ECO’s Agenda for Adoption
5 April 2011
3. (TOO NARROW) Global goal for emission reductions and global peaking.
Expand this item to include a discussion on an equitable effort sharing agreement as this will allow Parties to agree on ambitious and science-based long-term goals by Durban.
3bis. (CURRENTLY MISSING) Mitigation.
While the workshops have been useful in clarifying assumptions (and clarity is an important first step), action must follow. There must be space on the negotiating agenda to feed-in and build on information and recommendations that comes out of the workshops in order to close the gigatonne gap by Durban. The Secretariat’s technical paper and further submissions from Parties will also help. The scope of this agenda item should include the AOSIS proposal to examine options and ways to increase the level of ambition.
4. (OPERATIONALIZE) Adaptation Committee.
50% of future resources in the Green Climate Fund should be earmarked for adaptation.
5. (OPERATIONALIZE) Work programme on enhanced measurement, reporting and verification for Parties included in Annex I to the Convention.
5bis. (CURRENTLY MISSING) Compliance by developed countries with their commitments.
Strong domestic enforcement of commitments is always welcome but there must be an international minimum that ensures that all countries fulfill their international obligations. This is especially helpful when there is no domestic law to speak of (here’s looking at you: USA, Canada, Australia….).
6. (OPERATIONALIZE) Work programme on enhanced measurement, reporting and verification for Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention.
7. (OPERATIONALIZE) Registry.
8. (RESOLVE) Financing options for the full implementation of mitigation action in the forest sector.
9. (OPERATIONALIZE) Standing Committee.
9bis (CURRENTLY MISSING) Innovative Sources of Financing.
ECO supports the African Proposal to urgently scale-up new, additional, predictable and adequate funding to support the mitigation and adaptation activities of developing countries. A key way to ensure such funding levels will be met is to identify and implement innovative sources, such as levies on international transport.
9ter. (CURRENTLY MISSING) Review of information provided by developed countries on their fast-start finance commitments.
ECO supports the LDC Proposal and reminds developed countries that their FSF reports are due in May!!
10. (REMEMBER KYOTO) Market-based and (FOCUS ON THE ‘F’s) non-market-based mechanisms.
Time is of the essence and thus Parties are reminded that any markets developed under the LCA must COMPLEMENT, and not undermine, those under the Kyoto Protocol. These mechanisms should be based on large segments of the economy of the host countries (rather than being project based)and must be as strict as (or stricter, as we have learned some valuable lessons with KP mechanisms) the Kyoto rules to ensure environmental integrity. On the non-market side, Parties should focus on phasing out HFCs as well as eliminating fossil fuel subsidies.
10bis. (CURRENTLY MISSING) International aviation and maritime transport
Countries should resume their negotiations on how international aviation and maritime can contribute to global emissions reductions and innovative sources of finance. After all we need all the “gigatonnes” we can get!
11. (TOO NARROW) Arrangements to fully operationalize the Technology Mechanism.
Ignoring the tough issues, namely IPRs, does not make them go away (if this were so, the battle to stop climate change would have been won long ago!) Commissioning a study on whether or not and how IPRs are a barrier to technology transfer, followed-up by a technical workshop would go a long way this year in advancing the discussion.
12. Capacity-building.
13. (OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE) Review.
Preparing for a robust review in 2013-2015 which will enable Parties to go even further in their mitigation and adaptation efforts is crucial. This item must remain on the agenda and significant time devoted to it.
14. Issues relating to Parties with economies in transition and Parties with special circumstances.
15. (OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE) Legal options.
In 2010, it was a struggle to even get legal issues discussed in the LCA. In 2011, it’s officially on the agenda and needs to be ever present in the discussion, as it is the end goal after all. On the Kyoto side, their legal issues group needs to resolve any issues related to the provisional application of amendments as this is now the only way to ensure there is no gap between the first and second commitment periods.