The ADP 2.8 negotiations in Geneva on Sunday, February 8
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On the first day of activities, the issues to be prioritized in the negotiations were mentioned with the aim of having an improved text of the one achieved in Lima during COP20. Latin American countries have made several proposals for improvement.
The first meeting of the 2015 Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, also known as ADP 2.8, opened on Sunday, February 8 in Geneva, Switzerland, following COP20 in Peru.
This conference is the first of many preparatory meetings for COP21 whose main mandate is to adopt a new agreement to be implemented as of 2020.
The body in charge of developing the new agreement is the ADP Ad Hoc Working Group, which was asked during COP20 to intensify its work with the objective of making available to the countries a text for the negotiation of this new agreement before May 2015.
Since there will not be another ADP meeting before May, the new ADP co-chairs, Ahmed Djoghlaf (Algeria) and Daniel Reifsnyder (United States) decided that at this first meeting in Geneva they would deliver a text for negotiation, based on the "Lima Call for Climate Action", to be communicated by the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to all countries.
In his inaugural speech, the President of COP20 and Minister of Environment of Peru, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, invited the countries to maintain the momentum generated in Lima and to work responsibly, efficiently and in a spirit of compromise.
"We are one planet, one team," he reminded negotiators from 194 countries in his opening remarks. This week we need to act with responsibility and vision. I ask you to work with efficiency and a sense of commitment (...), the Paris agreement must guarantee a solution against climate change, but also stimulate sustainable development and the elimination of poverty in the world".
During the opening ceremony, the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC) mentioned the issues that should be prioritized in the ADP negotiations: parity for adaptation, clear rules for mitigation, scaling up climate finance and the design of a long-term architecture to establish commitment cycles. Click here to read AILAC's full speech.
The ADP contact group has been holding plenary sessions with all countries to review the different sections of the Lima Call for Climate Action. On the first day (Sunday, February 8) sections C (General / Objectives) and D (Mitigation) were reviewed. Countries made suggestions for additions to the text and identified opportunities to consolidate ideas on both sections.
Section C explains why a new agreement is needed. The following is a summary of what the countries commented:
- European Union: Stressed the need to reach net zero emissions of CO2 and other long-lived greenhouse gases by the end of 2100 to ensure consistency with the IPCC Fifth Report.
- Switzerland agreed on the need to reflect the objective of reaching the goal of zero net GHG emissions.
- AOSIS stressed the need to raise the ambition of all parties; strengthen the interlinkages between mitigation and adaptation; and address loss and damage.
- Brazil regretted that certain elements of the text are not in line with the Lima outcome, such as the references to the "evolution of common but differentiated responsibilities".
- The United States proposed categorizing developed and developing countries into two new annexes.
The text of section C shared by the co-chairs, which includes the views of the different countries, is now available.
Regarding section D (Mitigation), which deals with global and long-term aspects of mitigation, the Latin American countries commented:
- Argentina, for the LMDCs group, underscored, inter alia, that commitments, contributions and actions must conform to the principles and obligations of the Convention, and that developed countries must commit to quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives (QELROs) that are comparable, verifiable and implemented without any conditions. He added that the development of country actions may include REDD+ as well as adaptation and joint mitigation, in accordance with their specific circumstances and needs.
- Chile, for AILAC, suggested text distinguishing between ex ante and ex post review of INDCs, proposing that all countries take on successive mitigation commitments. On the use of market mechanisms in the land use sector, he suggested: including references to environmental integrity; avoiding double counting; and a tax to support climate resilience in developing countries.
- Brazil suggested text on an economic mechanism comprising an Emissions Trading System (ETS) and an enhanced Clean Development Mechanism (CDM+). He explained that countries with quantified mitigation targets could use the ETS and CDM+ to complement domestic action, and developing countries could participate in CDM+ projects on a voluntary basis. He highlighted voluntary cancellations of CERs (Certified Emission Reductions) to improve environmental integrity. He argued that cancelled CERs could be used to meet quantified funding targets or pledges, but not mitigation targets.
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