Parties came to Marrakech pledging to turn the Paris Agreement
into action. But some countries don’t seem to see the need for a COP
decision at all, let alone a decision that enables Parties to start
discussing how to make the Facilitative Dialogue
in 2018 a successful part of a momentous year to increase overall
ambition.
ECO wants a clear decision from COP22 that recognises the
importance of a robust, inclusive, and transparent Facilitative Dialogue
that takes advantage of the benefits of ambitious climate action, and
achieves the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Parties should welcome the ability to design a Dialogue that
represents an opportunity to take stock of progress already made,
identify concrete steps to accelerate implementation, take account of
the latest science (e.g. the IPCC report on 1.5°C),
acknowledge front runners, and identify further opportunities for
cooperation, in a facilitative manner. Waiting until 2023 for the Global
Stocktake will be far too long to seize all of the opportunities
already at hand.
Here are some lessons learned from past review exercises: agree a
process for an effective and impactful Facilitative Dialogue, welcome
Parties and non-Party stakeholders to share their views on what would
lead to success and how to get there,
start with an informal workshop in Bonn in May, and help Parties think
through the options and opportunities for an effective process.
ECO encourages Parties to give the current and next presidencies
the responsibility to advance the organisation of the Facilitative
Dialogue, to use all the means and resources necessary for an effective
design, and have them to report back at
COP23 on the inputs generated throughout 2017. There’s no time to
lose—we need to accelerate actions and scale up support now. The 2018
Facilitative Dialogue is an opportunity not to be missed.
Dear Ministers, with Adapt-Love from Marrakech...
The
charming, narrow streets of Marrakech’s Medina teach you to share and
co-exist. Perhaps the COP’s large open venue has had the opposite effect
on Parties. Yesterday
the High Level Ministerials twice passed over or delayed the
opportunity to listen to civil society, doubling down the exclusion of
civil society from most of this COP.
In
the spirit of co-existence, multiple civil society
constituencies—youth, women, farmers and environmental NGOs—brought
together their diverse perspectives to convey
their priorities on adaptation finance in just a few minutes, though to
no avail. So ECO steps forward to provide space to voice their
concerns.
Adaptation, a pillar of Paris Agreement, needs
urgent, ambitious, and transformative public climate finance for
vulnerable and impacted communities. The recently released US$100
billion roadmap shows that adaptation finance flows by 2020 will double
thecurrent levels. Yet that will still
fall far short of the parity with mitigation finance that the Paris
Agreement asks for. That gap cannot be filled by profit-seeking private
finance, which favours mitigation activities. As well, that will favour
richer developing countries, because they are
more capable of absorbing private investment. That’s why developed
countries should prioritise adaptation to help protect development gains
in developing countries.
The methodologies applied by developed countries have consistently
exaggerated the climate-relevance of actual funding. Also, instruments
such as loans, equity or guarantees may be counted at face value instead
of the underlying net assistance.
The roadmap should only be seen as an input to the
discussion but not as a blueprint, as it would bypass ongoing
discussions on finance accounting under the SBSTA.
Adaptation finance requires a robust institutional set-up.
The Adaptation Fund is already operational. It has
delivered innovative financing approaches on the ground and has a
well-developed project pipeline that needs funding to serve urgent needs
of vulnerable communities. For this reason, we
call for the Adaptation Fund to serve the Paris Agreement in
co-existence with Green Climate Fund, as already enshrined in the Paris
Agreement. ECO acknowledges and applauds the pledges from Germany and
Sweden to replenish the fund.
Of course, climate finance should be counted as new and additional
to existing commitments on Official Development Assistance, such as the
commitment to dedicating 0.7% of GNI to ODA.
Lastly, developed countries should also fully support that
addressing loss and damage has become the third pillar of climate action
and is critical to co-existence on the planet. Loss and damage finance
needs to be truly additional, over and
above what has been pledged for adaptation and mitigation.
Addressing the adaptation finance gap and ensuring that finance
gets directed to those who need it most must be the next chapter in the
global fight against climate change, and it needs to be written down
here and now, in Marrakech.
$23 Million for the CTCN… and Counting
It’s always nice to have money in your pocket, so
the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) must be feeling
cheerful. In a long anticipated announcement that was sprung as a
surprise in Marrakech, the CTCN received the grand sum of… US$23
million!
While not as much money as expected, these voluntary contributions
provide welcome assurance for the survival of the CTCN and its ability
to deliver technical assistance to developing countries. Presented in an
undramatic fashion, Canada, the
EU, Korea, Switzerland, and the US hope to set an example for
supporting ‘technology sharing’. These founding contributors hope to
reemphasise the importance of the CTCN as a core mechanism for
delivering technology for climate action.
To be clear, this is desperately needed. CTCN staff have spent an
extraordinary amount of time securing funding. Of course, their time is
better spent on delivering technology support—not having to carry a
begging bowl to the capitals. A reliance
on voluntary contributions impairs the sustainability and
predictability of the CTCN budget and erodes its effectiveness and its
mandate. Parties need to support a more regular process for replenishing
CTCN funding, especially in the new Technology Framework.
ECO hopes the example set by these donor countries galvanises
others to contribute and support developing countries in effectively
developing and deploying technology to address mitigation and
adaptation.
Making Strides on Capacity Building
The
Capacity-Building Initiative for Transparency
(CBIT) is up and running. Eight donors -- (Australia, Germany, Italy,
the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the Wallon Region
in Belgium)
have joined the US, UK and Canada to pledge more than US$50 million to
the CBIT.
The
first set of projects have already been approved by the GEF for
implementation in Costa Rica, Kenya, and South Africa. Finally, a global
coordination platform is
being put in place to share lessons learned and engage with partners to
help deliver more country projects. This came less than a week after
negotiators approved the terms of reference of the Paris Committee on
Capacity Building (PCCB). The PCCB’s membership
is almost complete with the first meeting set for May 2017.
ECO
is happy that things are moving fast on the capacity building front,
including beyond the UNFCCC arena. A number of initiatives, consortia
and networks emerged during
COP22: the NDC partnership, which brings already more than 40 countries
and major institutions to accelerate the implementation of NDCs; a
network of about 30 universities to support the dissemination of the
work of PCCB; and the south-south consortium of
10 universities from LDCs focusing on adaptation.
This
also echoes the importance of education, raising awareness and public
participation, which were hailed as critical during the education day,
to reach the goals
of the Paris Agreement. It is also good to see the request in the
latest draft of the COP decisions to invite the SBI to develop guidance
on ways to enhance the implementation of training, public awareness,
public participation and public access to information
so as to enhance actions under the Paris Agreement, for adoption by
CMA1.
The COP of Action on the Right Pathway
ECO salutes a major step forward in the transition to a
decarbonised and climate-resilient world. At 2.30pm in Room Atlantic,
please come welcome the launch of the 2050 Pathway Platform, a new tool
that allows state and non-state actors to share
their plans and learn from one another’s strategies and approaches.
The launch of the Platform marks a high point in this COP. We have
already seen the release of the first long-term strategies from several
countries. Germany stole the show last week, followed by the US, Canada
and Mexico yesterday, and the excitement
is building to see which other countries will bring their plans forward
with the Platform’s launch today. ECO has heard that 20 countries will
be signing up alongside over 200 companies and numerous subnational
actors.
Why are we so excited? It’s quite straightforward—the Platform is a
concrete sign that countries and other actors are taking the PA
seriously and mainstreaming climate planning into a long-term vision for
national development – that’s what we
need to limit global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.
While having a plan is no guarantee of success, without one,
failure is certain. This is the first step towards developing a vision
of how achieve our PA goals, and how quickly we need to accelerate
action.
The 2050 strategies are vital to our climate goals as well as
roadmaps to a better, more secure future. ECO salutes the front-runners
and hopes that all G20 countries will join and bring out their
strategies by 2018.
Dangerous Times for Human Rights and Environmental Defenders
On
a more serious note: last Saturday afternoon, while countries gathered
at COP22, human rights and environmental defender Jeremy Abraham Barrios
Lima was assassinated
in Guatemala City. He worked at Guatemala’s legal environmental defence
organisation managing sensitive information related to high-profile
litigation for the protection of the environment.
On
Climate Justice day, Jeremy’s murder is a tragic reminder of the deadly
price that individuals around the world are paying for speaking up to
defend their right to
a healthy environment. Last year was the worst ever for human rights
defenders, with on average three individuals being killed every week.
Many others were threatened, intimidated, and continue to face death
threats on a daily basis.
ECO
reminds negotiators that it is the people working on the front lines of
their communities around the world who make Parties’ work at COP22
possible. In turn, as
Parties negotiate how to increase ambition and scale-up financing for
adaptation and mitigation projects, they must protect the people putting
their lives on the line.
Supporting
climate justice means ensuring that people are safe. Countries need to
take steps to ensure that they are not complicit in these acts of
violence against
human rights defenders. For example: 22 countries in Latin America and
the Caribbean will meet next week to work towards making access rights
binding law for countries throughout the region, in order to address the
root causes of attacks against environmental
and human rights defenders.
ECO
calls on all countries to commit to ensuring that those who are working
to protect their environment and their rights are not threatened,
harassed, jailed or killed
for doing so. This Climate Justice day, let us all remember and honour
the brave environmental and human rights defenders who have given their
lives to defend our planet.
Fossil of the Day
Yesterday’s first place Fossil of the Day award went to Australia
for their complaints about dirty baggage. ECO doesn't mean to gossip,
but yesterday Australia was caught complaining to the US about American
charities standing in solidarity with
Australian communities who are fighting to prevent the construction of
the largest ever coal mine down under—Adani’s Carmichael mine. Australia
ratified the Paris Agreement last Friday, so lobbying for coal
expansion here is an ugly thing to be doing.
Second place went to Austria for dodgy lobbying and dragging down
ambition. Despite no progress on emissions for over 25 years, Austria
has lobbied hard to get maximum flexibility for LULUCF credits as part
of the Effort Sharing Decision for
the EU’s 2030 climate targets. At the same time, the Austrian
government has failed to make any kind of post-2020 financial
commitment. Boo to you, Austria!
Last place went to New Zealand for supporting suspect carbon
credits. Despite being involved in discussions to develop
‘high-integrity’ international carbon markets, NZ has been fronting up
with ‘dodgy carbon credits’ to meet its obligations
under the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. New Zealand:
why are you trying to be Australia now?
Linh Do
Editor-in-Chief, The Verb
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