On Wednesday 15 November, at Cop 23 in Bonn, the first drafts of the final text began to circulate — a text that, in theory, should be approved tomorrow, Friday 17. ClimateTracker, media partner of the twenty-third United Nations world climate conference, drew up an initial assessment of the work carried out by the thousands of delegates who had travelled to Germany from around the world. "The negotiations — it explained — got off to a very difficult start, due to the opposition of developed countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and the European Union, to the request to carry out an assessment of what is being done in these years for the climate." The reference is to the period before 2020, the point at which the Paris Agreement will actually enter into force.

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Ever since the latter was approved, at the close of Cop 21 in Paris, NGOs around the world have emphasised the importance of not waiting to adopt climate protection policies. The situation is in fact so complex that, if one were truly to wait until 2020 to act, there is a risk it could be too late to achieve the targets set in 2015 in the French capital. Chief among these is limiting the growth of the global average temperature to a maximum of two degrees centigrade by the end of the century, relative to pre-industrial levels.

IGES-Institute for Global Environmental Strategies @IGES_EN

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Many #COP23 technical negotiations finished yesterday. Negotiations on guidance related to #ParisAgreement Article 6 concluded with a plan to continue elaboration on draft elements of the guidance, based on Parties' submissions and informal notes, at April-May 2018 session.

♥ 2 15 nov 2017 · Apri su X →

The divide between wealthy nations and developing countries

Faced with a deadlock between rich countries and the rest of the world, the small island nations, numerous Arab and African nations, as well as India, Brazil and China, called on the presidency of Cop 23, entrusted to the Fiji Islands, to find a solution. Accordingly, the delegation of Morocco, which had hosted Cop 22 in Marrakech, was asked to organise informal consultations to break the impasse. During those talks, ClimateTracker continues, "countries such as the United States asked developing nations to set the issue aside and address it in another forum. Malaysia responded to this suggestion, pointing out that for too long it had been asked to discuss the problem elsewhere, and that this risked kicking the can down the road indefinitely: 'Infinity times zero is always zero', it was stated."

The financial question will be discussed in 2018

The positive aspect is that this process made it clear that Cop 23 in Bonn was at risk of turning into a failure. As a result, delegates evidently became convinced of the need to tackle the heart of the problem. And, in the end, the draft currently being scrutinised by the representatives of the governments of the 196 nations present managed to clarify that pre-2020 actions are fundamental, in everyone's interest: "This is a significant step forward, precisely because numerous developed nations believed the topic should not be included in the work programme on the implementation of the Paris Agreement," the event's media partner noted. The draft then calls on the Cop presidency and the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, to write to all nations to request an account of their actions. All of this will, however, only be examined — including the section relating to transparency on financing for mitigation initiatives — during the course of next year, ahead of Cop 24 in Katowice, Poland. Among the outcomes of the conference worth noting are, finally, the announcement of a Platform for Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples and progress on agriculture, driven by developing countries and the FAO.

Amazon Watch @amazonwatch

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A hopeful update from @COP23: The draft text has important ramifications for developed and developing countries alike and lays down the urgency to act now – not just after 2020, when the Paris Agreement comes into force.
thewire.in/197345/stalema…

♥ 4 15 nov 2017 · Apri su X →

At Cop 23, civil society "overtakes" the official delegations

The text is, in any case, now being scrutinised by governments: it remains to be seen whether and what changes will be made. While awaiting the final document, however, Cop 23 in Bonn has already produced some results. "The most striking," explained Maria Grazia Midulla, head of climate at WWF Italy, speaking at a conference organised by the Italian Climate Network, "is the 'overtaking' of the official delegations by civil society. For the first time, the heart of the conference was not the negotiations but what was happening in the Bonn Zone" — that is, the area animated by non-governmental organisations, citizens and grassroots initiatives.

"The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage has also been made operational — namely the system that must ensure support for countries damaged by climate change," noted Mauro Albrizio of Legambiente. Furthermore, the member of the environmental association added, "it has been recognised that the funds for this item do not form part of the 100 billion dollars" promised for years for climate protection. And which, moreover, have not been allocated.