The role and scope of Climate Change Diplomacy is immense to its practice and what needs to be done. From the Bali agreement (COP 13) to the Cop 15 to the latest Cancun Agreements in COP 16, Climate change diplomacy has been one of the most sort after conferences. It has not only has set miles stone in taking initial steps but also making base for the future generations to fight back against this problem. Realizing and looking back to the step moved ahead we have been maintaining and progress the level of growth where every year the GHG effects have increased tremendously due to lack of monitoring and mechanism.BALI AGREEMENT (COP 13): The Bali Climate Change Conference brought together more than 10,000 participants, including representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the media. Governments adopted the Bali Road Map, a set of decisions that represented the various tracks that were seen as key to reaching a global climate deal. The Bali Road Map includes the Bali Action Plan, which launched a “new, comprehensive process to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action, now, up to and beyond 2012”, with the aim of reaching an agreed outcome and adopting a decision at COP15 in Copenhagen. Governments divided the plan into five main categories: shared vision, mitigation, adaptation, technology and financing. Please click here for the full text of the Bali Action Plan.
Other elements in the Bali Road Map included:
Ø A decision on deforestation and forest management;
Ø A decision on technology for developing countries;
Ø The establishment of the Adaptation Fund Board
Ø The review of the financial mechanism, going beyond the existing Global Environmental Facility.
The Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) was set up to conduct work under the Bali Action Plan. The Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) was to work in parallel. The central task of the AWG-KP was to decide the emission reduction commitments of industrialized countries after the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period expired in 2012.
The 2007 Bali Climate Change Conference culminated in the adoption of the Bali Road Map, which consists of a number of forward-looking decisions that represent the various tracks that are essential to reaching a secure climate future. The Bali Road Map includes the Bali Action Plan, which charts the course for a new negotiating process designed to tackle climate change, with the aim of completing this by 2009, along with a number of other decisions and resolutions.
KYOTO PROTOCOL (COP 3—Kyoto, Japan, 1997): The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialised countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so.
Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.” The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are called the “Marrakesh Accords.”
The Kyoto mechanisms: Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms.
The Kyoto mechanisms are:
Ø Emissions trading – known as “the carbon market”
Ø Clean development mechanism (CDM)
Ø Joint implementation (JI).
The mechanisms help stimulate green investment and help Parties meet their emission targets in a cost-effective way.
Monitoring emission targets: Under the Protocol, countries’actual emissions have to be monitored and precise records have to be kept of the trades carried out. Registry systems track and record transactions by Parties under the mechanisms. The UN Climate Change Secretariat, based in Bonn, Germany, keeps an international transaction log to verify that transactions are consistent with the rules of the Protocol. Reporting is done by Parties by way of submitting annual emission inventories and national reports under the Protocol at regular intervals. A compliance system ensures that Parties are meeting their commitments and helps them to meet their commitments if they have problems doing so.
Adaptation: The Kyoto Protocol, like the Convention, is also designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It facilitates the development and deployment of techniques that can help increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Fund is financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities.
The road ahead: The Kyoto Protocol is generally seen as an important first step towards a truly global emission reduction regime that will stabilize GHG emissions, and provides the essential architecture for any future international agreement on climate change. By the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, a new international framework needs to have been negotiated and ratified that can deliver the stringent emission reductions the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clearly indicated are needed.
CONBFERENCE OF PARTIES 15 (COP 15) : COP 15’s goal is an agreement on a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
According to Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, the four essentials of such a new agreement are:
1 How much are the industrialized countries willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases?
2 How much are major developing countries such as China and India willing to do to limit the growth of their emissions?
3 How is the help needed by developing countries to engage in reducing their emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change going to be financed?
4 How is that money going to be managed?
COP 17: Looking back to the COP 16 learning, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Durban 2011, will the different concepts and ideas again from different parts of the world. The discussions will seek to advance, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan, agreed at COP 13 in 2007, and the Cancun Agreements, reached at COP 16 last December. The agreements, reached on December 11 in Cancun, Mexico, at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference represent key steps forward in capturing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to help developing nations protect themselves from climate impacts and build their own sustainable futures.MAIN
OBJECTIVES OF THE AGREEMENTS
Ø Establish clear objectives for reducing human-generated greenhouse gas emissions over time to keep the global average temperature rise below two degrees
Ø encourage the participation of all countries in reducing these emissions, in accordance with each country’s different responsibilities and capabilities to do so
Ø ensure the international transparency of the actions which are taken by countries and ensure that global progress towards the long-term goal is reviewed in a timely way
Ø mobilize the development and transfer of clean technology to boost efforts to address climate change, getting it to the right place at the right time and for the best effect
Ø mobilize and provide scaled-up funds in the short and long term to enable developing countries to take greater and effective action
Ø assist the particularly vulnerable people in the world to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change
Ø protect the world’s forests, which are a major repository of carbon
Ø build up global capacity, especially in developing countries, to meet the overall challenge
Ø establish effective institutions and systems which will ensure these objectives are implemented successfully
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE KEY AGREEMENTS REACHED AT CANCUN
Ø they form the basis for the largest collective effort the world has ever seen to reduce emissions, in a mutually accountable way, with national plans captured formally at international level under the banner of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Ø they include the most comprehensive package ever agreed by Governments to help developing nations deal with climate change. This encompasses finance, technology and capacity-building support to help them meet urgent needs to adapt to climate change and to speed up their plans to adopt sustainable paths to low emission economies which can also resist the negative impacts of climate change.
Ø they include a timely schedule for nations under the Climate Change Convention to review the progress they make towards their expressed objective of keeping the average global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius. This includes an agreement to review whether the objective needs to be strengthened in future, on the basis of the best scientific knowledge available.
IMPLEMENTATION
Implementing the Cancun agreements means that Governments will want to turn their decisions into action that brings real benefits for people on the ground as soon as possible.
It is also clear that while Cancun delivered the shape of a comprehensive international system for collective action to deal with climate change, further details of how to make this system operate to effect will continue to be fleshed out among Governments during 2011.
This is important to ensure that newly created institutions become fully functional and the framework delivers quickly, especially to help the poor and vulnerable to adapt most effectively to climate change.
SPECIFICALLY, THE NEW INSTITUTIONS THAT WILL BE DEVELOPED INCLUDE:
Ø a Green Climate Fund to house the international management, deployment and accountability of long-term funds for developing country support
Ø a Technology Mechanism to get clean technologies to the right place, at the right time and to best effect
Ø an Adaptation Framework to boost international cooperation to help developing countries protect themselves from the impacts of climate change
Ø a Registry where developing countries will detail their voluntary plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions and the support they need to achieve them
MITIGATION: During 2010, many countries submitted their existing plans for controlling greenhouse gas emissions to the Climate Change Secretariat and these proposals have now been formally acknowledged under the Climate Change Convention. Industrial countries presented their plans in the shape of economy-wide targets to reduce emissions, mainly up to 2020, while developing nations proposed ways to limit their growth of emissions in the shape of plans of action.
DEVELOPED COUNTRY EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS: All industrialized countries submitted economy-wide emission reduction targets. A compilation of these economy-wide emission reduction targets has meanwhile been officially published and will be followed-up under the Climate Change Convention. A process of international assessment on the implementation of these targets will begin in 2011. It was agreed that industrialized countries will boost the regular reporting of progress towards these targets by submitting detailed annual inventories of greenhouse gas emissions and by reporting on progress in emission reductions every two years. The guidelines for strengthened reporting are to be worked out and Governments’ views on how this may best be done were submitted to the UNFCCC secretariat by 28 March, 2011. Additionally, industrialized countries agreed to develop low-carbon development strategies or plans, which will ensure robust foundations are built that will stand the test of time.
FURTHER SPECIFIC DECISIONS UNDER THE KYOTO PROTOCOL: Further mitigation commitments by Parties to the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012 are still under consideration. The Protocol also includes an inter-linked set of ways and means to help developing countries build clean and sustainable economies with investment from industrialized countries, at the same time helping industrialized countries meet targets to cut emissions in an environmentally sound way.
The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was strengthened to drive major investments and technology into environmentally sound and sustainable emission reduction projects, especially to those areas of the developing world which have not yet benefited as much as they could. This will be done by means of a loan scheme to encourage clean development mechanism project activities in countries that have fewer than 10 such activities registered. Governments agreed to allow carbon capture and storage projects in the CDM, provided that a range of technical issues and safety requirements are resolved and fulfilled. To this end, further technical work will be carried out in 2011 in order to resolve these issues and with the aim of having a final decision in Durban.
Governments agreed that in a second commitment period, the Kyoto Protocol’s emissions trading and project-based mechanisms, which encourage clean technology investment from industrialized countries into developing countries, are to continue to be available to developed countries as an additional means of meeting their own emission reduction targets.
The agreement reached in Cancun on land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) called for the submission of reference levels for forest management. The Kyoto negotiations have been looking at how countries include forest management in their greenhouse gas (GHG) accounts. Forests naturally absorb carbon dioxide, so when including forest management, reference levels or other options need to be negotiated so that countries don’t get credited for removals that naturally occur anyway.
The reporting and subsequent technical assessment of these reference levels is an important step that paves the way for a decision in Durban to regulate GHG emissions and removals of forest-related activities on the basis of a scientifically sound approach and an internationally assessed set of data.
DECISIONS ADDRESSING DEVELOPING COUNTRY MITIGATION PLANS: During 2010, many developing countries submitted their plans to limit the growth of their emissions, with appropriate and adequate support from industrialized countries in the form of technology cooperation, finance and help in capacity-building. These plans are known as NAMAs. Capacity-building means strengthening the national institutional and personnel resources needed to achieve developing country adaptation and mitigation objectives. NAMAs are grounded in the overall objective of ensuring sustainable development, and are aimed at achieving a deviation in emissions relative to what would otherwise be ‘business as usual’ emissions by 2020. A compilation of these NAMAs has meanwhile been officially published. The Cancun decisions now provide a formal international registry for these plans and strengthen the ways and means both to see them to fruition and to make the effort and support for that effort transparent. Specifically, those NAMAs where countries require international support in the form of technology, finance or capacity-building, will be recorded in a registry, where the action and the support for that action can be clearly matched. The registry will be maintained by the UNFCCC secretariat. Those actions where countries are taking action but are not asking for international support for it will be recorded in a separate section of the registry. Developing countries will provide information on the actions for which they are seeking support, whereas industrialized countries will provide information on available support for these actions. Supported actions will be measured, reported and verified internationally, whereas for domestically supported actions this will be done at the national level. The intention is that the countries which provide the support, and the countries which receive the support, are both satisfied that adequate resources are going to the right place for the right reasons and are having the best impact.
It was also agreed that developing countries will also increase reporting of progress towards their mitigation objectives, although in a differentiated way to that of industrialized countries. A process of international consultation and analysis of these biennial reports will be established.
The guidelines for matching actions and support, reporting, international consultation and analysis, as well as for measurement, reporting and verification are all to be developed during 2011, and views on the detailed guidelines were submitted to the secretariat by 28 March, 2011.
Additionally, developing countries are encouraged under the agreement to draw up low-carbon development strategies or plans.
REDUCTION OF EMISSIONS THROUGH STRONGER ACTIONS ON FORESTS
Governments also agreed to launch concrete action on forests in developing nations, which will increase going forward. The full financing options for the implementation of such mitigation actions in the forest area will be addressed during 2011.
COST-EFFECTIVE MEANS TO ACHIEVE MITIGATION GOALS:In the course of 2011, Governments will also continue work towards establishing one or more new market-based mechanisms to both enhance and promote the cost-effectiveness of mitigation actions. The establishment of such a mechanism will be considered in Durban.
ADDRESSING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF RESPONSE MEASURES: In some cases, the implementation of actions that reduce emissions could result in negative economic or social consequences for other countries. As a result, Governments decided to convene a forum in 2011 to further discuss this and to establish a work programme to address such consequences. ADAPTATION: The conference established the Cancun Adaptation Framework, which will strengthen action on adaptation in developing countries through international cooperation. It will support better planning and implementation of adaptation measures through increased financial and technical support, and through strengthening and/or establishing regional centres and networks. The framework will also boost research, assessments and technology cooperation on adaptation, as well as strengthen education and public awareness.
In addition to the Cancun Adaptation Framework, the conference also established an Adaptation Committee to promote the implementation of stronger action on adaptation by providing technical support and guidance to countries, strengthening knowledge-sharing and promoting synergy between a range of stakeholders. The composition and procedures of the committee, as well as its linkages to other institutional arrangements, are still to be developed, and Governments submitted their ideas on this to the secretariat by 21 February, 2011.
The conference also established a process for least developed countries (LDCs) and other interested developing countries to formulate and implement national adaptation plans (NAPs) to identify and address their medium and long-term adaptation needs. This builds upon the positive experience of LDCs up to now in addressing their urgent and immediate adaptation needs through similar plans which were supported via the LDC Expert Group. The mandate of this technical expert body was therefore extended for another five years.
Also, a clear work programme on how best to address loss and damage from climate change impacts in developing countries was established. During the next two years, countries will consider options on how to manage and reduce the climate change risk to developing nations. This includes the possible development of a climate risk insurance facility. It also includes ways to address rehabilitation from the impacts of such climate change-related events as sea-level rise.
FINANCIAL, TECHNOLOGY AND CAPACITY-BUILDING SUPPORT: The financial, technology and capacity-building support agreed in Cancun applies to both mitigation and adaptation actions by developing countries. The details of these cross-cutting elements of the agreement follow: FAST-START FINANCE UP TO 2012Governments will endeavour to make the provision of an agreed fast-start finance for developing countries approaching USD 30 billion up to 2012 more transparent by regularly making information available on these funds. This will include ways in which developing countries can access these resources. Industrialized country Governments are invited to submit a complete overview of fast-start funding to the UN Climate Change Secretariat by May 2011, including ways in which developing countries can access these resources. The secretariat in turn has been tasked with making this information publicly available.
NEW LONG-TERM FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS
In order to scale up the provision of long-term financing for developing countries, Governments decided to establish a Green Climate Fund that will function under the guidance of, and be accountable to the Conference of the Parties (COP). The new fund will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing countries using thematic funding windows.
The fund will be governed by a Green Climate Fund Board, comprising 24 members with equal representation from developing and developed countries. The fund will be administered by a trustee and supported by a professional secretariat. The World Bank will serve as the interim trustee. Governments decided to establish a Transitional Committee of 40 members to design the details of the fund. This design phase is to be concluded by the Durban Climate Conference at the end of 2011.Furthermore, Governments decided to establish a Standing Committee under the COP, which will assist the COP in exercising its functions with respect to the mobilization, delivery and verification of long-term finance. The specific roles and functions of the Standing Committee are to be developed.
In the broad context of long-term financial support, industrialized countries committed to provide funds rising to USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to support concrete mitigation actions by developing countries that are implemented in a transparent way. These funds would be raised from a mix of public and private sources.
INCREASED COOPERATION ON TECHNOLOGY FOR BOTH MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
In order to strengthen technology development and transfer, Governments decided to establish aTechnology Mechanism, which will be accountable to the COP. Governments agreed that the Technology Mechanism should be fully operational in 2012.The mechanism includes a Technology Executive Committee (TEC), which will strengthen the development and deployment of new technologies, as well as strive to increase public and private investment in technology development and transfer. The TEC will hold its first meetings in the course of 2011. The TEC will also assist in providing an overview of needs for the development and transfer of technologies for mitigation and adaptation. Additionally, it will recommend policies and actions to boost technology cooperation.The Technology Mechanism also includes a Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) to facilitate national, regional, sectoral and international technology networks, organizations and initiatives. The CTCN will aim to mobilize and enhance global clean technology capabilities, provide direct assistance to developing countries, and facilitate prompt action on the deployment of existing technologies. Furthermore, the centre will encourage collaboration with the private and public sectors, as well as with academic and research institutions, to develop and transfer emerging technologies to the best effect. Further work on the relationship between these new institutions, their governance and links with the financial mechanism are needed in 2011.
HELPING TO BUILD CAPACITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Governments decided to increase capacity-building support to developing countries by strengthening relevant institutions, networks and climate change communication, education, training and public awareness at all levels. Included in this is increased sharing of information.The structure for institutional arrangements for capacity-building, as well as ways to increase the monitoring of the effectiveness of capacity-building, are to be developed in 2011. They will be considered in Durban.
RAISING GLOBAL AWARENESS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
Governments also agreed that it was necessary to boost information-sharing, awareness-raising and public education on climate change, and the secretariat is committed to supporting that work in all its aspects.
Compliled by Shreedeep Rayamajhi
Reference
http://cancun.unfccc.int/
http://unfccc.int/meetings/cancun_nov_2010/items/6005.php
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/3145.php
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.html
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