Hi all,
Please find ECO below, for day 6 of the SB46 negotiations in Bonn.
For those who don’t know, ECO has been produced since 1972 as commentary to the environmental negotiations process.
Andres
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Don’t think twice (About the Adaptation Fund)!
One of the hottest topics ECO is covering this week is the Adaptation Fund, and how it will serve the Paris Agreement. Two things are happening right now.
First, SBI is having discussions about the third Review of the Fund. This review should be completed by November 2017, and aims to give an idea about the current state of the Fund by presenting its current progress, opportunities, and challenges.
The Fund’s work has been applauded by developing countries, mostly because of its direct access structure and its focus on the most vulnerable. It promotes country ownership, and allows countries to manage their own adaptation projects. In Marrakech, the Fund over-performed, exceeding its resource mobilisation target goal of US$80 million. This accomplishment is a tribute to the momentum the Fund has, and shows what developed countries should do to contribute to the operationality, efficiency and sustainability of the Fund under the Paris Agreement. This momentum is also seen in the strong need and demand for concrete localized climate change adaptation projects. In March this year, the Fund's Board received 23 project submissions to review.
Second, ECO is paying close attention to the APA negotiations about the future of the Fund and how it will function under the Paris Agreement after 2018.
Several developed countries have voiced their concerns about the complexity of the transition period from the Adaptation Fund serving under the CMP to serving under the CMA. While ECO understands that the devil is in the details: we think this is a problem that could be overcome with sufficient motivation. We also believe that it would be one hell of a problem if we start doubting the spirit of the decision taken at COP22 when Parties agreed that the Adaptation Fund should serve the Paris Agreement. For ECO, the decision was clear: the Adaptation Fund will serve the Agreement by 2018 in a sustainable and adequate manner, and fill a niche in the international finance architecture by continuing to perform as remarkably as it has until now. Dear negotiators, we can’t go back now.
Just remember, “don’t think twice, it’s alright!”
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“In The Light of Equity”
The importance of the Global Stocktake for enhancing the ambition of future climate action cannot be overstated. Since equity and ambition are two sides of the same coin, the Parties to the Paris Agreement decided to conduct the Global Stocktake “in the light of equity.”
It is important to review what “equity” means, in this context. It is perfectly clear from the context of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement that it refers to the right to development and eradication of poverty. Hence, the Global Stocktake needs to be conducted in a manner that reflects that countries face very different situations in terms of development and poverty levels, and that any assessment based on equity needs to take into consideration these national differences.
When first submitting their NDCs back in 2015, Parties were asked to explain how their contributions were fair and ambitious. These submissions included some very interesting suggestions regarding how equity has, and could further inform the national determination of their contributions.
The information in the submissions is by no means sufficient, but it's a start, and it should be used as the basis for future consideration of the role of equity as an overarching principle informing all topics under the Global Stocktake. In addition to these inputs, further creative thinking about how to conduct an effective Global Stocktake, “in the light of equity” is desperately required.
As a starting point we know that the Global Stocktake must assess collective progress towards delivering the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement (Article 2) in a comprehensive and facilitative manner. This assessment must take place based on the cross-cutting principles contained in the preamble of the Paris Agreement; food security, gender equality, just transition, and human rights. Such an assessment would ensure that the Global Stocktake not only deals with a very narrow scope of climate change issues, but also helps ensure that climate action promotes, and recognises social development and equality issues. By assessing progress based on this broader set of requirements, Parties would also enhance international cooperation by recognising that these issues are key to the safety and success of people all across the world.
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Maximizing Climate Benefits of the HFCs Phase Down
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is expected to result in emissions reductions of up to 100 billion tones of CO2e by 2050, as countries phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in refrigerators and air conditioners, and switch to more sustainable refrigerants. This presents a major opportunity to also improve the energy efficiency of cooling appliances and thereby prevent additional GHG emissions. Indeed, despite the high Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) of refrigerant gases such as HFCs, over their lifetime, the majority of emissions from the use of air conditioners and refrigerators results from the carbon dioxide that is released as a result of the electricity they use.
ECO calls on governments to seize this opportunity to double down on their emissions reductions, and enhance implementation of their NDCs through tackling the efficiency of these cooling appliances as part and parcel of the equipment changes that are planned due to the HFC phase down. In addition, importing countries should take measures to avoid the potential dumping of older appliances, as exporting countries move to the newest generation. Such older appliances will not only cause greater emissions of HFCs, but also lead to more CO2 emissions than more modern appliances would.
Sustainable use of cooling equipment should rely on three key pillars: (1) clean sources of electricity; (2) highly energy-efficient appliances, and; (3) low-GWP refrigerants.
ECO calls on governments and policy advocates to seize the opportunities presented by the Kigali Amendment and coordinate domestic efforts to advance energy efficiency to align with the HFC phase down. Governments should then consider how they might enhance their NDCs by including the actions their countries are taking on HFCs, as well as potential complementary actions on appliance energy efficiency.
Andrés Fuentes
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