Bonn, Germany – Friday, October 23, 2015: At the close of the last negotiating session before ministers, heads of state, and negotiators meet in Paris to finalise what should be a comprehensive, ambitious, and universal climate agreement, parties are leaving with a clearer idea of the outline of the deal.
After a week of careful negotiating, there was concordance reached on some options, while discussion on other issues was taken as far as possible without the involvement of ministers and heads of state. During this session, parties took ownership of the text, building out their bloc positions and deepening a shared understanding on some contentious topics.
Ministers will begin to examine the text at the pre-COP, taking place on November 8-10 in Paris, before the discussion moves to COP21 on November 30. Support for ambitious climate action has never been higher, and leaders from the business, faith, national security, health, and justice communities around the world will assemble in Paris to display the full breadth of the movement.
On the ground in Bonn, CAN members made the following comments:
“Everyone wants to play their cards late. But not everyone can have the ace of spades. This process is too important to be a high risk poker game. They need to put down their cards, and play together as a team."
-Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace
"A spirit of compromise will be important to reach a final agreement in Paris. But there can be no compromise on the level of ambition we need to address the climate crisis. Political leaders, representing ordinary people across the world facing the impacts of climate change, must be bold and decisive in acting to put the world on a path away to create a cleaner, safer more sustainable future for all. We want citizens and lawmakers in capitals to ensure that the message to leaders is clear and unambiguous: Now is the time. You are the people who have with the power to change climate change. Paris is the place where the world must unite."
-Tasneem Essop, WWF
"The French presidency will need to play a critical role. Until the very last minute of the very last night of the Paris COP, they will be the gate-keepers of ambition and fairness. A success in Paris is not only about signing a universal deal, but about signing an ambitious universal deal. And while some countries may have chosen to keep us out of the room here in Bonn, they won't be able to avoid us in Paris. We will be massively taking to the streets on November 28th and 29th—not just in Paris, but in cities all over the world. With our calls for climate action, we will make our voices heard throughout the talks. At the close of the COP, we will take to the streets of Paris again, reminding the leaders that we will not stop demanding progress and holding them accountable."
For a one-to-one interview with our spokespeople, please contact Ria Voorhaar, CAN International on +49 157 3173 5568 or email: rvoorhaar@climatenetwork.org.
Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of over 900 NGOs working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. More at: www.climatenetwork.org
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