Links to Resources
UNFCCC Plenary Report on Informal Negotiations
Draft | Final
Introductory Briefing (8 May 2008)
Report of the Executive Secretary
|
AD HOC WORKING
GROUP ON LONG-TERM COOPERATIVE ACTION
UNDER THE CONVENTION Fourth Session Poznan,
30
November to 11 December
2008
|
|
Item 3(a) of the provisional agenda.
Enabling the full, effective and sustained implementation of the
Convention through long-term cooperative action now, up to and
beyond 2012, by addressing, inter alia: a. A shared vision for
long-term cooperative action |
|
A Shared Vision
for Long-Term Cooperative Action[1]
Note by the Executive
Secretary |
At its first session in Bangkok from 30 March to 4 April 2008, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) established procedures for negotiating the successor to the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by the conclusion of the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention (COP-15). It decided to continue a parallel focus on the five critical themes:
- Shared vision for long-term cooperative action
- Enhanced national/international action on mitigation
- Enhanced action on adaptation
- Enhanced action on technology development and transfer to support action on mitigation and adaptation
- Enhanced action on the provision of financial resources and investment to support action on mitigation and adaptation and technology cooperation.
The Bali Action Plan, adopted at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP-13)[2]
2. Decides that the process shall be conducted under a subsidiary body under the Convention, hereby established and known as the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, that shall complete its work in 2009 and present the outcome of its work to the Conference of the Parties for adoption at its fifteenth session;
It requested that
the group to report to the Conference of the Parties at its fourteenth
session on progress made;
In the agreed conclusions of the first meeting of the AWG-LCA prepared by the Chairman[3],
The AWG-LCA agreed that its work should be facilitated by workshops and other activities to deepen understanding and clarify elements contained in the Bali Action Plan. Accordingly, the AWG-LCA requested the secretariat, under the guidance of the Chair in consultation with Parties, to organize the workshops listed in the annex. The AWG-LCA requested the Chair in his summary of each session to include the views expressed at the workshops.
According to the agreed schedule one of the workshops at its fourth session in Poznan, is on the Shared vision for long-term cooperative action.
The Bali Action Plan specifies that the negotiations need to address, inter alia,[4]
A shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for emission reductions, to achieve the ultimate objective of the Convention, in accordance with the provisions and principles of the Convention, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and taking into account social and economic conditions and other relevant factors;
This implies that the workshop and subsequent discussion should address two distinct, but related issues, (1) the long-term goal for emission reductions, including both the amount and the timing, and (2) the common but differentiated responsibilities of States based on all relevant factors.
In order to help focus the discussion, the Secretariat has arranged for two experts to participate in the workshop panel, together with the representatives of several States party. The experts will present the results of the Fourth Assessment Report prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.[5] State will recall that[6]
Climate change is a very complex issue: policymakers need an objective source of information about the causes of climate change, its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences and the adaptation and mitigation options to respond to it. This is why WMO and UNEP established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.
The Fourth Assessment Report was issued in late 2007 and was based on the results of Working Groups I, II and III. The workshop will include a presentation on the findings of Working Group I that describe progress in understanding of the human and natural drivers of climate change,1 observed climate change, climate processes and attribution, and estimates of projected future climate change. It will also include a presentation of the findings of Working Group III that describe new literature on the scientific, technological, environmental, economic and social aspects of mitigation of climate change, published since the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR) and the Special Reports on CO2 Capture and Storage (SRCCS) and on Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System (SROC).
As a starting point, it should be recalled that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change states as its objective that[7]
The ultimate objective of this Convention and any related legal instruments that the Conference of the Parties may adopt is to achieve, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention, stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
In adopting the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention in 1998,[8]
The Parties included in Annex I shall, individually or jointly, ensure that their aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases listed in Annex A do not exceed their assigned amounts, calculated pursuant to their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments inscribed in Annex B and in accordance with the provisions of this Article, with a view to reducing their overall emissions of such gases by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012.
The Kyoto Protocol only entered into force in February 2005. The process of negotiating the commitments for the successor period have been entrusted to the AWG-LCA.
The subsequent assessments by the IPCC suggest that a longer time horizon may be necessary. It also presented several scenarios describing when the consequences of climate change was likely to become particularly severe.
In examining the how to apportion responsibility for both adaptation strategies and mitigation of greenhouse gas emission during the period that will be determined, the issues of economic and social development are expected to be taken into account. In addition,, the UNFCCC specifes that [9]
In the implementation of the commitments in this Article, the Parties shall
give full consideration to what actions are necessary under the Convention,
including actions related to funding, insurance and the transfer of
technology, to meet the specific needs and concerns of developing country
Parties arising from the adverse effects of climate change and/or the impact
of the implementation of response measures, especially on:
(a)
Small island countries;
(b)
Countries with low-lying coastal areas;
(c)
Countries with arid and semi-arid areas, forested areas and areas liable to
forest decay;
(d) Countries with areas prone to natural disasters;
(e) Countries with areas liable to drought and desertification;
(f) Countries with areas of high urban atmospheric pollution;
(g) Countries with areas with fragile ecosystems, including mountainous
ecosystems;
(h) Countries whose economies are highly dependent on income generated from
the production, processing and export, and/or on consumption of fossil fuels
and associated energy-intensive products; and
(i) Landlocked and transit countries.
The result of the discussions on a shared vision should be included in the Chairman’s summary that should, following past practice, be agreed by consensus among the Parties.
[1] This
paper is part of a simulation of the Poznan negotiations undertaken
for the 2008 Capstone of the International Relations Program at the
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse
University. It is not a
document of the United Nations.
[2]
FCCC/2007/6/Add.1, Decision 1/C.13, para. 2.
[4]
FCCC/2007/6/Add.1, Decision 1/C.13, para. 1(a)
[5]
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf
The IPCC is a
scientific body: the information it provides with its reports is
based on scientific evidence and reflects existing viewpoints within
the scientific community. The comprehensiveness of the scientific
content is achieved through contributions from experts in all
regions of the world and all relevant disciplines including, where
appropriately documented, industry literature and traditional
practices, and a two stage review process by experts and
governments.
The IPCC provides its reports at regular intervals and they
immediately become standard works of reference, widely used by
policymakers, experts and students. The findings of the first IPCC
Assessment Report of 1990 played a decisive role in leading to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
which was opened for signature in the Rio de Janeiro Summit in 1992
and entered into force in 1994. It provides the overall policy
framework for addressing the climate change issue. The IPCC Second
Assessment Report of 1995 provided key input for the negotiations of
the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Third Assessment Report of 2001
as well as Special and Methodology Reports provided further
information relevant for the development of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto
Protocol. The IPCC continues to be a major source of information for
the negotiations under the UNFCCC.
[7]
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf
, Article 2.
|
Developing
an International regime to deal with climate change has been a long
process. It took almost
20 years to reach agreement that climate change was an issue
requiring an International response.
The adoption, in 1992, of the UN Framework Convention started
the process by agreeing that the problem exists, is caused in large
part by human activity and requires a response by governments.
The Convention did not include agreements on details of how
States would exercise their responsibilities.
This was done in the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention that
was adopted at COP-3 in December 1997.
The Kyoto Protocol was designed to be relatively short-term,
running to 2012, but obtaining agreement on its details took
additional years. To
enter into force, it needed ratification by over half of the States
in Annex I to the Convention, consisting of the industrialized
countries that contributed over half of the greenhouse gases.
The Protocol only entered into force in February 2005 when
the Russian Federation ratified.
The United States has not ratified it. As the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing a consensus of the global scientific community, demonstrated the growing dangers and economic costs of not dealing with climate change quickly, an agreement was reached at COP-13 in Bali in December 2007 to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. After protracted discussions, the States Party agreed to complete the negotiations by COP-15 in Copenhagen in 2009. In order to determine how to proceed, a meeting of the negotiating body set up at Bali, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWGLCA), took place in Bangkok from 30 March to 4 April 2008. The Bangkok meeting agreed that there would be successive meetings over the course of 2008, culminating in the Poznan meeting. The States Parties have gathered in Poznan to reach consensus on key elements of the post-Kyoto agreement, so that the negotiations in 2009 to complete the agreement can be effective. They have decided to deal with five critical themes simultaneously:
At Poznan, the focus is on the first of these, the shared vision. At Bangkok it was agreed to use formal workshops as a device to focus attention on the issues. The key workshop at Poznan is that dealing with Shared Vision. Once facts and positions are on the table, informal negotiations will take place to achieve a consensus that can be reported to the Plenary of the Conference and adopted. If a consensus cannot be reached on this theme, the remainder of the negotiations will be put at risk and the prospects for achieving an agreement by the end of 2009 will become very dim. In United Nations negotiations, in order to make the process manageable, States work as groups. While they can fluctuate in membership depending on the subject, they basically include the Group of 77 and China, representing the developing countries; the European Union, which under the Maastricht Treaty starts from a common position in multilateral negotiations; the non-European developed countries (Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) who often negotiate as a group; other non-developing countries like Korea, Mexico and Switzerland who often have common positions; and still others like the Russian Federation who work together. Each of these will seek to develop a common position.The AWGLCA is chaired by Brazil with a vice-chair from Malta. As is the custom in United Nations negotiations, the chairs function as neutral facilitators. They are helped by the Secretariat of the UNFCCC. The Conference of Parties is chaired, as is customary, by the host of the meeting, in this case Poland. The stakes are high. As Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations put it: If we care about our legacy for succeeding generations, this is the time for decisive global action. The UN is the natural forum for building consensus and negotiating future global action – all nations can take firm steps towards being carbon-neutral. The September 2007 high-level event [at the UN General Assembly] set in motion the impetus for leaders to look ahead to the discussions on the UN Framework Convention in December 2007 and sent the message – this is no longer business as usual. The Bali Conference must be a starting point for negotiations to replace commitments agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol which is due to expire in 2012. We must galvanize political will across the developing and industrialized nations of the world to ensure that negotiations bring results. |
|
|
This is a fictitious simulation exercise that has been developed for educational purposes. © 2008 John R. Mathiason and G. Matthew Bonham |
|
Click for Larger Image
