Bonn: the negotiations resume
Working basis
Five meticulous days to work on the shortened text of 20 pages published on 5 October 2015 by the ADP* Co-Chairs, Ahmed Djoghlaf (Algeria) and Daniel Reifsnyder (United States). The aim of this last negotiating session is to improve the text, identify compromises, decide on options and set out the parameters of an ambitious agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This session begins in a particular context, with the OECD report of 7 October which estimated at $62 billion the amount raised by developed countries in 2014 for developing countries to help them cope with climate change; with the promise in Lima on 9 October of the development banks to pay out $15 billion extra by 2020; and, above all, with the presentation of 149 intended nationally determined contributions (INDC)* representing 87% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Three key points of the negotiations
The plenary session on Monday morning is an opportunity for countries to share their expectations and requests. Three key points are already known:
- long-term goals:
limiting global warming to 2°C* is a universal goal, but countries such as the island States call for a goal of 1.5°C – these two figures are mentioned in the working documents. Keeping within this limit requires a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The wording of this objective may be precise (a deadline for the emissions peak) or more vague (“global low-carbon transformation” or “carbon neutrality”). The principle for a review of actions implemented is under discussion, but the date of it is subject to debate. Some want a review ahead of 2020, when the future agreement will enter into force. It should be noted that, if we are to keep within 2°C, scientists and economists recommend greater efforts even before 2020, as acting later could be more expensive.
- upward revision of commitments:
149 countries have submitted their national contributions to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 or 2030. If these commitments are fulfilled, the predictable rise in global temperatures would be brought down from more than 4°C to around 3°C. To bridge the gap between 2°C and 3°C, many countries would like new, more ambitious commitments to be published every five years.
- financing:
Developing countries want financing for climate projects to be additional to and not replace development assistance budgets.
They also want a rebalancing between adaptation* to climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which is where most funding is currently spent. Lastly, these countries want a rise in financing to be guaranteed after 2020.
To follow the session in real time: here.
*GLOSSARY
BONN: This is where the UNFCCC is headquartered. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, with the aim of “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent any dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” The UNFCCC secretariat plays a key role in organizing the negotiations. The Executive Secretary is Christiana Figueres.
ADP: The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) was established during COP17 in 2011, and is responsible, in the framework of the UNFCCC, for producing a new “protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force”. This agreement should be adopted in 2015 before taking effect in 2020. That is the challenge of COP21.
National contribution: each State party to the UNFCCC has been invited to publish its “intended nationally determined contribution” (INDC) setting out its measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 or 2030. Some have included adaptation measures or requests for financing. The UNFCCC secretariat will publish a summary in early November to determine their overall effect.
2°C: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming of more than 2°C would have serious consequences, such as an increase in the number of extreme climate events. In Copenhagen in 2009, the countries stated their determination to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Adaptation: the measures taken by countries to reduce the impact of climate change (rise in sea level, droughts, etc.), including for example building seawalls along the coast.
Fonte: http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/
