate-related loss and damage that is already occurring must be part of this.

Ultimately, the 2015 agreement must recognise the Warsaw mechanism and seek to increase its impact, in support of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.

CARE will be following progress on these critical areas closely as governments continue their discussions in Bonn and later this year in Lima. Above all, we want to see the needs and voices of the vulnerable front and centre on the road to Paris. Focusing on these critical issues will help governments to do just that.

Sven Harmeling is CARE International’s climate change advocacy coordinator

The post Bonn climate talks: Four steps to support the world’s most vulnerable appeared first on Climate Home News.

Background
– UN climate talks set to test New York summit gains
– New York summit: what it means for climate treaty prospects
– US climate strategy: ‘goad’ leaders into voluntary action
– Prepare for stronger Africa at UN climate talks, says Congo envoy

Pic: Sophie Yeo

1506 – That’s the end of the opening plenary. We’ll be following the Bonn negotiations throughout the rest of the week, so stay tuned.

1456 – Environmental NGOs: Locking in low ambition in INDCs is a real danger. Calls for 5-year cycles, with first in 2025. The second representative, from the Third World Network, complains of unnecessary restrictions on civil society in Lima. She blasts those who would have INDCs focus on mitigation alone.

1454 – Youth (YOUNGO): Youth would like to focus on the urgency of INDCs. “They must constitute the highest level of ambition that all countries can possibly commit to.” Decisions will affect the future of billions of human beings to come.

1450 – Women and gender constituency: New agreement must take in rights, needs and capabilities of men and women alike. High risk technologies such as shale gas have to be kept out of 2015 agreement.

1447 – Research and independent NGOs (RINGOs in UN lingo): We do not adopt particular negotiating positions, but we are keen to share our research with you. Many RINGOs are students who will become the next generation of experts and diplomats, she says. She spells out areas where their research can help, including intellectual property – essential in discussions on technology transfer. “Please call on us” as you work towards an agreement, she says.

1446 – Farmers Constituency calls for a work programme on agriculture.

1442 – That’s it from country groups. We’re now hearing from other stakeholders in the process: business, local and subnational governments. These were players that had a loud voice at the Ban Ki-moon summit in New York last month.

business at #climate #ADP2014 talks: We want to be seen in the Paris agreement

— Mattias Söderberg (@Mattias_S) October 20, 2014

All stakeholders must be involved in 2015 accord – call to enlist diverse biz expertise for mitigation & adaptation @USCIBKennedy #ADP2014

— BCSE Clean Energy (@BCSECleanEnergy) October 20, 2014

1432 – Costa Rica on behalf of AILAC: Have made a proposal on overall structure of legally binding agreement for a ‘ratifiable’ Paris agreement. They want a cycle of contributions to be made over time. Also specifies the need for a global goal on adaptation. Their whole submission on this subject can be seen here.

1427 – Belize on behalf of the Central American Integration Unit: Makes a rare reference to Article 6, which talks about the role of education and information in climate change. They are planning to make a submission on this issue, says the delegate.

1418 – South Africa on behalf of BASIC: Welcomes initial contributions to Green Climate Fund, and urges all developed countries to follow suit by pledging session in November. Says that developed countries should take the lead based on their historical responsibility for climate change. Adaptation is as important as mitigation, she adds, and that National Adaptation Plans could form the basis to INDCs.

“conditional actions”. #UNFCCC art 4.7 (quoted by BASIC) likely to be at centre of discussions on INDCs at #ADP2014 pic.twitter.com/aUeWwVPkf5

— Sébastien Duyck (@duycks) October 20, 2014

1409 – Saudia Arabia on behalf of the Arab Group: Mitigation commitments from developing countries should be voluntary, spontaneous and in accordance with their financial capacities. Expresses concern at “weakness” of Green Climate Fund pledges so far, and accuses developed countries of “politicising” the Green Climate Fund by imposing “impossible” conditions on poor countries.

1402 – The afternoon round of talks are (supposedly) about to begin. Until they do, here’s one of the latest documents from the UNFCCC Secretariat – a Q&A on the legal nature of the agreement. There are three options on the table: a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force. Parties are still undecided, and possibly a bit confused, about which of these it will be.

opening #ADP2014 plenary highlights key issue for coming week: how to include adaptation in INDCs while ensuring enough mitigation ambition

— Sébastien Duyck (@duycks) October 20, 2014

1334 – Sven Harmeling from CARE International has summarised some of the tensions at play in discussions of the intended nationally determined contributions:

“First, discussions about adaptation in the INDCs should be conducted in a way that does not distract from the importance of mitigation. Second, including adaptation in the INDCs should be voluntary, and ultimately this decision is up to each individual country. Third, including adaptation in the INDCs must seek to strengthen rather than interfere with adaptation planning efforts already underway as countries move forward with preparing their National Adaptation Plans.”

1322 – Camilla Born, from environmental think-tank E3G, told RTCC: “One of the things is there’s clearly a focus on adaptation. The EU seems to be getting its act together – they seem to be paying more attention. How that manifests itself will be something to watch this week. I think there will be a lot of discussion about the commitment period.” She’s written a blog with her details views on the week on the E3G website.

1238 – Because of this morning’s late start, there are now no translation services available. After interventions from Russia and Saudi Arabia expressing their discontent at this, the meeting has been suspended. It will resume at 3pm European time.

1226 – Ecuador on behalf of Likeminded Developing Countries: The three priorities for this session are fleshing out elements of draft negotiating text, identifying INDCS, enhancing pre-2020 ambition. Formal negotiations should take place in contact groups, rather than in bilaterials. Reinforces that discussions should avoid focusing on just mitigation, and reminds that INDCs are a “means, not an end” of 2015 agreement. Encourages parties to put forward their own texts, to encourage a party-driven process.

1217 – Venezuela on behalf of ALBA: Reinforces the division between rich and poor countries, embedded in the original Convention. Calls for all elements – mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, transparency and capacity-building – to be included equally in the text.

Venezuela calls for text-based negotiations and reminds the world that Kyoto had positive impacts. #ADP2014 #unfccc

— climate-justice.info (@ClimateJustInfo) October 20, 2014

1213 – Nepal on behalf of LDCs: INDCs should primarily focus on mitigation. Adaptation and finance should be in the core agreement.

LDCs: need more elaboration on draft text, moving from listing of INDCs (should primarily focus on mitigation). #ADP2014

— Tracy Bach (@ProfTBach) October 20, 2014

1204 – Nauru on behalf of AOSIS: There are impacts we can no longer adapt to, so loss and damage must be part of 2015 agreement. “For us, adaptation is about survival.” He repeats a call for a 1.5C target – much more difficult than the current target of 2C. There is a lack of finance going towards concrete adaptation projects, he says. But mitigation is the most important, and enhancing pre-2020 ambition is the best way to go about this, he says. He calls for more high-level events to be able to share domestic action and partnerships.

1156 – Sudan on behalf of the Africa Group: Very precise expectation on mitigation in the INDCs. But 2015 is not just a mitigation agreement, he says – it should cover all the elements of fighting climate change, including adaptation and finance. He references confusion from the Warsaw outcomes – “contribution” seen as opening out the discussion from a mitigation-only focus.

1155 – Switzerland on behalf of the Environment Integrity Group suggests that adaptation could be done through a bottom-up approach.

1145 – Australia on behalf of the Umbrella Group: Signals willingness to negotiate on the nature of the INDCs. All countries must contribute to limiting emissions, he says. He nods to technical expert meetings as helping to enhance pre-2020 ambition at home. He adds that it’s time to get rid of the “divided world view” perpetuated by the UN convention.

1137 – European Union: Essential to make progress on INDCs ahead of Lima. There should be time to analyse these ahead of COP21 in Paris. This session needs to deliver a more concise document on the elements of the draft text. The EU’s full views are expressed in its UNFCCC submission.

1118 – Bolivia on behalf of the group of G77+China: Calls for developed countries to take the lead in fighting climate change. Poverty is first and overriding concern of developing countries, and the extent to which developing countries are able to fulfill their own commitments will hinge on money and technology transferred from developed countries – “a key enabling element”, he terms it. There is also a need to scale up adaptation finance, he says. G77+China will push for loss and damage to be included in the 2015 outcomes. Calls for a proper discussion on legal force of the new deal.

G77 – Calls for Workstream II to continue until the ‘ambition gap closes.’ … could be here for sometime. #ADP2014 #unfccc

— climate-justice.info (@ClimateJustInfo) October 20, 2014

1117 – Co-chairs open the floor to statements from the parties. These will also be available on the UNFCCC’s website later.

1112 – This meeting will also deal with how to enhance pre-2020 ambition on climate change – known as “workstream 2”.

1110 – What happens to INDCs (“intended nationally determined contributions”) once they’ve been communicated? This is something parties have been asking, and which will be discussed during this session, says Kumarsingh.

The wins of the @Peoples_Climate marches and #climatesummit come crashing through the @UN_ClimateTalks bubble as the #ADP session begins

— Camilla Born (@camillaborn) October 20, 2014

@rtcc_sophie Climate talks in Bonn hopefully will try to crack hard nuts, fleshout narratives for Lima COP draft on ADP, nod at Paris COP21

— Quamrul Chowdhury (@QuamrulChow2030) October 20, 2014

1047 – Christiana Figueres  begins – as she did last session in June – with a reminder to countries that they still need to ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. She celebrates the achievements of the UN climate summit held in New York in September, which she says proves that there is the means to address climate change.

1046 – Manuel Pulgar Vidal, future COP president, takes the floor. He stresses that the Peru presidency wants the Lima COP to conclude with a text that has elements which are “clear and substantive…not just a list of ideas.” He adds that he is confident in the status of the negotiations, and believes that parties are not far from consensus.

1034 – There is very little time if a text is to be ready by May 2015 – it’ll need to be ready by April to be be translated into UN’s six languages, says Kishan Kumarsingh. He and fellow co-chair have called this “the bridge building session”, he says, stressing that “sticking to positions is not negotiating”.

1030 – Finally, the opening has plenary has begun. Co-chair Kishan Kumarsingh gives delegates a quick ticking off about the late start.

1015 – Here are some negotiators you can follow on Twitter for some extra insight:

Paul Watkinson – lead negotiator for France
Quamrul Chowdhury – Bangladeshi lead negotiator for the LDCs
Ivo de Zwaan – lead negotiator for the Netherlands. Once found RTCC’s lost tripod
Yeb Sano – Negotiator for the Philippines. May be tired after walking 1000km for the climate this month
Claudia Salerno – lead negotiator for Venezuela, host of this year’s ‘social pre-COP’

And not forgetting:
Christiana Figueres – executive secretary of the UNFCCC
Marcin Korolec – COP president, admirably willing to engage on Twitter

1003 – The co-chairs’ instructions to delegates to “start its meetings on time” in order to achieve “concrete results” appear to have been roundly ignored. The talks are now running over an hour late.

0954 – Ahead of the talks, 28 UN experts wrote an open letter urging states to consider the threat posed by climate change to human rights. They want the new deal to have specific language acknowledging that a healthy environment is central to a safe and secure existence, and that parties are prepared to fulfill their pre-existing human rights obligations under the UN by limiting climate change. Signatories include the UN’s human rights special rapporteurs on extreme poverty, transnational corporations and slavery.

0923 – For a more sober introduction to the talks, it’s worth taking a look at the scenario note issued by the co-chairs earlier this month. This lays out the background for the talks, and the priorities for this session.

It says that delegates must use this session to figure out what should be included in party contributions to the new deal – ie. should they commit to purely mitigation actions, or also finance, adaptation and other actions? This is key to getting pledges on time by March – but it’s always been controversial.

They also want delegates to talk about the commitment period of the new deal. Over what time frame will goals be set? Will there be an opportunity to crank these up in the interim?

All being well, most of these issues will be rounded off in Lima, but the co-chairs expect good progress to be made this week. “October is the time to start reaching out genuinely to each other and build bridges.”

0913 – While negotiators file into the room, here’s the latest dispatch from the UNFCCC communications office – a music video.

0850 – The UN’s climate body is meeting this week for its third round of talks this year. This session in Bonn, Germany, is the final set of negotiations before delegates come together in Lima for the annual Conference of Parties – which means the progress made here will be a big deal for the international climate agreement. I’m Sophie Yeo, and I’ll be taking you through the opening plenary, as representatives from each bloc of countries give their opening statements.

The post UN climate talks in Bonn: Day 1 appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pic: Thanh Mai Bui Duy/Flickr

By Ed King

The latest round of UN climate negotiations have concluded in Bonn, with signs of headway towards a global agreement scheduled for 2015.

The two-week meeting was the latest in a series of international forums aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists say are likely to lead to dangerous levels of warming.

Observers say there is now more clarity on the structure and elements of a text for the 2015 deal. The UN wants a first draft of the proposed treaty to be signed off at its main climate summit in Lima later this year.

“The good news is that countries put forward more details on their visions for the Paris climate agreement here in Bonn,” said Alden Meyer from the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

“But there remain sharp disagreements on the shape and scope of that agreement.”

Contributions

The UN co-chairs running negotiations say they will present a paper outlining key proposals and a range of suggestions by July 15.

One key sticking point appears to be what countries are expected to announce in their ‘national contributions’ towards a global climate deal, which the UN wants submitted by March 2015.

“Upfront information is essential for us to be able to establish whether the intended national contributions are fair and how far they collectively get us towards the goal of keeping warming below 2C,” said an EU spokesperson.

“Unless we can clearly articulate to the public what countries are going to put on the table, how are we going to have validation for the process being in track?”

Two-week UN Bonn talks ends today in positive mood, still long way to go for Paris climate treaty in 2015!

— Quamrul Chowdhury (@QuamrulChow2030) June 15, 2014

Developing countries want rich nations to include specific commitments on finance and technology assistance as well as emission reduction plans.

The UN’s Green Climate Fund is expected to channel much of the billions needed to invest in low carbon development, but so far it is a bank with no money.

Bangladesh negotiator Quamrul Chowdhury told RTCC that, after talks in Bonn, it is still unclear how a promised $100 billion by 2020 will be found by rich countries.

Report: Lack of finance holding up UN talks, say world’s poorest

“With no support, many developing countries will not be able to deliver concrete results,” said Mattias Söderberg from the ACT Alliance.

Negotiators and civil society groups credit positive signals from the world’s two largest emitters, the US and China, for a new spirit of cooperation at the Bonn session.

New US carbon standards for power plants and the prospect of a national carbon market in China by 2018 boosted hopes the countries are now committed to a new agreement.

“The engagement of Barack Obama in the climate talks and signals he is giving in bilateral talks to other leaders are encouraging for the Ban Ki-moon meeting and March 2015 deadline,” said Greenpeace climate policy advisor Martin Kaiser.

“The China minister was here – he made a positive speech that China is working on a coal cap and we expect China at the Ban Ki-moon summit to make substantial announcement on coal caps in several provinces and prepare to submit commitments in March 2015.”

Rapid adoption of results, short statements, good process management – #SB40, #UNFCCC

— Paul Watkinson (@pwatkinson) June 15, 2014

The EU says it will have its ‘pledge’ for the UN agreement signed off by national leaders in October, but other developed countries appear to be holding out for a delay.

WWF’s Tasneem Essop said Australia, Japan and Russia are pushing for more time to deliver their pledges, indicating they will not be ready by the first quarter of next year.

“Those timeframes are critical,” she said, warning that if pledges arrive later, there is unlikely to be enough time to work out if they are enough in total to avoid dangerous levels of warming.

The post UN climate envoys inch towards draft agreement appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pic: indiawaterportal.org/Flickr

By Sophie Yeo

Countries have ploughed on with the task of creating a new UN climate treaty over the past two weeks in Bonn, but a lack of money is still hampering progress, say the world’s poorest countries.

During two weeks of negotiations, there has been no “major advancement” in figuring out how developed countries will raise the US$ 100billion which they have promised to donate every year from 2020, according to Quamrul Chowdhury, the lead negotiator for the Least Developed Countries.

“The lack of finance and support are the serious issues and need urgent resolution in building trust in the whole climate negotiation process,” he said.

“The negotiations in Bonn are progressing at a very slow pace,” added Chowdhury, adding that the poor countries he represents believe that the talks “still falter in reaching key milestones to strike a robust, ambitious and fair Paris Protocol.”

All countries have said they will sign an agreement in Paris 2015 designed to stop climate change passing the 2C threshold, which scientists say would have severe impacts on humans and the environment.

Poorer countries say for this deal to work, they need these funds to invest in new clean energy systems, and prepare for future extreme weather events linked to global warming.

A UN-backed Climate Fund is in the pipeline, and now ready to receive funds. Supporters hope it will start distributing money at the start of 2015, but so far its pleas for a cash injection of $10-15 billion remain unanswered.

Confusion

Climate negotiators have been gathered in Bonn since 4 June to hammer out what this deal might look like, but there are many issues needing to be resolved.

Countries still need to decide the overall shape of the text. Legally, the draft text must be completed by May 2015, so that countries have time to examine it before the Paris meeting that December.

Last year at a UN meeting in Warsaw, countries agreed that the “elements” of this text should be on the table by Lima. But there is still considerable disagreement on what this actually means, says Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Some people think you get agreements on the elements – what you’re trying to negotiate, what you’re trying to draft a legal text on – in Lima, and then you start the serious drafting process and legal work on it in 2015,” he said.

“I think other countries would like to see the legal drafting process start before then. Meyer added that Venezuela has already proposed the formation of a legal team to start drafting the text – a move which most countries viewed as “premature”.

In a wrapping up session on Thursday, countries discussed how the text should be composed, with some supporting a document drawn up by the co-chairs, and others supporting a synthesis of contributions from the different negotiating blocs.

Some fear that the latter option could lead to an enormous text that will be difficult to condense at final negotiations.

Contributions

Countries must also decide exactly what they will contribute to this deal in ‘intended nationally determined contributions’ (INDC), which must be submitted by March 2015.

Some say they only want to make pledges on how to reduce emissions, while others are pushing for a more comprehensive package that includes finance, adaptation and technology.

Ronny Jumeau, who represents the small island states, said that too many negotiators are still complaining they don’t understand the “mythical creature” of INDCs, and not enough working to come up with a definition. “After all, how can we start preparing our NDCs if we don’t know what it is?” he said.

What countries have to submit will be one of the most high profile issues in forthcoming discussions of the new treaty, said Sven Harmeling of CARE International, as it will determine the breadth of action that countries will have to take after 2020 to tackle climate change.

“Some countries want to use it to ensure high profile of various aspects,” he said. Whether pledges on finance and adaptation receive the same legal treatment as mitigation contributions remains a politically wrought topic at the talks.

There has also been little development on one of the thorniest issues of the negotiations – whether the division between developed and developing countries enshrined in the original Convention should remain in the new agreement. It is a problem that may require ministers to untangle, said Meyer.

“Between those two issues, differentiation and finance, there is not agreement on the nature of the outcome that we’re trying to have in Paris, so that is influencing negotiating strategy,” he said.

Jumeau added: “I hope I’m wrong, but why do I get the feeling that we’ll still be negotiating in Paris?”

The post Lack of finance holding up UN talks, say world’s poorest appeared first on Climate Home News.

Violent clashes in Ukraine have made cooperation with Russia problematic  (Pic: Dmitry Vassilyev/Croix-Rouge d’Ukraine)

By Sophie Yeo in Bonn

Ukraine is no longer allowed to cooperate with Russia at the UN climate talks, ending one of the firmest bonds around the negotiating table. 

The crisis between the two former Soviet states broke out earlier this year, when Russia annexed Crimea in response to Ukraine’s decision to pursue a closer relationship with the EU.

Since then, Ukrainian negotiators have been forbidden from cooperating with Russia at international talks, where 195 countries are trying to reach a deal on climate change under the banner of the UN.

“This is the political process and we have political instructions not to cooperate with Russia in an official manner,” said Mykhailo Koval, who is director of the International Cooperation Division at Ukraine’s State Environmental Investment Agency, and a negotiator at the UN climate talks.

“We have an instruction not to allow Russia to represent Crimea as part of Russia.”

Crimean emissions

Russia and Ukraine have traditionally been close allies within the UN’s climate process, supporting each other over opposition to the Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 and a related dispute over UN procedure in June 2013.

This era of cooperation is now over, said Koval, replaced by the prospect of conflict between the two countries on how to count the emissions from Crimea, which both claim is now their territory.

To abide by UN rules, countries must provide ‘national inventories’ of the greenhouse gases emitted by their country.

If the problems between Russia and Ukraine are not resolved by 2016, said Koval, both nations could end up submitting inventories that include Crimea. In 2012, Crimea emitted around 2,757 tons of CO2 compared to 231,997 tons from the whole of Ukraine, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

“At the moment, neither Ukraine nor Russia have any idea how to deal with the issue,” he said. “Probably this will be the question under some negotiation with Russia, but Russia is not ready to have any negotiation.”

He added that, logically, Ukraine should have no problems submitting an inventory including Crimea, since the UN itself does not recognise the outcome of Russia’s referendum in Crimea—“But there’s always a political issue and nobody knows what will happen.”

EU deal

If the Ukraine signs an economic association deal with the EU, it will be bound more closely to the 28-state bloc within UN climate negotiations, committing the regions to greater “cooperation at regional and international level … in the context of multilateral agreements such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.”

Ukraine’s newly elected president, Petro Poroshenko, has indicated that he is willing to sign the economic deal imminently, after agreeing to greater political cooperation with the EU in March.

The EU has typically pushed for an ambitious approach to tackling climate change within the talks, and the Commission hopes that its 40% greenhouse gas reduction target will be confirmed by heads of states no later than October. It recently announced that it had overshot its 2020 target by 4.5%. 

An annex to the EU Association Agreement also says that Ukraine must implement the Kyoto Protocol and develop a long-term plan on how it will tackle its emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Unlike the EU, which is in the process of ratifying an extension to the Kyoto Protocol, Russia has refused to join in the with second phase of this deal on how to reduce pre-2020 emissions.

Russian diplomat Oleg Shamanov protests at 2012 Doha talks

Koval said that Ukraine is “definitely willing and totally ready to implement” the climate demands of the new EU agreement, which he believes will advance development in the country. “It means the energy efficiency and climate change policy in Ukraine will be totally changed,” he said.

“The Ukrainian people are willing to do it. The people made their choice and decided to go towards the European values. It could be funny but Ukrainians died for it. The situation would be a really dramatic change.”

Despite the political tension between the two nations, Koval stressed that he remained “good friends” with Russia’s representative, Oleg Shamanov, within the talks.

Several other negotiators confirmed to RTCC that the two were frequently spotted conversing over lunch and within the plenary hall at UN talks taking place in Bonn this week.

“Personal relations are not political relations, and he is not responsible for what Mr Putin is doing,” Koval added.

The post Russia-Ukraine crisis seeps into UN climate talks appeared first on Climate Home News.

Cleaning up after climate change could cost trillions, economists have warned

By Sophie Yeo in Bonn

The UN’s green bank is now almost ready to receive funds, but with six months left until the deadline for initial pledges countries remain uncertain about how much cash they need to raise. 

Estimates on how much money needs to be in the Green Climate Fund by the November deadline continued to vary by billions during UN climate talks taking place this week in Bonn.

Peru Environment minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, incoming president of the UN’s December conference in Lima, told RTCC that he hoped the Fund could raise around US$10 billion by November.

“$10 billion will send a good political signal, and we are working together that the three countries—Poland, Peru and France—to convince countries that this is the only way to create confidence.”

Others have indicated that they would like to see more in the Fund. Speaking today on behalf of the G77+China negotiating bloc, Malaysia said they hoped to see US$15billion pledged by November. This figure was also supported by Hela Cheikhrouhou, the executive director of the Green Climate Fund.

‘Question of the day’

Others had more modest expectations. Speaking to RTCC at a conference of the Global Environment Facility in Cancun earlier this month, Peter Kalas, who represents the Czech Republic in the GCF, estimated that around US$5 billion would be in the Fund by November.

The figure that is eventually raised will be crucial in setting the tone at the UN’s conference in Lima a month later—the final session before a new international climate treaty is scheduled to be signed off in Paris 2015.

Developing countries want help funding new forms of low carbon energy and preparing for the worst effects of climate change. Without cash they argue they will not be able to move away from fossil fuels.

“The issue of finance is of paramount importance as it is a benchmark of what has been done in the past and what could be done in the future,” said a Chinese delegate, addressing a meeting in Bonn on Tuesday.

Earlier this year China demanded rich nations provide $40 billion by the end of this year, rising $10 billion a year to 2020.

The issue of how much will be pledged by November, and by whom, is “the eminent question at the end of the day” said Stefan Marco Schwager, who represents Switzerland in the GCF, in an interview in Cancun. “It has to be meaningful. You cannot come with a small sum—it has to be something that is credible.”

Frederic Glanois, a French representative for the GCF, told RTCC that too small a sum could prove “counterproductive”, as it would erode the fragile trust between developed and developing countries within the UN climate talks, and could prevent poor countries from making pledges to cut their emissions until promises of further cash.

Climate piggybank 

All countries are agreed that finance must form part of the UN’s 2015 deal in Paris.

“US$100 billion is a commitment by governments, so it must be there,” said Mattias Soderberg, Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Group at Act Alliance. But talks this week in Bonn have illustrated the confusion that still remains over how, when, and by whom this should be delivered.

Many have expressed good intentions towards replenishing the Green Climate Fund during sessions  taking place this week.

German environment minister Barbara Henricks said Germany would make a “significant contribution” to the Fund, but others have pointed to national complications that may prevent the immediate promise of new cash.

“We cannot just pull meaningful amounts of money out of a piggybank,” said Schwager. A delegate for Japan said that, while the country is committed to continuing their financial contributions, exactly how much they provide and when “may vary according to external finances”.

Blurred lines

A US delegate addressed concerns that developing countries would hold mitigation actions to ransom on the condition of financial pledges from developed parties.

He said that developed countries should base their contributions on their existing capacity, with supplementary provisions on what they could achieve in the case of international support, otherwise there could be a “very difficult situation before Paris where you’re trying to disentangle this conditionality.”

But China expressed concern over “blurred lines” emerging between developed and developing countries in terms of what they are expected to contribute in terms of climate finance.

This was in response to a text released by co-chairs in April, which referred to a “broadening of contributors” to the pool of climate finance.

He argued that countries considered “developing” under the UN’s Climate Convention should be exempt from pressure to donate climate finance, regardless of changes in the global economic landscape since the division was drawn up in 1992.

“After 2020, the economic realities might be changing, but the fact that developed parties dominate international economic waters … will not be changed,” he said.

The post Expectations for UN’s Green Climate Fund vary by billions appeared first on Climate Home News.

LDC member Kiribati faces having to evacuate some of its low-lying islands as a result of rising sea levels

By Sophie Yeo in Bonn

It is already too late to save many small island states from being swamped by rising seas, according to the president of Kiribati. 

Even if the world agrees to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, “total annihilation” is now inevitable for Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives, with “drastic impacts” expected within the next 20 years, warned Anote Tong.

“Whatever is agreed within the United States today, with China, it will not have a bearing on our future, because already, it’s too late for us.  And so we are that canary,” Tong said in an interview on CNN.

Carbon dioxide, which is the main driver of climate change, remains in the atmosphere for centuries after it has been emitted. This means that the world is already ‘locked in’ to a certain level of global warming in addition to the 0.8C already experienced.

Last week, Marshall Islands foreign minister Tony de Brum said that rising seas had caused World War Two skeletons to be washed from their graves.

US and China

China and the US are the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, which warm the planet. This causes the sea level rise which is now threatening to inundate the low-lying small island states.

The US announcement of strict new regulations for coal-fired power plants was welcomed this week in Bonn, where negotiators are discussing a new UN climate change treaty, set to be signed in 2015. But Tong said he felt thees efforts are too little, too late.

A special report on the small island states in the UN’s latest science report, the IPCC, warned that, even with severe emissions reductions efforts, the temperature increase in the Pacific was likely to exceed 1.5C by the end of the century.

And a report from the UN Environment Programme released last week warned that sea level rise around the small island states could be up to four times the global average of 3.2mm per year. In the tropical Western Pacific, where a large number of islands are located, sea level rise of 12mm per year was measured between 1993 and 2009.

Negotiators from small island states are pushing for the globally agreed target of a 2C limit to global warming to be revised down to 1.5C, because of the existential threat that this poses to their nations.

Tong said that, while it might be too late for his own country, he hoped that it could provide a lesson that stronger action is needed on climate change.

He said: “Hopefully, that experience will send a very strong message that we might be on the front line today, but others will be on the front line next – and the next and the next.”

The post Kiribati president: It is “too late” to save my islands appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pic: Europa/Flickr

By Sophie Yeo in Bonn

An internal dispute over the fairness of the EU’s new climate policies is continuing to divide nations, five months before the bloc’s new greenhouse gas reductions target must be finalised.

Both the European Commission and Parliament support a 40% target on 1990 levels, but it must be approved by Council before becoming law. This decision is due in October.

But according to Marcin Korolec, Poland’s State Secretary for Environment, this target will unfairly penalise Europe’s poorer nations in eastern and central Europe, who will struggle to cope with the west’s level of ambition.

“Europe needs first a fair and frank – particularly frank – discussion,” he told RTCC in an interview in Bonn. “Until now, there has been an approach that some have an ambition and some others have to deliver.”

He said that Poland, which is the second largest coal producer in Europe, remains opposed to a 40% target. The goal, he said, should be based upon the individual “readiness” of countries across the 28-state bloc.

“The proposal of the Commission is only half of the job,” he said, since it was designed to be cost-effective on a European, rather than a country, level.

“If it is cost effective on European level, that means those reductions theoretically will take place in poorer countries of Europe, which again is not such a very good idea, but we need some instruments to address this fact and to assist those countries.”

Burden sharing

He added that the countries who were allowed to increase their emissions under the Kyoto Protocol “may be more eager” to take on a greater burden in the new agreement.

While the Kyoto agreement collectively bound the EU to reduce emissions by 8% on 1990 levels by 2012, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden were permitted to raise their emissions, for which other countries compensated by taking on deeper cuts.

Korolec spoke to RTCC on the sidelines of the latest round of UN climate negotiations, taking place this week in Bonn. The UN has set a deadline of March 2015 for countries to submit their contributions to a new deal to stop dangerous climate change, which is due to be signed off by December next year.

The EU intends to submit its 2030 climate and energy package as its contribution to this deal, which makes it vital that it is finalised as soon as possible. The region is currently responsible for around 10% of global emissions.

Its intention to secure a 40% greenhouse gas reduction target is also likely to form the basis of its pledge at a landmark climate summit being held in September by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which will determine how the world views the EU’s current levels of ambition.

How the burden of the 40% target will be divided between countries is still the “big question” of the EU’s 2030 climate package, said EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, speaking in Bonn today.

She said that the EU is still working on ways to overcome the obstacle, and that the solution would not simply depend on the level of emissions reductions each country has to take on, but on financial aid delivered through European investment banks and co-finance.

“Burden sharing is not just about who’s doing what. It’s about who could help make it possible to invest in what is needed.”

It also depended on enabling countries to “harvest the low hanging fruit of energy efficiency”, she said, particularly since many of the poorest countries, which remain dependent on imported Russian gas, are some of the least efficient.

“The dilemma is that some of our member states that are not among the richest member states will have huge potential in efficiency, for instance, but they are not the ones with highest GDP per capita,” she said.

Denmark’s climate and energy minister, Rasmus Helveg Petersen, told RTCC that the debate remained “political”, but was hopeful that a 40% target would prevail in October.

“Everyone has their version of fair, but we are in the same room. We are going to hammer something out,” he said.

The post EU climate deal in balance as row simmers over 40% CO2 target appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Pic: UNFCCC/Flickr)

By Sophie Yeo in Bonn

Governments will have to reveal their planned greenhouse gas cuts, when their emissions will peak, and any adaptation plans by March 2015 as part of a global climate change deal, according to a draft text released by the UN in Bonn on Thursday.

The document is the first indication of what countries might be expected to include in their ‘nationally determined contributions’ to the UN’s 2015 deal, which is the world’s latest attempt to put a stop to dangerous climate change.

So far there has been a lack of clarity over what countries should include in their pledges.

Ronny Jumeau, ambassador for the Seychelles, told RTCC that the draft text was an important development as it “forces the discussion.”

“So you either like it or hate it, but at least you’re going to have to react to it,” he said.

The text emphasises the importance of cutting carbon dioxide emissions and preparing for future extreme weather events.

Liz Gallagher, a policy advisor at environmental thinktank E3G, told RTCC that the proposal was likely to be controversial, as developed countries had pushed for contributions to only include actions on mitigation. She said the emphasis put on adaptation was a “coup for developing countries.”

She said: “It’s in there now. It’s hard to escape, which is a good thing I think because adaptation has been seen as a developing country issue and not a top notch political issue.”

The pledges must be delivered to the UN by March 2015 at the latest, while the final treaty is scheduled to be signed off in December 2015.

Trust concerns

Not all countries have welcomed the proposals of Kishan Kumarsingh and Artur Runge-Metzger, co-chairs of the negotiating process, who wrote the recommendations.

A negotiator from a developing country speaking to RTCC on condition of anonymity said that the draft text was “illegitimate” as the co-chairs were not mandated to issue the text, and that it failed to “build trust” between nations.

An alternative draft text released yesterday by Malaysia on behalf of the Like Minded Developing Countries negotiating bloc, which includes China, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela among others, said that countries should also make promises on “finance, technology transfer, capacity building, and transparency of action and support.”

Another negotiating bloc led by Switzerland has also today released suggestions for what contributions might contain, in a sign that concrete action is now being taken to create a draft negotiating text for discussion at the UN’s annual climate conference in Lima later this year.

Ambition gap

Much of the pushback against including elements beyond mitigation in nationally determined contributions is based on concerns that countries will not be ready to commit large amount of financial support to those in need by March 2015.

By 2020 richer countries have committed to deliver $100 billion a year of low carbon financial support to developing nations to allow them to invest in clean energy technologies and deal with the effects of climate change.

But Jumeau said that many small island developing states would be content with pledges that only included mitigation commitments, as a more simple design would help to “close the emissions gap”.

This is because mitigation commitments would allow intended emissions reductions to be added together, and potentially ratcheted up, before the 2015 climate deal is sealed, he said, ensuring that the pledges were sufficient to stop dangerous levels of global warming.

“For us it’s about ambition, ambition, ambition,” he said. “We think if you put adaptation in there, you’re already sending a message that you can emit, and we can adapt.”

A spokesperson from the EU told RTCC that they “definitely want very clear ideas” on the nature of the contributions to emerge from the current round of negotiations.

Political drought

Separately, two days of ministerial discussions began today in Bonn, although as RTCC recently reported, only a fifth of countries have sent ministers of state.

Those that did turn up spoke about how to raise ambition on reducing emissions prior to 2020, when the UN’s new climate treaty will kick in.

Ioannis Maniatis, Greece’s environment minister speaking on behalf of the EU, focused on Europe’s success in overachieving on its climate goals.

Others, including the G77+China negotiating bloc, complained that only ten of the necessary 144 countries had ratified the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which commits nations to more ambitious pre-2020 emission reduction targets.

Roland Bhola, Grenada’s environment minister, expressed disappointment that no country had yet offered to increase its pre-2020 ambition.

He stressed that, while the EU has put forward a conditional offer to raise its 20% emission reduction commitment to 30%, its current emissions reductions of around 18.8% are “conceded as overachieving”.

Climate impacts

Grenada is one of the 52 small island developing states (SIDS) where the impacts of climate change are predicted to be particularly harsh.

Two UNEP reports, released today to coincide with the SIDS-themed World Environment Day, found that sea level was rising up to four times the global average around these islands, costing trillions of dollars of damage.

Another UN-backed study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) revealed that doubling the world’s renewable energy consumption to 36% by 2030 is not only possible, but would save up to US$740 billion per year on the costs associated with pollution from fossil fuels.

Christiana Figueres, head of the UN’s climate body, said that she hoped that these two days would give ministers an opportunity to “provide negotiators with your vision on how we are going to collectively negotiate that draft agreement” so that it can be ready for Lima.

The post UN outlines criteria for 2015 climate deal pledges appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pic: UNFCCC

By Sophie Yeo

Progress at UN climate talks starting today in Bonn are “critical” to the progress on an international deal to stop global warming, according to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.

During eleven days of negotiations ministers and negotiators will discuss a new climate change treaty, which will likely determine how the world reduces greenhouse gas emissions before and after 2020.

Nepali diplomat Prakash Mathema, who chairs the Least Developed Countries negotiating group, said that these discussions — the latest in a long series of conferences and meetings — are one of the final opportunities to draw up the draft text that will form the basis of discussion at the UN’s next major climate conference in Lima this December.

“Governments must make substantial progress in their talks in the period leading up to this date … We cannot be delayed by procedural discussions. We must put our heads together and start writing a new agreement,” he said.

But despite the importance of the meeting in the climate agenda, only 43 ministers from a possible 196 have committed to attend, with notable absences including the UK, Russia, Australia, Brazil, India and South Africa.

Draft text

At the last round of talks in March, countries agreed to move into ‘contact groups’, which means that conversations can start to revolve around concrete suggestions for a text, rather than abstract discussions over its shape and content.

Since then, the co-chairs of the discussions have circulated a ‘multiple choice’ style document of all the suggestions put forward by parties so far. While this is likely to form a useful basis to this week’s discussions, the diversity of opinion it contains demonstrates just how much work remains to be done.

Many ideological differences still need to be smoothed out, particularly between the world’s two largest emitters: the US and China.

Signs of progress this week from both these countries—Obama’s new standards for coal-fired power plants and rumours of a Chinese cap on emissions—have been hailed as positive momentum for the talks.

4 once heading 2 Bonn w momentum building 4 climate action: US acts on power plants & China plans 4 emissions cap from 2016. Now where’s EU?

— Tim Gore (@tim_e_gore) June 3, 2014

Other developments in the climate change scene since the last round of discussions took place include important developments on the Green Climate Fund, which could see developed countries pledge large amounts of money by November.

It is still unclear whether precise financial pledges should form part of countries’ contributions towards a 2015 climate deal. That is likely to be a source of contention this week as nations wrangle over what information they will be obliged to include in their contributions, which must be submitted by March.

A forthcoming review of the current 2C target—the limit of global warming agreed upon by all governments—to assess whether it could be revised to 1.5C is also a likely topic of contention.

Analysis by the Climate Action Tracker, released today in Bonn, shows that all governments will need to increase their ambitions on climate change in order to stay below 2C, with the energy and industry sectors becoming zero carbon as early as 2045.

“One of the major challenges for Ministers at the UNFCCC meetings in Bonn is to take concrete steps to arrest and reverse this adverse trend in decarbonisation,” said Bill Hare of Climate Analytics, one of the groups involved in the research.

Science

The Least Developed Countries bloc and the Small Island States stand to lose most from the impacts of climate change. The latest round of talks will take place on the back of the latest report from the UN’s climate science panel, the IPCC.

This spelled out the impacts of climate change, and how the world can both adapt and mitigate.

“In light of the latest science and the worsening climate impacts unfolding before our eyes – including sea level rise, intensifying droughts and floods, as well as threats to our public health and food and water resources – it is apparent that immediate action immediate action is absolutely critical to Island Nations,” said Ambassador Marlene Moses, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

“Indeed, the latest IPCC Report also identifies numerous proven policy and technology solutions for rapidly and cost effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions, many of which bring significant economic and public health benefits.”

Alongside high level ministerial meetings, these technical options to combat climate change will also be discussed, including workshops on finance, land use and deforestation.

The post Climate vulnerable states call for ‘concrete action’ at UN talks appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Pic: UNFCCC)

By Sophie Yeo and Ed King

Levels of trust between leading developing countries and the USA and EU member states appears to have hit a new low after a week of UN climate talks in Bonn.

India, China and 24 other countries in the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LDMC) group say the brunt of greenhouse gas cuts must be made by industrialised countries.

The US, EU and Switzerland say the global climate deal scheduled to be agreed in Paris next year will only work if all countries make commitments, which they say was agreed in 2011 in Durban.

A lack of progress means envoys face a tough task to get a draft agreement ready for a high-level climate summit at the end of 2014, according to Alden Meyer from the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

“At the next negotiating session in June, countries will need to come prepared to put forward more details on their visions for the Paris climate agreement, and then work to narrow their differences,” he said. “Otherwise, it will be difficult to produce a draft negotiating text for discussion at the climate summit in Lima this December.”

Raging firewall

The five-day meeting in Bonn was intended to work out certain parameters for how the 2015 deal could work, but swiftly descended into fierce exchanges between delegates.

Switzerland’s Ambassador for the Environment Franz Perrez told RTCC “dogmatic views such as all Annexe 2 have to pay, and it’s only them to have to pay” are preventing the talks from progressing.

He said climate vulnerable countries such as the Philippines should disassociate themselves with the LDMC group, which he accused of trying to slow the talks.

Perrez said: “I do not understand, if you look at what the position of the Philippines should be, they should not defend the interest of China, of India, of Singapore, of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, so it’s surprising how they are arguing in favour of maintaining a regime that is not in their advantage.”

He added: “The NGOs love the Philippines because they speak great, but their position is the same like the Saudis.”

Finance drought

The delivery of extra flows of finance – long the subject of bitter exchanged between countries – is likely to depend on when the UN-backed Green Climate Fund comes online.

In 2009 rich nations committed to supplying $100 billion a year by 2020, and delivered $30 billion between 2010-2012.

A GCF board meeting is scheduled for May, but RTCC understands there are growing concerns that it may not be ready in time, which would likely delay any new announcements of funding.

Ahead of the Bonn meeting China called for developed nations to raise their 2020 emission reduction commitments to 40%, and deliver $40 billion of climate finance by the end of the year.

These demands were described as “not realistic” by one EU negotiator, but Su Wei and Zou Ji, China’s delegates at the meeting, said poorer nations cannot deliver the emission cuts required unless they receive more help.

Broad agreement?

Most developed countries think the Paris agreement should include some reference to finance, but should focus on cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases and means of measure and verify progress.

Developing countries say the 2015 deal must include specific commitments on funding, technology transfer and adaptation requirements, as well as loss and damage.

“It was concerning that rich industrialised nations continued to push a very narrow barrow here… it is obvious that people need a much more holistic approach if we are to keep people and our food systems safe,” said  ActionAid’s Harjeet Singh.

Clock ticking

The next round of talks in June will mark the start of what are being called ‘formal negotiations’, after countries agreed to move away from a more collegiate set of discussions.

Praising this decision, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said governments now faced a tight timeline to deliver a draft agreement in Lima.

“The next nine months will require all nations to raise their eyes beyond business-as-usual in order to counter the threats and deliver the multiple opportunities from moving rapidly towards a cleaner, healthier, low carbon world,” she said.

Others were more blunt.

The UN’s Ambassador to the Marshall Islands Amatlain Kabua said bickering between leading nations had to stop for her country to have a future.

“The US and China should see that they’re the worst bad boys around, and everyone knows that, so they should try to make amends,” she said.

“The big countries have a bigger role because they have the means, they have the resources. In the Marshall Islands, we have only fish to trade with.”

The post Trust deficit blocking progress at UN climate talks appeared first on Climate Home News.

– Updates by the RTCC team in London and Bonn
– Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
– Email ek@rtcc.org or use the comment form below
– Watch the LIVE plenary from 1530 GMT

Background
– Formal talks on UN climate change deal will ‘start in June’
– UN climate envoys hail momentum, but warn time running out
– Old splits emerge as UN climate envoys seek path to 2015 deal
– Yeb Sano: fasting makes me a better climate negotiator 

1812 – “That brings us to the end of speakers” says chair Kumarsingh. Says he’s inspired by statements this evening and hopes that the “constructive” atmosphere will continue in Bonn. So that’s the end of the March meeting of UN climate envoys aimed at developing a global climate agreement. What did we learn? Not loads, to be frank.

Countries are still working out their mitigation commitments, and the Green Climate Fund is not yet operational, so perhaps new announcements were too much to expect. Divisions between rich and poor remain, although the split is slightly more nuanced than those binary terms suggest. We’ll have further analysis and commentary next week – have a good weekend.

1805 – Here’s Nicaragua’s thoughts…in a tweet

Nicaragua on behalf of ALBA calling for the repayment of climate debt owed by the North to the South and Mother Earth. #ADP2014 #UNFCCC

— climate-justice.info (@ClimateJustInfo) March 14, 2014

1800 – The Philippines’ lead negotiator Yeb Sano has sent us his views on this week’s talks…in the form of a statement he read out earlier this week. Here are some excerpts…

This is a multilateral system that we all continue to have faith in and we can and must make this work. The stewards we have appointed to shepherd the process may be given a latitude for exercising decisive, even innovative, leadership, but again not at the expense of party-drivenness; We also emphasize that consensus, as it remains our basis for agreement, must likewise be understood as each party standing on equal footing, regardless of a country’s size and economic wealth, or responsibility to climate change, or mitigation potentials.  

We must restore faith in this process, because this is the only venue where all countries can engage. And the only international process that can truly address climate change. We may be putting this process in and out of intensive care, and as we discuss another difficult procedural obstacle, it would seem that we are all in agreement that the process needs some mending. 

I struggle to understand the reluctance to move into a mode of work that will ensure we are able to ensure party-drivenness and inclusiveness, that can capture our work with clarity. I also struggle to understand how there are evidently different interpretations of the word ‘progress’ as an overwhelming majority of Parties are concerned about the lack of progress.  

1756 – Here’s the AOSIS statement in full…

AOSIS closing statement in Bonn: http://t.co/idAEo0EUs6

— Ambassador Moses (@AMBMoses) March 14, 2014

1751 – Here’s India on behalf of the BASIC group

Says nothing has been achieved in Bonn, just repetition of views from last two years. Needs ‘clearly structure formal groups’ for talks. Wants a clear plan of work to ensure delegations can prepare… and potential of technical expert meetings on ‘high mitigation areas’. Says contributions of ‘developing’ countries should be in the context of ‘sustainable development’ and will be on condition of richer nations meeting finance/tech commitments.

1750 – Former UN climate chief Yvo de Boer thinks EU is onto something…

@RTCCnewswire “evolving capabilties” to contribute to the solution a criterion worth considering

— Yvo de Boer (@yvodeboer_KPMG) March 14, 2014

1745 – Venezuela on behalf of Like Minded Group

Mutual trust are important, critical of role of chairs and lack of what she says is confusion. Need to start negotiating – only “formal and structured negotiation” can help. Need a clear work plan for what will be discussed in the ‘Contact Group’. Stresses the need for all parties to be involved.… talks of Bali Action Plan and responsibilities of developing and developed countries.

1740 – Nepal on behalf of the Least Developed Countries

Success in this process needs ‘leadership’ from all parties, wants draft negotiation text work to be ‘accelerated’. Adaptation should get more support… 2015 agreement also needs ‘comparability of efforts’ from developed country parties. Effective ‘compliance system’ needs to be agreed for 2015 deal…means and rules of implementation (finance, tech, capacity building) vital

1732 – We’re rattling along…here’s Nauru on behalf of small island states (AOSIS)

Solutions are “within reach”, delegate says, calling for a new technical paper to be released at the June meeting in Bonn. Highlights the King tides that recently hit the Marshall Islands (more on that here) and wants clarity and transparency on mitigation commitments by June. Also calls for more work on ‘loss and damage’.

1727 – Sudan on behalf of the Africa Group

Says there’s an “effective platform” for pre-2020 ambition (finance + emission cuts) but warns UN needs to reassess mode of work….wants developed countries to raise emission cuts to 40% by 2020 on 1990 levels

1721 – Mexico on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group

Says countries leave Bonn with a better understanding of visions, confident the process is moving forward. Believes 2015 agreement should not exacerbate social inequalities and environmental degradation.

1715 – Here’s the European Union

Focus on financial flows is vital… also important to emphasise EU will continue to deliver climate finance. All parties must act to hit 2C target, and all parties must respond to ‘evolving responsibilities’

1713 – Australia, speaking on behalf of the ‘Umbrella Group‘

Need more focus in June on the upfront information countries need to provide… wants to think about elements for text (based on views from parties) rather than a wider look at the whole text in one go.

1710 – ‘Party’ statements are starting with Bolivia… (this is paraphrased)

We should not lose sight of accelerating process… we have a duty to deliver a document that this process is committed to delivering agreements that will protect the earth. Need stricter negotiating structures to ensure it will be ready for adoption in Paris. Outcomes must be guided by the UNFCCC (convention) and be conducted in a manner than gives us confidence.

1705 – The ministerial dialogue on what a Paris 2015 climate change deal could look like will take place on Friday 6 June, starting at 10am. It will be preceded by a high level ministerial dialogue focused on Kyoto Protocol commitments, which will take place on Thursday 5 June.

1700 – The UN needs 1.5m Euros, because… it’s having another meeting in the third week of October. Possibly in Bonn.

#ADP2014 will have an additional session in the second half of the year.

— Healthy Planet UK (@HealthyPlanetUK) March 14, 2014

1656 – Kumarsingh says it means a “text that is constructed collectively…”

1654 – So, this could get interesting. Veteran Philippines negotiator Bernarditas de Castro Muller has quite a few questions for the chairs…she says she doesn’t know what a ‘collectively constructed text’ or ‘party driven process’ means…

1650 – The first ‘contact group’ relating to the Paris 2015 deal will commence as soon as the first plenary at Bonn concludes. This will mark the start of official negotiations for the global climate change deal.

1645 – ADP co-chair Kishan Kumarsingh praises the application of negotiators at this week’s meeting, but warns that they are well behind schedule. Reminds parties and NGOs the process is “always open”.

1640 – The main plenary has started. This is where we find out what has been decided in the past week.

1628 – There will be a technical summary of the ‘Technical Expert Meetings’ on the UNFCCC website shortly says Runge-Metzger. The *main* plenary will start shortly…(just an hour late)

1615 – China’s Su Wei says technology and efficiency issues need to be treated more seriously by the UN, but stresses he does not want ‘Technical Expert Meetings’ to become a new process. He then starts talking about the Bali Action Plan and quoting a variety of sub clauses…making it slightly hard for everyone in the room to follow. Here’s CAN South Asia’s take…

“There are a lot of concerns with regard to this ‘process’ at #ADP2014 ,” China #UNFCCC

— CAN South Asia (@CANSouthAsia) March 14, 2014

1610 – Nepal, speaking on behalf of the ‘Least Developed Countries’, says it’s unclear what’s the point of renewable energy sessions as they don’t know how to take advantage of the technologies talked about. India’s delegate says he agrees with that argument, calling for clearer advice on funding and other forms of assistance ahead of June’s meeting in Bonn.

How will the outcomes of the tech expert meetings be translated into implementable actions to close the mitigation ambition gap? #ADP

— LDC Chair (@LDCChairUNFCCC) March 13, 2014

1605 – Representatives from small island states (AOSIS) say they want clear policy outcomes from the technical meetings in June – which can be fed into a ministerial session that will take place in Bonn.

1600 – South Africa’s delegate says this has been the most pleasant UN climate meeting he has been at, with “not one argument”. I’m not entirely sure where he has been…. (perhaps asleep for a week?)

… (SouthAfrica) need for formal setting in June to build on #ADP2014. needs to report back with recommendations to ministerial segment

— Sébastien Duyck (@duycks) March 14, 2014

1555 – The floor is now open to the parties…. Bangladesh’s Quamrul Choudhury says more focus needs to be directed towards what developing countries need at the June session of the UN talks: “there should be balanced participation from presenters, especially least developed countries,” he says.

1550 – Technology and support exists for countries to start working on emission reduction plans, says Artur Runge-Metzger, the co-chair of the ADP (path of talks aimed to developing a 2015 global climate deal). He says he’s encouraged by this week’s technical expert talks, and says these efforts need greater visibility.

1547 – June’s UNFCCC meeting should be “broadened” and involve cities, urban environment and lad use change – says UN official

1538 – “Governments should take a leading role in promoting energy efficiency at all levels”, the UN facilitator on energy efficiency tells the session. He says key policy tools include energy pricing, regulations, standards for buildings, appliances and buildings. All fairly straightforward – but there do remain huge gaps between what governments are doing and what could be done

1535 – More reflections on this week’s talks are popping into my inbox. Here are the views of Mattias Soderberg from the ACT Alliance

“Since the UN climate summit in Durban 2011, talks have been held through round tables, workshops and consultations. This dialogue has been important, but it is now time to move into concrete negotiations that can deliver the global agreement we need to jointly tackle climate change.”

1530 – The closing session has started, with reflections on this week’s meetings on energy efficiency and renewables. “There is no one-size fits all policy solution” chair Youba Sokona reminds the plenary session.

You can watch all of theses meetings and access slides on the UNFCCC website.

Cities have a high stake in #Paris2015. See what #climateaction @C40cities are taking http://t.co/E5lEfcyDTs #ADP2014 pic.twitter.com/zgLDLGLOMq

— UNFCCC (@UN_ClimateTalks) March 13, 2014

1525 – What’s evident is that there is no sign of the developed-developing ‘firewall’ burning out – just yet. Here’s ActionAid’s Harjeet Singh:

“It was concerning that rich industrialised nations continued to push a very narrow barrow here – talking about the future agreement as being only focused on emission cuts. It is obvious that people need a much more holistic approach if we are to keep people and our food systems safe.” 

1520 – This week’s meeting has taken place in Bonn’s World Conference Centre, the former home of the German Bundestag before the country’s east and west were reunified. The Parliament met in the room below from 1992-1999.

(Pic: UNFCCC)

1515 – RTCC’s Sophie Yeo has been speaking to yeb Sano, the Phillipines’ lead envoy at these talks. He fasts twice a month in memory of the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which hit his country last November. He says those painful memories give him strength at these meetings

.@YebSano on fasting: “I have reason to believe it is touching the hearts of many people.” http://t.co/CLu5FTCVg2 #ADP2014

— Sophie Yeo (@rtcc_sophie) March 14, 2014

1510 – The UN’s climate chief Christiana Figueres has already released a statement on this week’s talks. It’s light on anything that was actually achieved (as you might expect), and underlines her desire for parties to work harder on building a consensus.

“We are now entering a serious and significant phase in the evolution of international, cooperative climate policy as we look towards both Lima and Paris. The next 9 months will require all nations to raise their eyes beyond business-as-usual in order to counter the threats and deliver the multiple opportunities from moving rapidly towards a cleaner, healthier, low carbon world.”

1505 – I’m Ed King and welcome to RTCC’s live blog of the closing session at UN climate talks in Bonn. It’s worth tuning in for as we’ll hear from all the main groups and parties involved in this week’s meeting, and get a sense of how successful they feel it has been.

This is the first of a series of meetings planned for 2014 that are designed to provide space for countries to work out how a global emissions reduction agreement could work. A draft text is expected at a larger UN summit in Lima, Peru, this December – so the clock is ticking.

The post As it happened: UN climate change talks in Bonn, closing session appeared first on Climate Home News.

Small island states want countries to speed up carbon pollution cuts, warning rising seas could swallow their communities (Pic: Alson J. Kelen)

By Sophie Yeo in Bonn

Formal negotiations on a global climate change treaty will start in June, after pressure from a broad coalition of developing countries moved officials to accelerate the process.

UN officials have decided to establish specific groups to work on the agreement on Friday. These will come into effect when parties meet again for talks scheduled in three months time.

Bangladesh envoy Quamrul Chowdhury, lead negotiator for the 49-strong Least Developed Countries bloc, told RTCC the decision was a “positive move” towards the process of creating the final text.

Countries have already agreed a draft text will be ready by the UN’s annual climate conference in Lima in December—the final stage before it is due to be signed off in Paris next year.

“We must start negotiations on the text. No more delays,” tweeted Filipino climate negotiator Yeb Sano yesterday, adding that contact groups allowed a transparent and party-driven process.

I struggle to understand reluctance to move into mode of work that will ensure party-drivenness & inclusiveness #ADP2014 #LetsgetitDone

— Yeb Saño (@YebSano) March 13, 2014

Oleg Shamanov, lead negotiator for Russia, told RTCC that he was “not strictly opposed” to the new structure, but considered it an “artificial discussion” that would have little impact on the negotiations themselves.

“Why are we doing this?” he questioned. “Just to send a signal to the outside world that we have moved onto negotiating mode?”

During a lively evening meeting in Bonn, Swiss negotiator Franz Perrez said he was “sceptical” that this was the right moment to move towards contact groups.

An EU negotiator told RTCC that that he was happy with the conclusion of the meeting and was “relatively relaxed” about how the discussions go forward.

He added that the EU had not initially favoured the move into contact groups, since they believed that good progress had already been made over the last two years in the current format. “Why try to fix something that wasn’t broken?” he said.

The row over whether work on the final text should continue in smaller, official “contact groups” or in larger open discussions between all parties appears to be a symptom of wider mistrust in at the talks.

What began as a procedural discussion on how the text should be constructed has brewed into one of the biggest issues at ongoing UN talks this week in Bonn.

Many developing countries have expressed frustration at the slow-turning cogs of the UN process, which has so far fallen short of delivering much in the way of either mitigation or finance pledges.

Developing countries seem to believe a more formal approach will hold countries to account, while the US, EU and Switzerland support more fluid negotiations, which they say will allow more ideas and concepts to be discussed.

Many negotiators fear a repeat of the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, when countries were left debating a text that UK official Pete Betts described as looking like an “encyclopedia…or a telephone directory.”

Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists told RTCC: “There were a number of developed country parties who expressed a concern about this turning into something that produced an unwieldy text before they had conceptual agreement on the elements of the 2015 deal in Paris.”

here is #ADP2014 co-chairs’ nightmare,thus keen on continuing brainstorming session rather than putting text on table pic.twitter.com/C0Q8JtTHVi

— Sébastien Duyck (@duycks) March 12, 2014

The post Formal talks on UN climate change deal will ‘start in June’ appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Pic: UNFCCC)

By Sophie Yeo in Bonn

The glacial pace of the UN climate talks has picked up slight momentum at UN climate talks this week, envoys with both poor and rich countries said today, but others warned a potential global deal by the end of 2015 will need to reach key staging posts before the end of this year.

An EU diplomat told RTCC “substantive conversations” on what the text for a any deal could look like were already taking place.

But there has been no progress on what legal force any deal would have, or whether a draft will be ready for this year’s main summit in Lima this November.

Negotiators  mindful of the disappointing outcome from the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 say tangible agreement will need to be made before the end of this year for the Paris 2015 talks to be able to agree major tenets of a deal to cut greenhouse gases blamed for warming the planet.

Bangladesh’s Quamrul Chowdhury, lead negotiator for the Least Developed Countries, said he is still hopeful that “meat and flesh” will be placed on the framework of an agreement this year.

“People are still showing their red lines and their limitations, but also there are common grounds, common landing zones, arising. Hopefully we are moving positively in the right direction, but still there are a lot of clouds,” he said.

“My reflection as one of the Least Developed Country negotiators is things are moving in a positive direction, and it will unfold gradually, not everything in one single course. No one is blocking, so that is positive.”

Where to start

The lead negotiator for France, hosts of the 2015 climate summit, said clearer momentum still needs to emerge with few days of formal negotiation left this year before the Lima meeting.

“What we need is a real sense of dynamic, that this is moving forwards, that people are starting to prepare a text,” Paul Watkinson told RTCC.

“Until now we’re just turning around, looking at each other as if we’re not quite sure where to start, and I think we now need to start,” the envoy for France added.

Fierce exchanges between countries over who is responsible for tackling climate change marked the first two days of this meeting, which concludes on Friday.

Nations classed in 1992 as ‘developing’ expect ‘developed’ countries to adopt tougher carbon pollution targets later this year, perhaps as early as June.

Poorer countries are also pointing to a lack of financial support for low carbon investment, arguing it’s impossible to plan for a cleaner future they cannot afford.

But in a sign the patience of some observers is wearing thin, the NGO newsletter ECO, which has covered environmental conferences since 1972, accused the US and China of being in a ‘perpetual time warp’, demanding delegates face up to the dangerous realities ‘the sooner the better’.

Arguments over the process of negotiations have also eaten into time, with the G77 and China calling for a more formal set of ‘contact groups’ where the process is driven by countries, and not by UN officials.

since #ADP2014 had no agenda to adopt, one would have expected no procedural struggles. but that was underestimating negotiators’ creativity

— Sébastien Duyck (@duycks) March 10, 2014

Many countries hope that the elements of this agreement will be set out during the course of this session, although pen has yet to be put to paper on what the final draft might look like.

Ronny Jumeau, who represents the Seychelles at the UN climate talks, told RTCC that given the current pace of discussions, it’s likely another set of talks for October will need to be arranged.

This would take place between a summit to be held by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in September and the UN climate body’s annual conference, which takes place in Lima, Peru.

Ban has called for heads of state to come to New York, bringing with them ambitious pledges on tackling climate change, ahead of official contributions to the new agreement in  the first quarter of 2015.

“We don’t want to start a new conversation from scratch in Lima,” said Jumeau, who this afternoon will call for the additional meeting.

An extra session in October would help countries to make sense of the outcome of Ban’s summit, he added.

“The more work that’s left unfinished by Lima, the less conducive it’ll be to a productive set of negotiations. We’re trying to get as much done as possible between now and Lima.”

He said the Alliance of Small Island States is already factoring such a meeting into their internal planning.

At #ADP2014, @wbclimatechange warned of the consequences of overstepping the max 2 degrees C goal for the poor pic.twitter.com/GHVSX3hilw

— UNFCCC (@UN_ClimateTalks) March 12, 2014

The post UN climate envoys hail momentum, but warn time running out appeared first on Climate Home News.

Background
– Do negotiators think a UN climate deal is possible?
– Saleemul Huq: loss and damage needs to be on Bonn agenda
– Marshall Islands: we’re facing a climate disaster
– Could a Security Council seat tempt India into carbon cuts?

1232 – That concludes the opening plenary from this week’s UN meeting in Bonn. I think it’s fair to say nothing groundbreaking emerged, bar a strong push from a large group of developing countries to move the talks into a more ‘formal’ setting of contact groups. There still appears to be a considerable divide between rich and poor, but then these high level segments can be slightly misleading, given how reluctant individual countries are to reveal their cards too early.

You can download a full agenda for this week’s talks here, and we’ll have further coverage in Bonn throughout this week from RTCC’s Sophie Yeo, who’s on her way there now.

1223 – A few other countries are now making submissions. Turkey and Kuwait threw their toys when told there was no time for national submissions (which were covered within the ‘groups’), emphasising just how tough this process is for the chairs, who always run the risk of creating a diplomatic incident by ignoring someone.

1205 – Assad Rehman from Friends of the Earth UK:

Warns negotiators how they will be judged… “to meet this test you must drastically scale up your work”, says it is “indefensible” that chairs have not moved into formal negotiations on a 2015 deal. Says a vision to limit warning to below 1.5C vital.

1202 – Here’s Norine Kennedy from the United States Council for International Business

She wants the 2015 deal to “encourage innovation” and involve developing countries in boosting their economies through low carbon investment. Praises Polish Presidency for opening informal talks with business during the Warsaw UN summit last November.

1201 – We are going to hear from ‘observer organisations’, starting with business lobby groups…you can watch this all on the UNFCCC webcast.

1200 – Country statements will be placed on the website due to ‘matters of time’.

1149 – Columbia on behalf of AILAC group (Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Perú, Guatemala and Panamá)

Small dig at Russia – doesn’t want any long debates over ‘process’. Talks must be ‘rational, flexible and efficient’. Leadership on mitigation must come from ‘developed’ countries. Stresses need for new focus on loss and damage, and ‘means of implementation’ (finance).

1144 – Venezuela on behalf of the ALBA group (Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba)

Developed countries must offer new and clear mitigation goals before anyone else. Need a roadmap for financing, mitigation and adaptation. Need a more ‘structured way of working’ and inclusive process (they want a contact group too). Wants the co-chairs to ‘re-right the ship’ and focus on the clear principles of the convention.

#ADP2014 early days and yet fears of hidden/pre-set draft negotiating texts for global deal prevail?

— nitin sethi (@nitin_set) March 10, 2014

1134 – India on behalf of BASIC group (Brazil, South Africa, India and China)

Backs statement from G77 + China. Says equity and CBDR must be respected, and any 2015 agreement should strengthen that. Says contributions from developed countries require urgent work; also wants formal negotiations for a draft text (contact group format) to start now. Developed countries must ‘honour commitments’ on finance, technology and economy-wide contributions. “Not acceptable that the commitments of developed countries should be transferred to developing.”

1128 – Saudi Arabia on behalf of the 22-strong Arab group

Aligns itself with G77+ China group. Believes emission cuts must be made along with national priorities. Equality and equity are central. Believes new legally binding instrument should be embedded in domestic laws and needs strong measuring and reporting instrument. ‘Means of support’ for developing countries needs to be clarified. Stresses ‘historical responsibility’ of climate change.

1121 – Philippines on behalf of ‘Like Minded Developing Countries’

This is Yeb Sano talking… (remember his powerful address in Warsaw?) …says Equity and principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR) must be the bedrock of any deal. Rich nations cannot be allowed to ‘escape’ from commitments. Wants an open ‘contact group’ for talks on a 2015 deal. This should be the basis for the 2015 text. Repeats China’s demand for developed countries to cut emissions 40% on 1990 levels by 2020.

#ADP2014 Dev’ing countries are suffering massively from adverse effects of climate change. This highlights urgency in work of ADP this year.

— Yeb Saño (@YebSano) March 10, 2014

1113 – Nepal on behalf of Least Developed Countries

Warns timeline for delivering pledges for 2015 global treaty is ‘too late’ and wants delivery of actions ‘by end of 2014’. Stresses financial support for clean energy and adaptation is ‘essential’.

Press Release: LDCs call for inaugural meeting of the Year of ambition to be placed on a very high stand http://t.co/Y5NhkcZayB

— LDC Chair (@LDCChairUNFCCC) March 10, 2014

1106 – Nauru on behalf of AOSIS

Says 2014 a special year as it’s the international year of small island states. Warns opportunity to address climate impacts may be “irrevocably lost” unless something is done before 2020. Welcomes focus on renewables and energy efficiency as areas of high opportunity. Says Paris deal must be a ‘legally binding protocol… based on science and limiting global warming to below 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Small island states remind parties at UN #climate talks that the discussion is about their survival #ADP2014 #UNFCCC

— Mattias Söderberg (@Mattias_S) March 10, 2014

AOSIS #UNFCCC opening statement in Bonn: http://t.co/Jadhn3eDbc

— Ambassador Moses (@AMBMoses) March 10, 2014

1100 – Sudan on behalf of the Africa group

Supports positions of G77 + China. Calls for a contact group where discussions can be officially recorded. Says this is the ‘ultimate building block’ for combating climate impacts. Wants a technical paper identifying incentives and opportunities from climate deal.

1052 – Switzerland on behalf of the ‘EIG group’

Wants focus to be on ADP workstream 1 (the 2015 agreement). Says meeting should advance common understanding of 2015 outcome, information that needs to be provided, and help all to unlock opportunities to cut emissions before 2020. EIG concerned about lack of work in Green Climate Fund and urges all members to accelerate work.

1047 – Australia on behalf of the ‘Umbrella group’

Calls for an ‘ambitious, inclusive and durable agreement’ – repeating almost verbatim the USA’s submission to the UN. Says countries have been looking at how they can reduce emissions at home, and help others. Says a ‘binary approach’ to differentiation “will not work”, emphasising importance of moving on from original classifications of ‘developed’ and ‘developing’.

1045 – Greece on behalf of the EU

EU statement is quite technical (like its submission to the UN). Stresses political leadership is essential this year, especially through the June UNFCCC session, Ban Ki-moon’s meeting in September and the main summit in Lima later this year.

1035 – Bolivia on behalf of the G77 + China.

Says countries need to move beyond an exchange of ideas… concerned about lack of adaptation in our discussions – urges parties to take this on board. Calls on developed countries to make higher emission reduction contributions by 2014, “with a view of closing the ambition gap by 2020″. Maintains developing countries have made a greater contribution to cutting emissions than developed.

G77 implicitly attacking the “huddle” process here. Falls short of outright calling for a contact group now. #ADP2014

— climate-justice.info (@ClimateJustInfo) March 10, 2014

1034 – Statements from parties are about to start…

1031 – Runge-Metzger stresses a text needs to be ready by November so countries understand what needs to be done to close the “ambition gap”. He adds there will be further discussions this week on the voluntary cancellation of Certified Emission Reduction credits (CERs) without double counting (there’s a briefing on Thursday @ 1pm).

1025 – Here’s why China might be interested in these talks…

1015 – Artur Runge-Metzger: “This session is an important step in the process…ADP needs to advance in elaboration of 2015 agreement…negotiation text by Lima.” Stresses importance of domestic contributions and opportunities to realise “pre-2020 ambition”. ADP needs a second session in second half of 2014 – and this will take place this October in Bonn.

1010 – UN climate chief Christiana Figueres says she hopes inspiring examples of “concrete action” will be on display this week. Hopes renewable energy and efficiency technologies will be top of agenda. Adds that “you are not walking alone”, stresses conversations with military forces, city leaders, youth and NGOs. “Use the support from non state actors as wind in your sails,” she says, adding she is confident envoys “will use this opportunity”.

@CFigueres: Gvts looking at pre-2020 ambtion from very practical point of view, how to use potential of #renewables & EE #ADP2014

— UNFCCC (@UN_ClimateTalks) March 10, 2014

1004 – Ok – we’re started….chair Artur Runge-Metzger hopes the talks can be characterised by a “positive spirit”

0951 – We’re hearing the delay could have been caused by the G77 having some internal discussions. Perhaps connected to China’s rather lively thoughts on the UN process, submitted last week

#ADP2014 delayed in starting… differences between dvpng countries who want formal negotiations and Chairs who want to keep control?

— climate-justice.info (@ClimateJustInfo) March 10, 2014

0936 – Philippines envoy Yeb Sano (who we’ll hear more from later this week) tweets

@UN_ClimateTalks ADP Session here in Bonn opening plenary now about to start. #LetsMove

— Yeb Saño (@YebSano) March 10, 2014

0927 – According to the UN…

#ADP2014 about to start pic.twitter.com/l4cBvFdZdA

— UNFCCC (@UN_ClimateTalks) March 10, 2014

0925 – While we wait for the talks to commence, it’s worth reflecting on how tough this set of talks are. I’ve been speaking to seven top negotiators and asking them what makes this such a challenging forum. Here are the views of Venezuela’s Claudia Salerno:

0919 – So, a solid start here in Bonn.

@rtcc_edking guess it’s just starting late,I mean, when was last time that UNFCCC meeting started on time (or worse, delivered on schedule?)

— Sébastien Duyck (@duycks) March 10, 2014

0916 – If you’re wondering, ADP stands for “The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP)”. It’s a stream of talks focused on developing a global climate change deal to be agreed in 2015, and come into force by 2020. Countries have agreed to have a draft text ready by December this year (when the 2014 climate summit takes place in Lima, Peru) and to deliver their emission reduction pledges by March 2015. So there’s a clear, and quite tough, deadline here.

0912 – So, while we wait for the UN to sort out their webcast (or find the delegates and get this show started), let’s run through some basics. This is why UN climate chief Christiana Figueres thinks this meeting is important:

“We are at the highest level of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere for the last 800,000 years and we have not yet started to bend that curve back down again – this is the urgency of the challenge. Just as climate change impacts are accelerating, 2014 needs to be a year of accelerated action and ambition to check the advance of climate change. Governments and business, cities and citizens are closer than ever to achieving the positive tipping points in economies and societies that get us to a low – carbon, high resilience future. We now need to fully harness those opportunities and that momentum”

0900 – We’re still waiting for the UN webcast link to go live. As soon as it does, coverage will start…while you’re waiting, follow the #ADP2015 hashtag on twitter for updates from delegates

0845 (GMT) – I’m RTCC, editor Ed King, and welcome to RTCC’s live coverage of the opening day of UN climate talks in Bonn. The main plenary session lasts from 0900-1200 and we’ll bring you updates and analysis throughout that time. Reporter Sophie Yeo is in Bonn for RTCC this week and will be speaking to key envoys to establish how they see plans for a global emissions reduction deal shaping up.

This week’s UN meeting takes place in the German Parliament’s old HQ in Bonn (Pic: UNFCCC)

The post As it happened: UN climate change summit opens in Bonn appeared first on Climate Home News.

Source: UNFCCC

By Sophie Yeo

Efforts to draft an international treaty to tackle climate change will begin next week in Germany.

Climate negotiators will meet for the first time since the UN’s annual Conference of Parties (COP) in Warsaw last November, where they agreed a timetable of work on the treaty.

This agreement, which is due to be signed off in Paris in 2015, will bind all countries to reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases. It will replace the Kyoto Protocol as the world’s most important treaty on climate change, and will require all countries to rethink their energy systems.

The meeting taking place in Germany next week will be the first attempt to design how this treaty might look. Apart from curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the agreement needs to work out how countries can adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change, and how to mobilise the finance and technology support needed to do so.

“At the ADP meeting in Bonn, nations can learn from each other how best to fast track, scale up and accelerate a transition to a low carbon economy that will help make Paris 2015 the success it needs to be for seven billion people, rising to more than nine billion by 2050,” said Christiana Figueres, head of the UN’s climate body.

Draft agreement

Preparations for the treaty are difficult and controversial, with different blocs of countries arguing over who should take the brunt of the emissions reductions.

Many who take part in the process say that getting an early draft will be vital to the success of the final two-week summit next year—leaving details to the last minute could lead to further delay. The UN hopes that a draft agreement will be on the table before the end of this year, when all parties will meet again in Lima, Peru, for further discussion.

“Most of the negotiated content of the Paris agreement needs to be ready by COP 20 in Lima, and we need to reach a common understanding of how individual components of this new agreement will operate for that to happen,” said Figueres.

At last year’s meeting in Warsaw, countries agreed to submit their contribution towards the final agreement by the first quarter of 2015. The meeting next week will be an opportunity for those who have already advanced their preparations to present where they stand.

The next key moment this year will be in September, at a meeting to be hosted by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the UN’s General Assembly. Ban has invited heads of state to come to the meeting with commitments on climate change that could be incorporated into the final deal.

Many see this as a key forerunner to the Conference in Lima, where the draft of the treaty will be discussed and secured.

“Just as climate change impacts are accelerating, 2014 needs to be a year of accelerated action and ambition to check the advance of climate change,” said Figueres.

“Governments and business, cities and citizens are closer than ever to achieving the positive tipping points in economies and societies that get us to a low-carbon, high resilience future. We now need to fully harness those opportunities and that momentum.”

The post UN to start drafting 2015 climate change treaty appeared first on Climate Home News.

The EU’s climate action slowdown is likely to end later this year, an MEP has told RTCC.

During the last year enthusiasm in Brussels to fix the EU carbon market has been on the wane, emission reduction targets remained static and there was a perceived shift towards economic priorities and maintaining low energy prices.

Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout said circumstances have conspired against those pursuing effective climate policies in the EU but the situation can change as rapidly as it emerged.

“I really think that September will see a change in the mood,” said Eickhout.

“The international circumstances will play a role too. We need to present our package [to the UN climate talks] in 2015 and if Europe is not taking positive steps there will be a problem. We need to get over this ‘summer holiday’ and then we will see some better attitudes again.”

Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout is confident Europe will rediscover its climate ambition before the end of the year (©Green Week)

MEPs voted down a so-called backloading proposal, designed to stimulate the EU’s flagging carbon market. Failure to raise the bloc’s emission reduction pledge for 2020 from 20% to 30% has also been viewed dimly, particularly as some interpretations of the data suggest that objective has already been achieved.

“Climate change is becoming a more difficult debate. We’re in a perfect storm working in the wrong direction. Backloading just shows that the current main instrument that we have for reducing emissions in Europe, the Emissions Trading System, is not working.

“At the same time there is a lot of hype about shale gas coming from the US, this is also delivering a lot of cheap coal, there’s an energy price debate and climate change is off the political agenda. All together, those are very bad circumstances for discussing climate and energy policies,” said Eickhout.

As talks in Bonn continue this month on a new global treaty to address emissions, many developing nations and those most vulnerable to climate change have expressed disappointment that the EU has not increased its own greenhouse gas targets.

Eickhout said he is confident that the next attempt to vote through modified reforms for the carbon market will be successful and that will kick start a more positive shift in Europe’s position.

“The situation will rapidly change as well. The Germans are not present in the debate, that will change when they have their elections in September.

“The new IPCC [climate science] report will be out around the same time, that will help to put the discussion back on the table. Shale gas hype is already receding in the US where gas prices have started going up and investors in shale in Poland have been pulling out,” claimed Eickhout.

“All these factors will change the mood but at this stage it is very difficult.

“These are the most difficult times but still Europe wants to deliver a 2030 climate and energy package. It isn’t deterred, that is important.”

European leaders are expected to start ratifying the amendment to the Kyoto Protocol agreed in Doha that extends the emissions reduction treaty till 2020.

Those with binding commitments under Kyoto, including the EU, will also ratchet up their emission reduction targets during a review process in 2014.

So far the UAE is the only country to have ratified the Doha amendment with Malta understood to be on the brink of becoming the first EU member state to do so.

China and the USA

As the Presidents of China and the USA meet in California this week, it is expected that more details will emerge of a climate partnership between the two.

“There is a danger Europe could be left behind. The USA and China moved together in Copenhagen, on that occasion it was not very successful, perhaps it was from their perspective,” said Eickhout adding that while Europe has put its focus on internal matters, it has been missing global developments.

“There is still this view in Europe that we are leading. That’s not the case anymore. Europe needs to wake up, the world is changing.

“Some will say let others take the lead but this is the moment for Europe to get its act together and step in. If we leave it to China and the USA we will never get a binding agreement. If the US and China have one thing in common, its that they hate the UN.”

The post Dutch MEP: Europe set to end climate ambition ‘vacation’ appeared first on Climate Home News.

UNFCCC: The stalemate over the agenda at the UN climate talks continues after no resolution was found to an objection raised by Russia, Belarus and Ukraine on the first day of the talks. (IISD)

The agenda debate has overshadowed the talks so far (Source: flickr/UNFCCC)

UK: Renewable energy developer RES is to provide households in the UK that are located near its windfarms £100 a year in compensation through their electricity bills. (Greenwise Business)

Germany: Industrial giant Siemens has called on the German government to rein in its renewables growth and focus on high efficiency gas powered electricity production instead. (reNews)

USA: The health effects of increased numbers of wildfires are being seen in the USA, according to public officials. The area of forest burned in the north west of the US is expected to triple by 2080. (The Huffington Post)

UK: The EU’s solar panel tariffs on Chinese products could cause it to miss its own renewable energy targets according to UK climate minister Greg Barker. (The Daily Telegraph)

The post Russia continues to block UN climate talks appeared first on Climate Home News.

The UN climate talks have lost a decade of progress because of the failings of rich nations, according to a group of developing countries.

Speaking at the resumption of the UNFCCC process in Bonn on Monday, Naderev Sano, a representative of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) warned the entire process was at stake.

“There has been a lost decade on climate change. We lost that decade because countries with the responsibility to lead refused to lead,” said Sano, who is also the Philippines climate change commissioner.

The meeting is being held at the Bonn World Convention Center (Source: Flickr/UNFCCC)

“We lost the last decade because developed countries refused to lead. While they procrastinated, the world experienced the increasing consequences of a changing climate.

“If only developed countries have fulfilled their obligations and remained faithful to our ‘constitution’, we would be on our way to a fair and successful climate regime marked by international cooperation for equitable and ambitious action by all,” he added.

UN climate talks 2013: Daily coverage from Bonn

Climate change negotiators are meeting in Bonn this week to discuss the 2015 universal deal to reduce emissions that governments agreed to start work on at the 2011 UN climate summit in Durban.

Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, the new deal would require action from developing and developed nations alike.

“The credibility of developed countries to ask developing countries for bigger efforts on climate action lies on their ability to show leadership,” said Rene Orellana, head of the Bolivian delegation.

“Leadership from developed countries needs to happen now and should not be postponed to 2020, as this sets the stage for more effective climate action beyond 2020.”

The LMDCs include Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, China, India and Ecuador.

The group has no single common thread running through it but is sometimes broadly characterised as countries that oppose the talks’ existing progress.

Some South American members want ambition to be far higher whereas large oil exporters and emerging economies enjoying runaway growth look to avoid promoting policies that could force them into external obligations to reduce emissions that interfere with their economies.

The post Rich countries blamed for setting climate talks ‘back a decade’ appeared first on Climate Home News.