Alice Henderson: The Key Issues for COP 22 Negotiations

21/10/2016

I was thrilled last week by the UNFCCC publishing an overview schedule of the two-week conference. As a young person attending an international conference for the first time, I have a limited idea of what to expect the week I observe conference proceedings. Scrolling the schedule, each day is assigned a vague but exciting theme: “EarthInfo Day,” “Farmers’ Day,” “Young and Future Generations Day,” “BINGO Day” (Business and Industry Day), “Education Day,” “Gender Day,” “Africa Day,” and “Climate Justice Day.” Then sprinkled throughout the two weeks are numerous events, side events, plenary meetings, workshops, dialogues, lunch breaks, showcases, sharings of views, and technical briefings.

While the schedule seems rather daunting as I am not entirely sure what to expect on a day-to-day basis at COP 22, it’s important to break things down and understand the key issues that will come up. Climatenexus, a “strategic communications group dedicated to highlighting the wide-ranging impacts of climate change and clean energy solutions in the United States,” identifies seven key issues.

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs): Since COP 21 and the Paris Agreement in November 2015, over 180 countries have developed and submitted individual plans for addressing climate change. These country climate pledges are known as Intended National Determined Contributions or INDCs. This process is a key shift in climate negotiations whereby individual countries are encouraged to research, develop, and submit their own plans, as opposed to signing onto a single international plan.

Commitment Cycles and the Ratchet Mechanism: Parties to the UNFCCC are considering how best to be held accountable for their commitments towards climate action. Commitment cycles and assessment periods have been presented as ratchet mechanism. This provides a process for countries to increase (or ratchet) their climate targets over time.

Adaptation: Earth’s climate is changing. Regardless of any political contention regarding humans’ impact on the climate, it is incontestable that the climate is indeed changing. Thus it is imperative that we develop plans to respond and prepare for those changes that cannot be avoided including sea level rise, stronger storms and longer periods of drought.

Loss and Damage: This refers to the negative impacts of climate change, particularly those that are unavoidable. It will not be possible to adapt to all climate impacts, resulting in losses and damages. While a certain amount of loss and damage is unavoidable, these are projected to increase significantly in the future if strong actions are not taken.

London Climate March image from agreenerlifeagreenerworld.net

Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC): This UNFCCC principle acknowledges that different countries have different capabilities and responsibilities in addressing climate change. For instance the USA accounts for a great portion of greenhouse gas emissions while island nations such as The Philippines are likely to be disproportionately affected by seal level rise and extreme weather.

Country Finance Pledges: Finance remains one of the most undefined issues since COP 21 in Paris. The Green Climate Fund is the primary financial initiative developed through the UNFCCC. Individual countries pledge funds to address worldwide climate change. Ten billion (USD) has been raised so far, top contributors by magnitude are the USA, UK, Japan, Germany, and France.

Long-Term Goals (LTGs): Undecided at COP 21 was whether a global long-term goal should be included in the Paris Agreement. Many countries, non-governmental organizations and leaders have come out in support of such a goal; however these parties have quite a range of differing plans for what this goal should be.

Demonstration at COP 21, image by Benoit Tessier/Reuters from theguardian.com

While a general grasp of these issues is only the beginning, I invite you to read more into these as our group of student representatives does the same in preparation for attending and making the most of our time at COP 22 in Marrakech this November!

Sources:

Marrakech Climate Change Conference Overview Schedule: http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/marrakech_nov_2016/application/pdf/overview_schedule_marrakech.pdf

UNFCCC Provisional agenda and annotations for COP 22: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2016/cop22/eng/01.pdf

Climatenexus summary of key issues:
http://climatenexus.org/about-us/road-through-paris/negotiation-issues

8 Comments

Gabrielle C.

15/11/2016 05:45:50 pm

These all seem like very important topics that should be discussed at COP 22. I'm curious as to what kind of long term goals will be discussed. What is the possibility that an international goal like this could be created and how would they make sure everyone follows it?

Alice Henderson

23/11/2016 08:25:10 pm

While most of the high level negotiations have not yet moved towards long-term goals, there are certainly a number of long term goals discussed at the side events of COP 22. Many activists are concerned with coal power and fossil fuels, a long term goal being a complete stop of fossil fuel usage, for example. Other social justice workers are concerned that initiatives to cut emission of green house gases don't negatively impact indigenous populations or women, which they do in some cases.

Long-term goals, by their nature, I imagine will take a long time to be agreed upon, if ever. Making sure countries agree to and follow these goals is a challenge in any international negotiation, but similar to international laws for human rights,it seems we will need some sort of legal system to penalize countries not on track to cut emissions.

G.F. (from Mrs. Foy's period 3 class)

16/11/2016 07:14:15 am

What do you believe is the best way to receive renewable energy (such as solar powered energy, wind powered energy, etc)?

23/11/2016 08:15:47 pm

From my understanding, it will ultimately take a number of different renewable sources to meet the growing global demand for cheap energy. Different parts of the world have different resources available so some energy sources won't be as effective everywhere. For example, I live in Washington State where nearly all our energy is from hydropower since we have lots of rivers and dams. This clearly wouldn't work in a more arid state such as Arizona or New Mexico.

Asa W.

16/11/2016 07:20:25 am

What environmental issue does the UN view as causing the most impact for following years and generations?

23/11/2016 08:11:32 pm

This is a pretty big question, but much of the UNFCCC negotiations at COP 22 are focused on cutting carbon emissions. While there are many many issues affecting the environment today, the one government representatives are most concerned with right now is how to encourage industries and individuals to limit the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Alexi F.

21/11/2016 09:10:57 am

Have any countries signed unto ratchet mechanisms yet and do they mainly have to do with fines?

23/11/2016 08:06:26 pm

Part of the expectation of countries who sign onto Paris Agreement is that they have a plan to reassess and increase their targets every five years. A "ratchet mechanism" means that countries "ratchet up" or increase their targets to cut emissions on a regular basis. Over 190 countries, nearly all of the countries represented at COP 22, have now signed onto the agreement and are expected to asses and improve their targets every five years.

Hope that answers your question!

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Alice Henderson: The Key Issues for COP 22 Negotiations

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