FACED with criticisms and doubts on the future of climate deals, negotiators have jump-started another rounds of talks in Bonn, Germany to fashion out global climate change agreement to be adopted by 2015 and that will come into force in 2020.
Coming on the heels of the first round of talks under the ADP in Bonn, which ended May 3 this year, which governments undertook work on the main contours and central elements of the 2015 agreement, and also on a practical and results-oriented approach to raising immediate climate ambition.
In Bonn, the process of the in-depth review of the adequacy of the two degrees Celsius goal agreed by governments will begin. The review is a reality check on the advance of the climate change threat and the possible need to mobilize further action, and is set to conclude by 2015. During this event, observers not physically present will also be able to participate virtually via webcast and Twitter.
Other key discussions include talks on institutional arrangements that provide the most vulnerable populations with better protection against loss and damage caused by slow onset events such as rising sea levels.
This meeting resumes the second session of the “Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action” (ADP), that is tasked both to complete a universal climate agreement by 2015 that will come into force from 2020, and to find ways to increase the current inadequate level of global ambition to address human-generated climate change before the end of the decade.
The ADP is resuming its work in parallel with the annual sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These bodies will play an essential role in the effective implementation of the outcomes of the recent UN Climate Change Conferences in Cancun (in 2010), in Durban (in 2011) and in Doha last year.
“The negotiations are now in a crucial conceptual phase of the 2015 agreement, and need inputs from all relevant stakeholders,” according to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres.
“With growing numbers of countries enacting climate legislation, with investment in renewables growing and private sector attention to climate risk increasing, the negotiations can capture the energy and dynamism of all stakeholders, who in turn need to provide clear inputs as to where more ambition is possible, and where international policy guidance from governments can unleash even more action on their part,” she said.
Ms. Figueres also underlined the importance of the SBSTA and SBI meetings to push forward the significant progress already made in creating an international response to climate change and to sustain a positive momentum towards the next annual UN Climate Change meeting in Warsaw, scheduled for November 11-22.
“While we negotiate the new universal agreement, we must not forget that governments must deliver on existing agreements related to finance, technology and capacity-building. Because of this, implementation of the agreed support systems must continue with the same urgency and focus as the ADP negotiation. I look forward to seeing success showcased across all key areas of climate action when we meet again in Warsaw,” she said.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
