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TWN
Info Service on Climate Change (Mar21/01) Climate: Pressure mounts to commence negotiations virtually at UNFCCC Penang, 5 March (Meena Raman) – Efforts are underway within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to get agreement to commence negotiations virtually. Third World Network (TWN) has learnt that the Bureau of the UNFCCC’s Conference of Parties (COP) met on Thursday, 25 Feb. to discuss possibilities to begin negotiations virtually. According to sources, developed countries supported virtual-based negotiations, while some developing country representatives expressed serious challenges posed by the inability of their members to engage effectively due to the digital divide, problems of network connectivity, lack of interpretation services, difficulties in coordinating positions among negotiators from negotiating groups, time-zone issues etc. Sources said that due to the differences of views, the Bureau was not able to reach agreement on how to proceed on the issue of the virtual negotiations and will convene another meeting again sometime in March. The meetings of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB) are supposed to convene in June, while the 26th session of the COP (COP 26) is scheduled to be held in Nov. in Glasgow, United Kingdom and it is currently uncertain as to what form the meetings will take, whether virtually or face-to-face. (The Bureau, is comprised of the COP President [which is currently Chile], representatives of Parties from the five UN regional groups and Small Island Developing States. The Bureau oversees the organization of the sessions and the operation of the UNFCCC Secretariat, especially at times when the COP is not in session). The pressure to commence virtual negotiations is also coming from the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) himself, given the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, that led to the inability to convene the COP 26 last year and to prevent a further postponement of the event this year According to several senior negotiators who spoke to TWN, climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, unlike other international processes (such as in the UN in New York or the Convention on Biological Diversity), have been very highly charged, deeply political, and complex due to the transformation needed in the economies of countries and the consequences that follow. The climate talks have been riddled with a massive trust deficit especially among North-South lines. One of the most difficult and challenging issues that is pending resolution under the Paris Agreement is the rules for implementation on Article 6, which deals with market and non-market approaches, including carbon markets. This is one major outstanding matter that could not be agreed to in the previous COPs either in Poland in 2018 or Spain in 2019, largely due to divergent views and understandings over the approaches/mechanisms envisaged. According to one seasoned observer who has followed the climate talks for decades, even with face-to-face meetings, the Article 6 negotiations were very complicated, intense and difficult; what more in a virtual-setting. Developing countries will face immense difficulties in terms of coordinating among their group members and in engaging in a dynamic fashion when internet connectivity and language barriers pose a tremendous challenge, added the observer further. Another senior diplomat and experienced negotiator from a developing country was of the view that instead of focussing on pushing negotiations by virtual means, efforts should be made by the UN, with the cooperation of developed countries, to facilitate the attendance of delegates to face-to-face meetings for the SBs and the COP, by treating them in the same fashion as front-line workers in the health sector, where all measures are taken to ensure their safety, including in the provision of vaccines to developing countries and in following all health protocols, without travel restrictions and the need for quarantine. Said another delegate from a major developing country, countries do not need to wait for a COP in order to take strong climate action, adding that the Paris Agreement has already come into effect, and what is needed now is implementation, through ambitious emission reduction targets by developed countries consistent with their fair shares, taking into account their historical and cumulative emissions. Added the delegate further, one does not need a COP to increase the provision of finance and enable technology transfer to developing countries, as these are pre-existing obligations of developed countries under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. To portray to the outside world that we need a COP to implement these commitments is not correct, added the delegate further. Several developing countries who spoke to TWN expressed concerns that virtual negotiations pose serious handicaps to them, in not being inclusive and transparent on how decisions are made. They expressed real worries that this could result in unbalanced outcomes that do not meaningfully reflect or address their views and concerns. It was not about not wanting progress in the climate talks but was more about the difficulties in a virtual process that is disadvantageous to them and which can lead to unfavourable outcomes to developing countries. In the meanwhile, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa has issued a message to Parties and observer organisations, dated 4 March, informing them about the ‘Outcomes of the meeting of the Bureau on 25 Feb 2021.’ Some highlights of the communication are as follows: “The Bureau requested the presiding officers, taking into account the opinions and concerns expressed by Parties in their consultations, and with the support of the secretariat, to make available a calendar of upcoming activities, including informal consultations and technical expert meetings, in preparation for a successful COP 26 in Nov. 2021. In preparing the calendar, they will: 1. Identify mandated and non-mandated work that can be advanced with virtual and/or remote participation, and work to be conducted in session; 2. Organize planned activities to take place as soon as possible, and schedule work throughout the coming months and up to COP 26, including during the period originally planned for the June sessions, as it is not yet feasible to hold in-person meetings; 3. Identify issues on which submissions from Parties will be invited; 4. Identify preparatory work that will require substantive secretariat support.” The communication added further that “The Bureau confirmed that the following criteria agreed at its meeting on 25 August 2020 for the organization of work in 2020 and 2021, under the overarching principle of maximizing progress and minimizing delay, will continue to apply and guide the presiding officers in planning work in 2021: 1. Maintaining the original timelines for mandates and submission deadlines to the extent possible, and informally advancing work mandated to be initiated in 2020, particularly if it was mandated to conclude in 2020 or 2021; 2. Maintaining the mandated number of meetings and delivering reports of the constituted bodies as originally planned in 2020 and 2021; 3. Extending the current membership of the Convention, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement bodies as needed until successors can be appointed or elected; 4. Holding events in the year that they were scheduled to be held, to the extent possible.” “Additionally, the Bureau agreed on the following guidance for remote participation:
1. Transparency and inclusiveness must be ensured in all virtual meetings; 2. Meetings should be scheduled on the basis of a rotating roster so that no region is disproportionately positively or negatively affected; 3. As soon as conditions allow, all efforts should be made to deliver work through in-person meetings. In-person formal sessions will be organized once all Parties have the possibility to participate on an equal footing with respect to physical presence. As work advances remotely, the secretariat will make all efforts to provide support for the effective participation of Party representatives, as well as to the chairs and coordinators of groups and constituencies in their efforts to facilitate coordination.” The secretariat, said the communication “is committed to ensuring transparent and inclusive participation of all Parties in the UNFCCC intergovernmental process during these challenging times.” The next meeting of the Bureau in March will indeed be important in outlining the next steps on the road to COP 26.
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