Governments struggle to agree climate rulebook at Bangkok talks

04/09/2018

#climate change #UNFCCC #Paris Agreement #sustainable development #SDGs

The keyword: rulebook.

It surprised almost everybody that Paris Agreement enter into force so fast. It's a fantastic news, but left party countries much less time to agree on the rulebook of Paris Agreement, i.e. the implementation guidelines.

After failing to make enough progress in Bonn in May, the Bangkok summit (September 4-9th) is governments' last shot to advanced stalled talks in the run-up to UNFCCC COP24 in Katowice, Poland in December.

UN chief Patricia Espinosa told a press conference on Sunday that it was "critical" that the week-long meeting ends with a draft of the rules of the Paris Agreement that can serve as the basis for the Polish talks. "A last-minute rush", but should not at the expense of loopholes in the rulebook to disadvantage people, particularly people from the poor and vulnerable countries.

There's a good metaphor from ECO: " If the Paris Agreement is an aircraft, the rulebook is the engine - it requires a lot of technical knowledge and its reliability is crucial... But ambition and the Talanoa Dialogue are the wings of the aircraft. And only if they are big enough it will fly. Ambition is part of the overall package that parties need to deliver at the COP - surely this is something that parties and COP presidencies alike recognise. "

Therefore we would also like to remind that an inspiring Talanoa Dialogue High-Level Ministerial Roundtable at COP 24 is crucial for delivering enhanced NDCs for submission in 2020. Bangkok is not that far from Katowice, and we all know that failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

With a robust rulebook and the successful Talanoa Dialogue, the missing piece to ensure the full and fair implementation of the Paris Agreement is support: finance, technology & capacity building. Bangkok is an opportunity to finally address particularly the finance question (100 billion dollar) in a constructive way. Two simple pieces of advice to help you provide Real Money for Real Action from ECO: 1. "build trust now that your existing commitments will be met and accounted for in a transparent and robust way"; 2. "look ahead and lay the groundwork for scaled up, sustainable, and more predictable climate finance, including through the upcoming GCF replenishment."

Association 3 Herissons look forward to a fruitful discussion in Bangkok!

For more details, please refer to UNFCCC official webpage, the piece from the Climate Home News & CAN-ECO news.