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Technical paper1

United Nations Climate Change Sessions

(Ad hoc Working Group on Durban Platform ADP 2.6)

Bonn, 20-25 October 2014

Prepared by: Daniela Carrington (formerly Stoycheva)

Istanbul, Turkey, 2014

                                                                                                                         

1The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the UNDP  

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Contents    1.   Summary  ..........................................................................................................................................  3  

Positive news: 3  

Future Meetings 4  

The Road from Lima to Paris 4  

2.   Some details of the October meeting of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2.6)  ......  5  

2.1. Elaborating the elements of the 2015 agreement (Workstream 1) 5  

2.1.2.   The elements of the 2015 Agreement  ...................................................................................  6  

2.1.3.   Unlocking opportunities for pre-2020 ambition (Workstream 2) 8  

2.1.3.1.   Technical Expert Meetings (TEMs)  .................................................................................  8  

 

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1. Summary

The October 2014 session of the UNFCCC was a continuation of the work of the Ad Hoc

Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2.6). It took place in Bonn

from 20 to 25th October where countries advanced on their understanding of the elements for a

new universal agreement on climate change as part of global effort to keep the global

temperature rise under 2 degrees Celsius this century. The negotiations received strong political

signals from the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit held in September 2014 involving

Heads of State to leaders of the private sector. A couple of technical expert meetings (TEMs)

were organised during the official sessions of the negotiations to identify ways of raising the pre-

2020 ambition as well. This time the TEMs focused on carbon capture, use and storage and non-

CO2 greenhouse gases. Additionally a brief session on domestic preparation for Intended

Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) was held.

The main goal of the work was that at COP20 in December 2014 in Lima, Peru, there would be a

draft text for an agreement to be finalized at COP21 in 2015 in Paris, entering into force in 2020

as well as a decision on INDCs, to be submitted by 31 March 2015, from Parties in a position to

do so.

At the closing Plenary developing country Parties expressed the view that the progress was slow

and were dissatisfied by the format for the work (one contact group and informal consultations),

asking to establish specific spin off groups to work in detail on specific items with draft texts.

Positive news:

News from outside the negotiating room also affected the discussions. Significant

announcements during the meeting were:

• Sweden pledged $500m to the Green Climate Fund;

• The EU leaders agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030

compared to 1990 levels;

• Developing countries, particularly China and India, have also begun making significant

moves towards mitigation actions and in particular with the creation of the Asia

Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that will be capitalized with $100b;

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• Another event which happened immediately after this meeting and will be of great

significance for Lima is the meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) which is convening in Copenhagen to consider and finalize the Synthesis Report

(SYR), which integrates and synthesizes the findings from the three Working Group

reports that comprise the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). The Panel approved the

Summary for Policymakers.

Future Meetings

To support the process toward a global agreement there will be a number of meetings by the end

of next year amongst which are:

• Pre-COP Ministerial Meeting for COP 20/CMP 10 on 4 - 7 November 2014 in Caracas,

Venezuela, with the following topics: the role of local governments in climate change;

how to engage local governments and citizens on the ground; and how local actions can

be an integral part of the global agenda.

• COP 20 / MOP 10–from 1 to 12 December, in Lima, Peru. The high-level segment of

COP 20/MOP 10 will be from 9-12 December 2014.

• In 2015, at least two more ADP sessions have been added to the schedule. First, an

additional meeting will be held in Geneva from 8 - 13 February and another meeting in

September, location still to be decided.

The Road from Lima to Paris

The current phase of the UN talks, as mandated by the Durban climate conference in 2012, is

meant to conclude with an international treaty or other “legal outcome” at the Paris conference in

2015 to achieve the declared aim of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. Lima must

pave the way to a historic pact in Paris in December 2015 that will for the first time apply to all

195 nations. But meanwhile many technicalities have to be resolved, including the legal nature of

the agreement and how it will be monitored and enforced. The current non-paper consisting of

Parties’ views on the elements of the agreement (a rough 22-page outline) has to be narrowed

down and agreed in the form of a draft decision by the latest July 2015. All Parties (in a position

to do so), have to submit their INDCs to be transformed into commitments by Paris, after a

review that will bring the commitments to the level of ambition required by the science. A clear

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way how to close the pre-20202 ambition gap should be decided. As the work to be finalized is

still significant, some additional meetings were agreed to take place in 2015.

2. Some details of the October meeting of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action

(ADP 2.6)(to be read as an addition to the report from the previous meeting)

Under the ADP’s Workstream 1 (the 2015 agreement), countries continued to elaborate on the elements of the 2015 agreement to become later a draft negotiating text, which will serve as the foundation for the final construction of the 2015 agreement. The work was based on a “non-paper” on Parties’ views and proposals on the elements for a draft negotiating text prepared by the co-chairs (ADP.2014.6.NonPaper). Attention!!! The non-paper is going to be updated shortly after the ADP 2.6 meeting, so please check on the UNFCCC website under ADP 2.6.

The ADP also discussed the draft decision that captures the type of information countries will provide when they communicate their INDCs and how these contributions will potentially be considered (ADP.2014.7.DraftText). During the meeting, the ADP Co-Chairs prepared a new version of this draft decision, which will be submitted for consideration in Lima.

Under Workstream 2 (pre-2020 ambition), Technical Expert Meetings (TEMs) focused on: opportunities for action on non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases (GHGs); carbon capture, use and storage; and follow up to the TEMs on unlocking mitigation opportunities through energy efficiency, renewable energy, urban environment and land use improvements in the pre-2020 period. Countries also addressed a draft decision on pre-2020 ambition prepared by the Co-Chairs ahead of the meeting (ADP.2014.8.DraftText). During the meeting, a new version of this draft was issued and will be considered in Lima.

At the closing Plenary some Parties expressed the view that there was limited progress overall, however the meeting had provided room for more in-depth exchanges of views and to find possible areas of convergence and possibilities to bridge divergences. Many insisted that it is time for the contact group to establish spin off groups to look in more detail on each particular issue, and that it is time to work on the text line by line on the screen.

In order to have the whole picture, including the background and developments under the ADP until now, this paper should be read as a continuation of the previous ones. Only the discussions in October 2014 are covered below.

2.1. Elaborating the elements of the 2015 agreement (Workstream 1)

2. 1.1. Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)

At this session Parties continued sharing their views on INDCs, which will form the mitigation

commitments by all Parties, the heart of the 2015 agreement. A draft text prepared by the Co-

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chairs on INDCs served as a basis for the negotiations and was revised at the end of the meeting.

It has to be adopted in Lima, but much still remains to be negotiated as the positions of different

groups are very much apart. In particular, the scope of the INDCs - with developed country

Parties stating that INDCs should include only mitigation while developing country Parties urged

INDCs to include adaptation (domestic actions or needs?) and finance, technology and capacity

building. Likewise, Parties discussed whether INDCs should be defined based on the division in

the Convention’s Annexes or rather based on a new differentiation between countries, such as

self-defining or based on certain criteria. Different proposals on new Annexes or differentiation

of the countries were submitted for further discussions. Parties also discussed the cycle for

reviewing of the individual and aggregate INDCs to ensure they meet the 2 degree global goal

(for more details see the previous technical paper from ADP 2.5).

Special focus was given to the support provided to developing countries to prepare and submit

their INDCs. In this regard, international organisations and countries presented their offers to

support the preparation of INDCs, amongst those the EU, GEF, UNDP, USA and others.

With regard to the need expressed by the developing countries to have some guidance on how to

prepare INDCs, UNDP is currently developing a handbook and mapping of possible support,

with Parties recommending that both be regularly updated according to the evolving discussions

in the UNFCCC.

A revised draft text for a decision to be considered in Lima was issued. It can be find at

http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/bonn_oct_2014/in-session/application/pdf/adp2-

6_i3_24oct2014t1530.dt.pdf

2.1.2. The elements of the 2015 Agreement The Parties discussed all the key elements that will constitute the 2015 deal. However, in Bonn they focused mainly on adaptation and finance and briefly discussed the rest of the elements - mitigation, monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) and capacity building. Parties emphasized that they want a deal which is both durable and flexible.

Adaptation  

Under the adaptation discussions generally, the position and discussions from the previous ADP

meeting were restated.

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One main convergence which could be pointed out was the general agreement around

establishing a long-term global goal on adaptation. However, Parties could not agree on the

content of the global adaptation goal, or how or if, it would link to mitigation and finance. Also

discussed was the potential development of an adaptation registry, similar to the NAMA registry,

where all adaptation initiatives would be catalogued. National Adaptation Plans were

emphasized as a key piece of the 2015 deal and will potentially be a framework for accessing

finance toward adaptation actions. Significantly, many Parties referenced the Adaptation Fund

becoming part of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) adaptation window. However its rules and

procedures are different from those of the GCF and it cannot be a simple merger.

Finance

There was a convergence amongst Parties that the current financial mechanism of the

Convention could serve the 2015 agreement in the context of strengthening institutional

arrangements. However, there were differences amongst Parties on finance commitments by

developed countries (amount of pledges, timing, public or private sources of finance, identified

sustainable and predictable long-term finance). Discussions were quite contentious. Tension

remains over who will provide financial support - some parties argue that the 1992 designations

of Annex II and Non-Annex I should continue and only developed countries should provide

support, while others advocated that all parties in a “position to do so” should contribute.

Discussion also cantered around a long-term financial commitment with some developing

countries advocating for legally-binding numerical commitments by the developed countries or

at least a percentage of GDP or ODA. Many developed countries advocated that this is not

feasible for their national budgetary systems. The role of private finance was also discussed, with

primarily public support for adaptation, as well as whether South-South cooperation should be

considered financial support.

Mitigation

On mitigation, many countries urged ambition but disagreed on the form of mitigation

commitments. Questions still remain over whether targets should be binding for all Parties and

whether to be based on a global goal toward a low emissions pathway or a carbon budget.

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Monitoring, reporting, verification (MRV)

On MRV, Parties debated on the scope of MRV activities. Specifically, some Parties stated that

MRV should be undertaken only of the support provided for mitigation and adaptation, while

others stated that MRV should be undertaken of both support and the actions themselves.

Capacity building

Capacity building also continued to be discussed in Workstream 1, with many countries calling

for efforts to be scaled-up and to continue to exchange experiences and best practices through the

Durban Forum.

2.1.3. Unlocking opportunities for pre-2020 ambition (Workstream 2)

Parties agreed that the gap between mitigation actions and the global goal of maintaining a

global temperature increase below 2 degrees must be closed by 2020, but differed on how this

should be accomplished. A key part of this Workstream is a series of Technical Expert Meetings

(TEMs) that discuss thematic areas for emissions reduction potential, such as energy efficiency,

renewable energy sources, urban development, etc. In Bonn, two were held - one on carbon

capture, use and storage and another one on non-CO2 greenhouse gases. The TEMs are to

advance the process of finding ways of closing the gap and discuss experiences and best

practices by countries. A summary for policy makers will be prepared on the outcomes of the

TEMs for Lima. The negotiations discussed how the TEMs could be improved, with some

Parties stating that the TEMs should focus only on mitigation issues while other suggested that

they should include the gaps on adaptation, finance and include different stakeholders, e.g.

indigenous people.

A revised draft text for a decision was issued for consideration in Lima

(http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/bonn_oct_2014/in-session/application/pdf/adp2-

6_i3_24oct2014t2100_dt.pdf).

2.1.3.1.Technical Expert Meetings (TEMs)

The technical expert meeting on carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) allowed Parties,

international organisations, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders to:

• Share views and experiences on options and opportunities to advance action on CCUS;

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• Explore barriers for scaling up action; and

• Propose options to overcome such barriers.

The discussion showcased projects in different regions using or storing CO2 from a variety of

sources (e.g. power generation). The discussion aimed to help Parties, international

organizations, the private sector and other stakeholders to explore options to strengthen co-

operation, including through the targeted utilization of existing UNFCCC institutions and

mechanisms and the creation of new partnerships, to augment the contribution of the CCUS to

enhanced mitigation ambition.

The technical expert meeting on addressing non-carbon dioxide (non-CO2) greenhouse gases

allowed Parties, international organisations, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders to:

• Share views and experiences on options and opportunities to bridge the pre-2020

mitigation ambition gap;

• Consider good practice mitigation actions and existing incentives;

• Identify barriers for scaling up measures to address non-CO2 GHG emissions from a

wide array of sources; and

• Propose options to overcome such barriers.

The discussion highlighted mitigation actions implemented at the national level in different

regions. The meeting aimed to help participants explore options on how to further strengthen co-

operation regarding mitigation ambition, including through the targeted utilization of existing

UNFCCC institutions and mechanisms and forging new partnerships, to strengthen ongoing

efforts to address the increase in non-CO2 GHG emissions.

Information on these events, including their programmes, presentations and summaries by the

facilitators, can be found at http://unfccc.int/bodies/awg/items/8421.php (ADP Technical Expert

Meetings: Carbon capture, use and storage) and

http://unfccc.int/bodies/awg/items/8420.php (ADP Technical Expert Meetings: Non-CO2

greenhouse gases).