UNFCCC: Encouraging Ending to Bonn Talks as World Readies for Lima UN Climate Conference

A positive stage has been set for the UN climate convention conference in Lima following a week of governmental negotiations in Bonn that have evolved a range issues needed to deliver a draft climate agreement in the Peruvian capital in December. The draft is meant to form the basis for a new universal climate agreement scheduled to be inked in Paris, France next year and due to come into effect in 2020.

Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this week exchanged a rich variety of views on how nations can scale up action on adapting to the current and future impacts of climate change. The session also delivered significant and fresh clarity on how and what countries will communicate in their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDCs) scheduled during the first quarter of 2015. An early example of this emerged this week when the European Union announced an emission reduction target of at least 40 per cent by 2030.

Discussions also focused on how countries will, post 2020, ensure they keep on track over the coming decades towards the goal of keeping a global temperature rise under 2 degree Celsius this century. Several countries put forward suggestions on how a global community of over 190 nations can deliver an equitable agreement in Paris. Some nations underlined the importance of having a long term vision for climate action with some voicing the need to move to climate neutrality – or what is also termed net zero or zero net – in the second half of the century.

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said on 25 October: “Governments are keeping the negotiations on track towards Paris 2015 and doing so with an increasing level of engagement, clarity and creativity on how that agreement is likely to look”. „All eyes will now be on Lima where the key litmus test of that engagement and ambition will be the emergence of a concise and credible draft agreement to be further refined in 2015,” she said. “Paris will not solve the climate change challenge at a stroke, but it needs to put in place the pathways and polices that can put climate action on an ever rising trajectory and emissions on an ever diminishing one—currently the negotiations are in a good space, “added Ms Figueres.

This week’s negotiating session was held under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) which has two aims: delivering the new universal agreement in December 2015 while catalyzing enhanced action up to 2020. “While countries engaged in a constructive spirit this week including on how to scale up action on adaptation to meet current and future climate impacts, they need to be mindful of the time-lines towards the new agreement given there is just 14 months to go”, said Kishan Kumarsingh, Co-Chair of the ADP. Artur Runge-Metger, Co-Chair of the ADP said in respect to pre-2020 ambition: “Enhancing action now and up to 2020 will be critical in defining the scale of the global effort that will be needed post-2020”.

Bonn Technical Expert Meetings help to catalyze climate action up to 2020

Part of the push to enhance pre-2020 ambition have been a series of Technical Expert Meetings (TEMs) that have been held over the year in Bonn covering issues such as policies to scale up renewable energies to scaling up actions by cities. This week governments, international agencies, companies and civil society shared information on policies and proven technologies in two areas with high potential to curb emissions. One area was carbon capture, storage and use (CCSU). The second was non-CO2 gases including methane, nitrous oxide and hydroflurocarbons (HFCs). These are powerful global warming gases resulting for example from industrial activities, landfills, household appliances and livestock farming.

In the area of carbon capture, storage and use, there was a shared sense that the technology exists and is ready to be deployed at a larger scale, but that stronger and adequate policies and finance need to be put in place for this to happen, including a high enough price on carbon. In the area of non-CO2 gases, experts agreed that whilst carbon pricing can play a role in reducing such gases, a priority should be put on reducing particularly harmful industrial gases with the help of the Paris 2015 global climate agreement. The issue of phasing out HFCs and ramping up climate-friendly alternatives will also take centre stage at an upcoming meeting in Paris of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, on 14 November.

Governments and relevant stakeholders took stock of this year’s overall series of TEMs which also covered energy efficiency and land use. Governments and stakeholders noted that the 2014 TEMs have led to tangible climate action in several key areas, and helped shape the many significant climate action announcements made at the September UN Climate Summit in New York. “We are seeing a groundswell of climate action building at all levels of society which can encourage governments to make bolder commitments as part of the 2015 global climate agreement. It is clear they cannot meet the challenge alone – they need the support of all relevant stakeholders, and they need to know where there is greatest potential to curb emissions, “added Ms Figueres.

Lima Climate Change Conference info

Official host website for the COP20/CMP10

Foto: UNFCCC

Source: UNFCCC Press Release from 25.10.2014A positive stage has been set for the UN climate convention conference in Lima following a week of governmental negotiations in Bonn that have evolved a range issues needed to deliver a draft climate agreement in the Peruvian capital in December. The draft is meant to form the basis for a new universal climate agreement scheduled to be inked in Paris, France next year and due to come into effect in 2020.

Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this week exchanged a rich variety of views on how nations can scale up action on adapting to the current and future impacts of climate change. The session also delivered significant and fresh clarity on how and what countries will communicate in their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDCs) scheduled during the first quarter of 2015. An early example of this emerged this week when the European Union announced an emission reduction target of at least 40 per cent by 2030.

Discussions also focused on how countries will, post 2020, ensure they keep on track over the coming decades towards the goal of keeping a global temperature rise under 2 degree Celsius this century. Several countries put forward suggestions on how a global community of over 190 nations can deliver an equitable agreement in Paris. Some nations underlined the importance of having a long term vision for climate action with some voicing the need to move to climate neutrality – or what is also termed net zero or zero net – in the second half of the century.

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said on 25 October: “Governments are keeping the negotiations on track towards Paris 2015 and doing so with an increasing level of engagement, clarity and creativity on how that agreement is likely to look”. „All eyes will now be on Lima where the key litmus test of that engagement and ambition will be the emergence of a concise and credible draft agreement to be further refined in 2015,” she said. “Paris will not solve the climate change challenge at a stroke, but it needs to put in place the pathways and polices that can put climate action on an ever rising trajectory and emissions on an ever diminishing one—currently the negotiations are in a good space, “added Ms Figueres.

This week’s negotiating session was held under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) which has two aims: delivering the new universal agreement in December 2015 while catalyzing enhanced action up to 2020. “While countries engaged in a constructive spirit this week including on how to scale up action on adaptation to meet current and future climate impacts, they need to be mindful of the time-lines towards the new agreement given there is just 14 months to go”, said Kishan Kumarsingh, Co-Chair of the ADP. Artur Runge-Metger, Co-Chair of the ADP said in respect to pre-2020 ambition: “Enhancing action now and up to 2020 will be critical in defining the scale of the global effort that will be needed post-2020”.

Bonn Technical Expert Meetings help to catalyze climate action up to 2020

Part of the push to enhance pre-2020 ambition have been a series of Technical Expert Meetings (TEMs) that have been held over the year in Bonn covering issues such as policies to scale up renewable energies to scaling up actions by cities. This week governments, international agencies, companies and civil society shared information on policies and proven technologies in two areas with high potential to curb emissions. One area was carbon capture, storage and use (CCSU). The second was non-CO2 gases including methane, nitrous oxide and hydroflurocarbons (HFCs). These are powerful global warming gases resulting for example from industrial activities, landfills, household appliances and livestock farming.

In the area of carbon capture, storage and use, there was a shared sense that the technology exists and is ready to be deployed at a larger scale, but that stronger and adequate policies and finance need to be put in place for this to happen, including a high enough price on carbon. In the area of non-CO2 gases, experts agreed that whilst carbon pricing can play a role in reducing such gases, a priority should be put on reducing particularly harmful industrial gases with the help of the Paris 2015 global climate agreement. The issue of phasing out HFCs and ramping up climate-friendly alternatives will also take centre stage at an upcoming meeting in Paris of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, on 14 November.

Governments and relevant stakeholders took stock of this year’s overall series of TEMs which also covered energy efficiency and land use. Governments and stakeholders noted that the 2014 TEMs have led to tangible climate action in several key areas, and helped shape the many significant climate action announcements made at the September UN Climate Summit in New York. “We are seeing a groundswell of climate action building at all levels of society which can encourage governments to make bolder commitments as part of the 2015 global climate agreement. It is clear they cannot meet the challenge alone – they need the support of all relevant stakeholders, and they need to know where there is greatest potential to curb emissions, “added Ms Figueres.

Lima Climate Change Conference info

Official host website for the COP20/CMP10

Foto: UNFCCC

Source: UNFCCC Press Release from 25.10.2014