Key decisions adopted in Glasgow

Meena Raman and Indrajit Bose provide below an overview of some of the major outcomes reached at the climate conference, while the three articles that follow look more closely at the deliberations and decisions on the hot-button issues of climate finance, loss and damage, and ‘cooperative approaches’ to tackling climate change.

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THE Glasgow talks from 31 October to 13 November saw two weeks of intense negotiations under the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26), the 16th session of the Kyoto Protocol Parties (CMP 16) and the third session of the Conference of Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 3).

Several key decisions were adopted under the three bodies, including on the unfinished items dealing with Paris Agreement (PA) implementation, such as Article 6 on cooperative approaches, enhanced transparency framework (ETF) and common timeframes for nationally determined contributions (CTF). This article presents the highlights of some of the decisions adopted.

Developing countries on the whole were disappointed with the Glasgow outcomes, with little gains for them especially on issues of finance, adaptation and loss and damage. They expressed concerns over the mitigation-focused decisions which did not match the slogans of ambition in keeping the 1.5°C global warming limit alive, with distant net zero targets by 2050 for developed countries which provided a ‘great escape’ for the latter without real and rapid emission reductions as soon as possible.

Also of concern was the focus on future emissions without addressing the historical and past emissions of developed countries which caused the climate crisis, and the struggle that was needed for the principles of equity and ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’ (CBDR-RC) to be properly reflected in the Glasgow outcomes.

Glasgow Climate Pact under the CMA

Mitigation

The CMA cover decision in the mitigation section ‘recognises that limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires rapid, deep and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, including reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 relative to the 2010 level and to net zero around mid-century, as well as deep reductions in other greenhouse gases.’

It also ‘recognises that this requires accelerated action in this critical decade, on the basis of the best available scientific knowledge and equity, reflecting CBDR-RC in the light of different national circumstances and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.’

It also ‘notes with serious concern the findings of the synthesis report on nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the PA, according to which the aggregate greenhouse gas emission level, taking into account implementation of all submitted NDCs, is estimated to be 13.7 per cent above the 2010 level in 2030’.

The CMA also decided ‘to establish a work programme to urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation’ and requested the subsidiary bodies (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice, SBSTA and Subsidiary Body for Implementation, SBI) to recommend a draft decision on this matter for consideration and adoption by CMA 4 (in 2022) ‘in a manner that complements the global stocktake (GST)’.

(Some developing countries did not want the work programme on mitigation alone due to duplication of work ongoing under the GST process, which will hold its technical assessment in 2022, in the run-up to 2023, and will focus on taking stock of the implementation of the PA to assess collective progress towards achieving the purpose and long-term goals as well as opportunities for enhanced action and support, including international cooperation for climate action.)

The decision also requests ‘Parties to align their targets in their NDCs with the PA temperature goal by the end of 2022, taking into account different national circumstances’, and requests the ‘secretariat  to annually update the synthesis report on nationally determined contributions under the PA’ and to make these reports available at every CMA session.

The CMA also decided to convene an ‘annual high-level ministerial round table on pre-2030 ambition’, starting at CMA 4. [Many developing countries including the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) did not want a focus only on mitigation ambition but wanted a more holistic consideration also of the means of implementation.]

The decision also ‘urges Parties that have not yet done so to communicate, by CMA 4, long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies … towards just transitions to net zero emissions by or around mid-century, taking into account different national circumstances.’

The decision ‘calls upon Parties to accelerate the development, deployment and dissemination of technologies, and the adoption of policies, to transition towards low-emission energy systems, including by rapidly scaling up the deployment of clean power generation and energy efficiency measures, including accelerating efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, while providing targeted support to the poorest and most vulnerable in line with national circumstances and recognizing the need for support towards a just transition’.

Adaptation

In the adaptation section, the CMA ‘recognises the importance of the global goal on adaptation (GGA) for the effective implementation of the PA, and welcomes the launch of the comprehensive two-year Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the GGA’. (Developed countries led by the US had been opposed to elaborating the GGA, and the launch of this work programme is a win for developing countries. See further details below.)

In the adaptation finance section, the CMA decision urges developed countries ‘to at least double their collective provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing country Parties from 2019 levels by 2025, in the context of achieving a balance between mitigation and adaptation’. (Developing countries wanted stronger language but had to live with just ‘urging’ developed countries to at least double their provision of climate finance for adaptation.)

Finance

The CMA decision welcomes the ‘first report on the determination of needs of developing country Parties related to implementing the Convention and the PA and the fourth Biennial Assessment and Overview of Climate Finance Flows by the Standing Committee on Finance’.

The decision underscores the importance of the deliberations on the new collective quantified goal ‘being informed by the need to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty and to make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emission and climate-resilient development taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries and building on the work of the Standing Committee on Finance’.

The decision ‘emphasises the challenges faced by many developing country Parties in accessing finance and encourages further efforts to enhance access to finance, including by the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism’.

Loss and damage

On loss and damage, the CMA decided that the ‘Santiago Network will be provided with funds to support technical assistance for the implementation of relevant approaches to avert, minimise and address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change’. Parties also decided that ‘modalities for the management of funds provided for technical assistance under the Santiago Network and the terms for their disbursement shall be determined by the process’ elaborated in a separate CMA decision specifically on loss and damage.

The CMA cover decision also reflects Parties’ agreement in deciding to ‘establish the Glasgow Dialogue between Parties, relevant organizations and stakeholders to discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change, to take place in the first sessional period of each year of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, concluding at its sixtieth session (June 2024)’.

(Discussions on loss and damage had been particularly contentious, with developing countries pushing for a facility to ensure a process for loss and damage finance, while developed countries, especially the US, were firmly opposed to this. The compromise was just to have a dialogue, a very small step as a start.)

The decision requests the SBI to ‘organise the Glasgow Dialogue in cooperation with the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts’.

Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the global goal on adaptation

Under the CMA, Parties decided to ‘establish and launch a comprehensive two-year Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the GGA’; that the implementation of the work programme would begin immediately after CMA 3; and that it will be carried out jointly by the SBSTA and the SBI.

(The discussions in Glasgow on the GGA were highly contested. Developing countries had proposed a structured process to be set up in Glasgow and for the mandate to be under the subsidiary bodies. They had even called for a separate decision on the GGA. Developed countries initially, however, were not entirely open to the idea of a structured process; they wanted to mandate the Adaptation Committee to pursue further work on the GGA and were opposed to an exclusive decision on the GGA.)

In the decision adopted, the CMA agreed on the objectives of the GGA work programme. Parties decided that the objectives of the work programme should be to:

(a)  Enable the full and sustained implementation of the Paris Agreement, towards achieving the global goal on adaptation, with a view to enhancing adaptation action and support;

(b)  Enhance understanding of the global goal on adaptation, including of the methodologies, indicators, data and metrics, needs and support needed for assessing progress towards it;

(c)  Contribute to reviewing the overall progress made in achieving the global goal on adaptation as part of the global stocktake referred to in Article 7, paragraph 14, and Article 14 of the Paris Agreement with a view to informing the first and subsequent global stocktakes;

(d)  Enhance national planning and implementation of adaptation actions through the process to formulate and implement national adaptation plans and through nationally determined contributions and adaptation communications;

(e)  Enable Parties to better communicate their adaptation priorities, implementation and support needs, plans and actions, including through adaptation communications and nationally determined contributions;

(f)  Facilitate the establishment of robust, nationally appropriate systems for monitoring and evaluating adaptation actions;

(g)  Strengthen implementation of adaptation actions in vulnerable developing countries;

(h)  Enhance understanding of how communication and reporting instruments established under the Convention and the PA related to adaptation can complement each other in order to avoid duplication of efforts.

Parties also agreed that the ‘implementation of the work programme should reflect the country-driven nature of adaptation and avoid creating any additional burden for developing country Parties’.

Parties also decided that ‘activities carried out under the work programme should build on the work of the Adaptation Committee related to the GGA, draw on a variety of sources of information and inputs, including national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, take into account traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, and be gender-responsive’.

Parties decided that ‘four workshops should be conducted per year, with the support of the secretariat and under the guidance of the Chairs of the subsidiary bodies, under the work programme, namely two virtual intersessional workshops and two workshops in conjunction with the sessions of the subsidiary bodies, starting at their fifty-sixth sessions’. The decision also invited the ‘Chairs of the subsidiary bodies to select themes for the workshops’ on the basis of the Party submissions. The decision also invited Parties to submit by 30 April 2022 views on how to achieve the objectives under the work programme.

The decision also requested the ‘Secretariat to prepare a compilation and synthesis of those submissions for consideration at the workshops, a single annual report on the workshops for consideration at the sessions of the subsidiary bodies coinciding with the sessions of the CMA’; and invited the subsidiary bodies to report annually to the CMA on ‘progress in implementing the work programme’.

Besides the decision on the two-year work programme on the GGA, other adaptation decisions adopted included a decision on the National Adaptation Plans and reports of the Adaptation Committee (for 2019, 2020 and 2021).

Loss and damage

Under the decision on the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM) adopted under the CMA, Parties decided on the functions of the Santiago Network.

The functions are as follows:

(a)  Contributing to the effective implementation of the functions of the Warsaw International Mechanism by catalysing the technical assistance of organisations, bodies, networks and experts;

(b)  Catalysing demand-driven technical assistance including of relevant organisations, bodies, networks and experts, for the implementation of relevant approaches to averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change by assisting in:

(i)   Identifying, prioritising and communicating technical assistance needs and priorities;

(ii)  Identifying types of relevant technical assistance;

(iii) Actively connecting those seeking technical assistance with best suited organisations, bodies, networks and experts;

(iv) Accessing technical assistance available including from such organisations, bodies, networks and experts;

(c)  Facilitating the consideration of a wide range of topics relevant to averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage approaches, including but not limited to current and future impacts, priorities, and actions related to averting, minimising, and addressing loss and damage, and the strategic workstreams of the five-year rolling workplan of the Executive Committee;

(d)  Facilitating and catalysing collaboration, coordination, coherence and synergies to accelerate action by organisations, bodies, networks and experts, across communities of practices, and for them to deliver effective and efficient technical assistance to developing countries;

(e)  Facilitating the development, provision and dissemination of, and access to, knowledge and information on averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage, including comprehensive risk management approaches, at the regional, national and local level;

(f)  Facilitating, through catalysing technical assistance, of organisations, bodies, networks and experts, access to action and support (finance, technology and capacity building) under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement, relevant to averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including urgent and timely responses to the impacts of climate change.

Parties also decided to further develop the institutional arrangements of the Santiago Network.

The decision also requested ‘the secretariat to continue providing support for developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change that may seek or wish to benefit from the technical assistance available from organisations, bodies, networks and experts under the Santiago Network without prejudice to the outcomes of the consideration’ by the subsidiary bodies.

(According to sources, developing countries deemed it as a big win in relation to the functions of the Santiago Network.)

On the governance of the WIM, the decision took note that ‘the considerations related to the governance of the WIM will continue at its fourth session (November 2022)’ due to disagreements among countries at Glasgow.

(The controversy in relation to the governance of the WIM revolves around whether the WIM should be exclusively under the authority and guidance of the CMA or whether it should also continue to be governed by the COP as well. Developed countries are of the view that the WIM should be governed by the CMA only, while developing countries would like the WIM to be under both the COP and the CMA, as they do not want the mandate and scope of the WIM to be limited.)

Common timeframes for NDCs

At COP 24 in 2018, it was agreed that Parties ‘shall apply common timeframes to their NDCs to be implemented from 2031 onward’. Parties were divided on whether to have just one timeframe of 5 years or to also allow a 10-year timeframe, with some variation in between of a 5 years plus 5 years.

In the decision adopted in Glasgow, the CMA reaffirms the nationally determined nature of NDCs and ‘encourages Parties to communicate in 2025 a nationally determined contribution with an end date of 2035, in 2030 a nationally determined contribution with an end date of 2040, and so forth every five years thereafter’.

(Some developing countries led by the LMDC in particular were advancing a 5-year or 10-year option for developing countries, but could live with this option as the text reaffirms the nationally determined nature of the NDCs and encourages Parties to communicate as above and is not mandatory.)

Enhanced transparency framework

Flexibility in reporting for developing countries and support to developing countries for reporting under the ETF were key contentious issues in Glasgow. The issues were resolved in favour of developing countries, sources said.

The CMA adopted the following:

•     The common reporting tables for the electronic reporting of the information in the national inventory reports of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases;

•     The common tabular formats for the electronic reporting of the information necessary to track progress made in implementing and achieving NDCs under Article 4 of the Paris Agreement;

•     The common tabular formats for the electronic reporting of the information on financial, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support provided and mobilised, as well as support needed and received, under Articles 9-11 of the PA;

•     The outlines for the biennial transparency report, national inventory document and technical expert review report; and

•     The training programme for technical experts participating in the technical expert review of biennial transparency reports (BTRs).

The decision encouraged Parties to prepare their BTR and national inventory document in accordance with the outlines adopted. The CMA also decided that the technical expert review teams will follow the technical expert review report outline as adopted in Glasgow.

The CMA also decided that those ‘developing country Parties that need flexibility in the light of their capacities may, when reporting on a provision for which they have a capacity constraint, choose one or more of the following options, as applicable, to reflect the application of the specific flexibility provisions … in the common reporting tables and common tabular formats’.

The options include a new notation key called FX (flexibility); the option of collapsing ‘relevant row(s) or column(s) where “FX” is reported’, while ‘providing an explanation of how the specific flexibility provision has been applied in the corresponding documentation box’.

The decision further requests the secretariat to ‘develop reporting tools, taking into account the operationalization of the flexibility provisions … and make available a test version of the reporting tools by June 2023 with a view to the final version of the tools being completed by June 2024’, and ‘to report to the SBSTA on progress in the development of the reporting tools at its fifty-seventh session (November 2022)’.

The decision ‘invites Parties to submit their views on their experience with the test version of the reporting tools, including experience with integrating the tools into their national inventory arrangements, and inputs on improving the tools at the latest six months after the release of the test version via the submission portal by December 2023’, and requests the secretariat to produce a technical paper on these submissions.

The CMA also decided that ‘if the final version of the reporting tool for common reporting tables for inventory information is not available within the time frame … Parties can submit the national inventory report after 31 December 2024, with a delay not exceeding the delay in the availability of the reporting tool’.

The decision also requested ‘the secretariat to facilitate interoperability between the reporting tools and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change inventory software’.

The decision emphasised that ‘each interested Party may provide, as appropriate, information related to enhancing understanding, action and support, on a cooperative and facilitative basis, to avert, minimise and address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in … its biennial transparency report…’

(According to sources, developed countries had been vehemently opposed to any reference to information on loss and damage under the ETF.)

The decision also notes that ‘Parties may use on a voluntary basis the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories’.

The decision requested the secretariat, ‘incorporating, as appropriate, technical advice from the Consultative Group of Experts and lead reviewers, to develop the training programme for technical experts participating in the technical expert review of biennial transparency reports … taking into account experience and lessons learned from developing existing training programmes under the Convention’; and to report to the SBSTA ‘on progress in the development of the training programme at its fifty-seventh session and at each subsequent session until the development of the training programme has been completed’.

Further, the CMA decided ‘to consider at its fourth session and at each session thereafter an item on “Reporting and review pursuant to Article 13 of the PA: provision of financial and technical support to developing country Parties for reporting and capacity-building”, which will include consideration of the support provided to developing country Parties for reporting and related capacity-building under Article 13 of the Paris Agreement’.

The decision also recognised the ‘need for enhanced support from various sources and channels, including the Global Environment Facility, for implementing the enhanced transparency framework’. (This is reflected in the CMA Glasgow Climate Pact cover decision.)

Article 6 of the PA

The decisions adopted pertaining to Article 6 included guidance on cooperative approaches referred to in Article 6.2; rules, modalities and procedures for the mechanism established by Article 6.4; and a work programme under the framework for non-market approaches referred to in Article 6.8. (See the article ‘Article 6 outcomes on market/non-market approaches’ in this issue.)

Other decisions adopted

The COP, CMP and CMA also adopted decisions on response measures; local communities and indigenous peoples platform; Paris Committee on Capacity-building; enhancing climate technology development and transfer through the Technology Mechanism; gender and climate change; and guidance for the Clean Development Mechanism, among others.

Finance

A host of decisions were adopted on finance under the COP, CMA and CMP. These included decisions on the new collective quantified goal on climate finance; long-term finance; compilation and synthesis of, and summary report on the in-session workshop on, biennial communications of information related to Article  9.5 of the Paris Agreement; matters relating to the Adaptation Fund; matters related to the Standing Committee on Finance; report of the Green Climate Fund to the COP and guidance to the GCF; report of the Global Environment Facility to the COP and guidance to the GEF; report of the Adaptation Fund (AF) Board for 2020 and 2021; and Fourth Review of the AF. (See the article ‘The Glasgow decisions on climate finance’ in this issue.)       

Meena Raman is Director of Programmes at the Third World Network and Coordinator of TWN’s Climate Change Programme. Indrajit Bose is a senior researcher with TWN.

*Third World Resurgence No. 349, 2021, pp 10-14