Govts endorse negotiating text for Paris climate agreement

A KEY milestone towards a new, universal agreement on climate change was reached in Geneva following seven days of negotiations by over 190 nations. 

  Nations concluded the Geneva Climate Change Talks by successfully preparing the negotiating text for the 2015 agreement. The agreement is set to be reached in Paris at the end of 2015 and will come into effect in 2020.  

  Delegates from 194 countries convened in Geneva to continue work following the Lima Climate Change Conference held in Peru last year, which had produced elements for the negotiating text–known as the Lima Call for Climate Action. 

  “I am extremely encouraged by the constructive spirit and the speed at which negotiators have worked during the past week,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

  “We now have a formal negotiating text, which contains the views and concerns of all countries. The Lima Draft has now been transformed into the negotiating text and enjoys the full ownership of all countries,” she added. 

  The negotiating text covers the substantive content of the new agreement including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology and capacity-building. Countries worked hard to identify the main choices, put their views forward and add more sharpened options to the text.

  “The text was constructed in full transparency. This means that although it has become longer, countries are now fully aware of each other’s positions,” Ms. Figueres said. 

  The negotiating text will be edited and translated into the UN’s official languages. After this, the text will be communicated to the world’s capitals by the UNFCCC secretariat in the first quarter of 2015. 

  “This fulfills the internationally-accepted timetable for reaching a possible treaty because it alerts capitals to the fact that a legal instrument could be adopted in Paris. It does not, however, set this possibility in stone – it merely opens the door for this possibility. As for the legal nature of the agreement, this will only be clarified later in the year,” Ms. Figueres explained.  

  In parallel to the negotiating text being communicated to the world’s capitals, its successful construction kick-starts a year of intense negotiations towards the new agreement.    

  The next step is for negotiators to narrow down options and reach consensus on the content. Formal work and negotiations on the text will continue at the Climate Change Conference in Bonn in June and at two further formal sessions later in the year in Bonn (August 31to September 4 and October 19 to 23).

  Additionally, ministerial-level meetings throughout the year will include climate change on their agendas and contribute to convergence on the key political choices. 

  These include the Major Economies Forum; the Petersburg Climate Dialogue and the African Ministerial Conference of the Environment with the upcoming G7 and G20 meetings affording further political engagement on climate change and the Paris agreement.

  “These opportunities will help to ensure that countries have opportunities to work with each other at several political levels–what is needed now is vertical integration so that the views of heads of state, through ministers and to negotiators reflects a seamless and consistent view of ambition, common ground and ultimately success in December,” Ms. Figueres said.

  Meanwhile, members of the Climate Action Network (CAN) said that the UN climate talks in Geneva closed at the weekend with an air of optimism having made progress towards a new agreement that is due to be signed in Paris at the end of the year. 

  The draft agreement is on track to signal an end to fossil fuel emissions with both Jamaica and Switzerland adding their voices to the idea of a long term goal.

   CAN said: “ It’s good news countries have given a stamp of approval for a new draft version of the climate agreement that will be the basis of negotiations through the year and that it features a wide range of options to deal with mitigation and to provide support to help developing countries prepare for climate impacts including a loss and damage mechanism.  

   “There’s been a seachange in the dynamics here thanks to the open and consultative approach of the Co-Chairs.  Countries also came ready and willing to work.  The spirit of Geneva needs to be kept alive, as we move to on to deal with crunch issues like the need to scale up financial support for action and how to treat richer and poorer countries fairly, and loss and damage – which has the potential to be a make or break issue for Paris.”  

  According to the Manager International Policy, Climate Justice Programme, Julie-Anne Richards,  “all eyes must be on political leaders now, as they are the single most important influence that will shape the final outcome of a new global climate deal in Paris later this year.  

   “There are important political moments outside of the UN climate negotiation process – at both ministerial and Heads of State level – on the road to Paris where they can demonstrate their intentions, such as the G7, the G20 meetings, and the SDG Summit.

   “The first test of political will and influence inside the negotiating process will come in the period from March to June when countries announce their plans to reduce emissions and, we hope, provide financial resources for the post-2020 period.”

  For Tasneem Essop, WWF head of delegation to the UNFCCC, “as the talks here in Geneva come to a close, people around the world are taking part in Global Divestment Day, a worldwide effort to move money out of the fossil fuel industry and into a clean energy future. 

“That’s what these negotiations need to do, as well: send a clear signal to investors that the age of fossil fuels is coming to an end.”