Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The Brakes Are Off

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The Bonn meeting launched with a two-day Dialogue on the way forward post-Kyoto, following the commitment made at the last Conference of the Parties to the climate treaty. With several hundred participants, the Dialogue considered advancing development goals in a sustainable fashion, addressing action on adaptation and realizing the full potential of technology and market-based opportunities. The co-facilitators encouraged a focus on creative thinking, open dialogue and concrete actions.

On adaptation, Tanzania and the Philippines argued that adaptation should have the same status as mitigation and expressed concern at the neglect of this issue. Tuvalu endorsed this point and called for action on adaptation, rather than studies and pilot projects.

Following the Dialogue, talks continued on implementation of the Framework Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the form of any subsequent, post-2012 agreement.

The Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-1) met 17-25th May. This body focuses on further measures to be taken by industrialized countries for the period after 2012 when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends.

There was considerable discussion of the future work plan of the AWG, covering the nature of level of ambition of the next commitment period and its timescale or length. The G-77/China, through South Africa, called for "substantially stricter" commitments during the post-2012 period. The European Union put forward its proposal for 15-50 per cent reductions by 2050 and called for commitments to be clearly defined and fair. Japan called for the second commitment period to be based on sound scientific analysis, rather than solely a "political exercise".

Delegates agreed to a roadmap to set new targets beyond 2012, but with no timetable for decisions on the level of the reductions. "This [agreement] makes clear... that the outcome of this process will be a new set of quantitative caps," said Michael Zammit Cutajar, who is leading the process. "This is a new phase in the life of the Protocol." The post-2012 view will have an economic and scientific underpinning, based on the forthcoming Stern Review on the economics of climate change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 review of climate science.

Richard Kinley, head of the Climate Change Secretariat, said: "Developing countries, which will be hit hardest by climate change, are pushing for rapid agreement on deeper emission cuts. This is the message we have also been hearing from business leaders meeting here in Bonn, who have underlined the importance of a speedy process from their perspective. Obviously, the carbon market needs clear signals." The meeting reaffirmed that the AWG would move "expeditiously" towards agreement on further commitments and that there would be no gap between the current commitment period and the following phase.

The Twenty-Fourth Sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) continued work on implementation of the Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.

A pressing consideration, with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) operational, was how to manage the new Adaptation Fund. The Adaptation Fund was established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing country Parties. It is being financed with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities and will receive funds from other sources. The share of proceeds amounts to two per cent of certified emission reductions issued for a CDM project activity.

The discussion in Bonn involved the selection of the entity to manage the fund and guidance for its use. The issue was not able to be resolved as the developed countries supported the Global Environment Facility (GEF) while the developing countries opposed the GEF as the entity to be entrusted with management of the Adaptation Fund. With regard to the guidance on eligibility and criteria, this was relatively simple as the fund would be open to all developing countries that had ratified the Kyoto Protocol and would support "concrete adaptations" as laid down in the Kyoto Protocol. As no final resolution was possible in Bonn, the agenda item has been forwarded to COP-12 to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2006. The SBI has prepared a compilation document containing the various proposals for the operation of the Fund and further consultation will take place.

With regard to the Special Climate Change Fund, draft text on its operation had been carried over from a previous SBI session with matters, such as the identification of priority areas, to be resolved in Bonn. Discussion on the financing of activities led to the definition of a two-stage process, whereby technical assistance would be followed by financial support for activities and programmes. There was, however, no agreement on text regarding this or other key matters. It is intended that final recommendations will be put to COP-12 in Nairobi.

Capacity building was considered by the SBI in the context of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. Under the Convention, discussion of monitoring was to the fore, with varied views on how stringent requirements should be. CDM was the focus for the discussion of capacity building within the context of the Protocol. Attention was drawn to the unequal distribution of CDM projects, particularly with regard to the shortage of projects in Africa.

The SBI approved a new work programme that extends the mandate of the Least Developed Countries Expert Group and expressed its appreciation of the Group's work. The Group has played an active role in developing and supporting the National Adaptation Programmes of Action.

The SBSTA again held in abeyance an agenda item on implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States after opposition to its inclusion by the United States and Australia. The United States and Australia argue that the issue could be addressed under other SBI or SBSTA agenda items.

The SBSTA did discuss in detail the Five-Year Programme of Work on Adaptation. The nine initial activities cover: methods and tools; data and observations; climate modelling; scenarios and downscaling; climate-related events and extreme events; socioeconomic information; adaptation planning and practices; research; technologies for adaptation; and economic diversification.

In discussion, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and others expressed concern that the work programme added little to what was already underway, while the United States underlined the need for stocktaking. Eventually, a fundamental divergence emerged between those Parties, such as the G-77/China, who considered that they had a mandate to extend the activities covered by the initial activities and, for example, the United States who considered their mandate restricted to establishing modalities for those initial activities. Unable to resolve this disagreement, discussion fell back to defining the mandate for the next stage of the deliberations in Nairobi.

Greater progress was made on technology transfer, with the SBSTA reaching a series of conclusions based on background reports such as that produced by the Expert Group on Technology Transfer. It considered furthering Technology Needs Assessments and their implementation on a sectoral basis, barriers to technology transfer, funding and future actions. It noted technology needs in the energy, industry and transportation sectors for mitigation and in agriculture and coastal areas for adaptation.

The issue of reducing emissions from deforestation from developing countries was considered by the SBSTA, with discussion focused on the scope of a workshop to be held in Rome, Italy, in late August 2006.

Finally, Parties considered the future organization of the international negotiations. There was agreement that the long work hours, evening sessions and packed agenda warranted attention, with participants expressing their concern about levels of exhaustion at the meetings. Proposals for streamlining the agenda and prioritizing issues were put forward.

Where next? Bonn, perhaps, presented a more accurate portrait of the next stage of the climate negotiations than the excitement of the Montréal session last year, dominated as it was by the First Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. There is a long road ahead as we move forward with the next stage of implementation of the climate treaty, with procedural matters requiring detailed attention and political considerations always to the fore.

"The brakes are off and the process is moving forward," commented Jennifer Morgan of the World Wildlife Fund. "However, a serious scale-up in the intensity of work is needed or the impacts of climate change will quickly overtake this process if countries are not careful."

Further information
Additional information can be found on the UNFCCC Secretariat website. A report on AWG-1 has been prepared. Webcasts of the formal proceedings and related events are available. Earth Negotiations Bulletin has published daily reports and a summary of the outcome the meeting.

On the Web
The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary lists websites related to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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