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Ethics 101: Conflict of Interest
25 May 2016
It has come to the attention of ECO that, during the SBI contact group on Arrangements for Intergovernmental Meetings yesterday, many Parties and their lawyers were unclear about the definition of a fairly basic legal concept: “conflict of interest”. ECO knows that many negotiators (and certainly their legal experts) are lawyers. Imagine our surprise when […]
Green 7?
25 May 2016
The 2015 G7 saw Angela Merkel use it as an opportunity to emphasise the need for climate action, and as a way to keep G7 leaders engaged in the run up to Paris. Now it is time for Japan to take the lead and galvanise the other G7 countries. However, it seems that they don’t […]
Outflanked and Exposed, Japan Has Run Out of Excuses
25 May 2016
Japan started on the right path when the Kyoto Protocol was adopted. It has since gone downhill. Paris delivered on the main negotiating demand that Japan proposed: action from all Parties and a framework for transparency and accountability. Ahead of the Japan G7, ECO believes Japan needs to do more. 1) Japan has all the […]
A Climaterian Emergency
25 May 2016
Hundreds of miles from Bonn, climate impacts are capturing the attention of the World Humanitarian Summit, another meeting in Istanbul of decision makers and stakeholders deciding the future of our people and planet. It is tasked with the mammoth challenge of reforming the humanitarian system so it is fit for purpose in our changing world—more […]
Bob Dylan on the APA
25 May 2016
As people celebrated Bob Dylan’s birthday yesterday, negotiations in Bonn were ‘tangled up in blue’. ECO would like to inspire negotiators in answering the questions posed by the APA Co-Chairs. Should the features and information on Nationally Determined Contributions be tailored to the type of NDCs or should they be tailored on some other basis? […]
Who Will Dance the 2018 INDC Tango?
24 May 2016
With it rich history of dancing the tango, Argentina knows that, for a knockout show, leadership and collaboration are essential. ECO is heartened by the Argentinean government’s decision to revise its INDC before 2018. They also appear to be betting on a clean energy future, as they just announced their first auction of 1GW of […]
Making the Global Climate Action Agenda Shine
24 May 2016
The prospects for COP22 in Marrakech could have been muted after the historic Paris COP. The news that the Moroccan presidency will make pre-2020 climate action the focus of COP22 made us giddy with delight! With the Global Climate Action Agenda now formally recognised under the Paris Agreement, it can be strengthened based on the […]
UNFCCC First: TEM-A
24 May 2016
ECO is thrilled that the first ever Technical Expert Meeting on Adaptation (TEM-A) is taking place today. The COP21 decision establishing the TEM-A not only helps to create some balance between mitigation and adaptation, but also puts greater emphasis on the gaps, needs, challenges, options and opportunities for adaptation implementation on the ground. This incorporates […]
Finally… Loss and Damage Discussions in Bonn
24 May 2016
It’s great to see there is an official place to take up the issue of loss and damage at this Bonn session. Thanks to the Presidency for holding a special event on Tuesday afternoon! This is timely and urgent. COP22 must deliver two outcomes related to the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) […]
Barro Blanco: Never Again
24 May 2016
ECO is deeply concerned by the current developments in the Barro Blanco project in Panama, a hydroelectric dam registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and financially backed by the German and Dutch development banks. In 2015, Panama recognised that the Barro Blanco project had been approved in violation of the Ngäbe’s social and cultural […]