1 Working for Meaningful Outcomes in Durban June 2011.

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Working for Meaningful Outcomes in Durban

June 2011

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• Durban represents the culmination of negotiations on one of the most important issues under the UNFCCC: Financing.

• It also represents a critical juncture in the history of the climate change negotiations: two separate negotiation tracks continuing resulting in 2 separate outcomes or merging into a single process and outcome.

Introduction

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How to ensure that Durban results in meaningful outcomes, especially for developing countries?

Go back to what launched this protracted negotiations:

the FULL, EFFECTIVE AND SUSTAINED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNFCCC.

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This is predicated on:

The UNFCCC’s Ultimate Objective: stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

Parameters of reaching this ultimate objective: allow ecosystems to adapt, ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.

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PRINCIPLES

Act on the basis of equity & in accordance with common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof.

Others: precautionary principle & adaptation, vulnerabilities of developing countries, sustainable development, no measures to constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade.

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COMMITMENTS

All Parties to undertake measures & cooperate on mitigation, adaptation, scientific & technical cooperation, education, training, public awareness, reporting of national inventories of emissions, etc..Developed country Parties commit to undertake mitigation by reducing emissions, to demonstrate taking lead in “modifying longer-term trends in anthropogenic emissions”

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Commitments (continued)

•Developed countries to provide new & additional, adequate & predictable financial resources to developing country Parties•Developed countries to meet costs of adaptation for developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable (definition in Convention)•Developed countries to promote, facilitate, finance, transfer of or access to ESTs & know-how

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Key to the Balance of “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities”:Article 4.7 : “The extent to which developing country Parties will effectively implement their commitments under the Convention will depend on the effective implementation by developed country Parties of their commitments under the Convention related to financial resources and transfer of technology, and will take fully into account that economic and social development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of developing country Parties.”

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Two-Track Negotiations

1/CP.13 on the Bali Action Plan launched the AWG-LCA in 2008.

AWG-KP began two years earlier .

Developing countries insist on the continuation of the two-track negotiations.

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Intermediate Milestones:

The Copenhagen Accords which was “noted” but not adopted.

The Cancun Decisions which established the Green Climate Fund & launched the Transitional Committee design process.

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Meaningful results can come out of Durban, primarily:

the Operationalization of the Green Climate Fund;

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A strong signal for the continuance of the KP.

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Role of stakeholders, e.g. Provincial Governments

Inform the negotiations of needs and aspirations of respective constituencies on the desired outcomes, in the context of commitments already enshrined in the Convention.

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Contribution of the UNDP/UN to this process…

Provide platforms for dialogue & support capacity development to ensure transparency & integrity of the negotiations & decisionmaking processes towards the desired outcomes.

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Thank you!