Issue #4 | SB - 13 | 09 - 15 September | Lyon, France.

Friday 15 September 2000

Title: Equity in the climate negotiations: on the road to an effective and fair agreement
Sponsor: Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), Association for North-South Campaigns (INZET), Wuppertal Institute (WI), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Climate Network Europe (CNE), and the Transnational Institute (TNI)
Contact: Frances MacGuire <frances@foe.co.uk>
Internet: http://www.foe.co.uk ; http://www.inzet.nl

Chair Hermann Ott (photo right), WI, highlighted three aspects of "The Hague Mandate", a statement prepared by an international group of organizations calling on COP-6 for an effective and fair agreement to protect the global climate. The Mandate states that each country must ensure its emissions do not exceed a global per capita share, and calls on Parties to provide for: a transfer of resources, including environmentally sustainable technologies, from excessive emitters to developing countries, and a concentration of emission reductions in high per capita polluter countries. Governments are called upon to secure global reductions beyond the first commitment period, based on a global cap on emissions and a phased reduction of emissions within decades.

Describing the Mandate as a timely initiative, Ott contrasted the FCCC's adoption of a concept of responsibility derived from the era of business globalization with a preferred cosmopolitan model wherein industrialized countries accept responsibility co-extensive with their own environmental space. He also highlighted the weaknesses of the Westphalian (state centric) nature of the FCCC, which obscures the role of corporate emitters and the huge disparities within countries.

Johnson Cerda (photo right), Amazon Allianza, conveyed a Declaration prepared by a forum on indigenous peoples, calling on the IPCC and the COP to recognize the need to support the involvement of indigenous people's organisations in decision-making and to acknowledge the relation between the legal recognition of territories and climate change measures.

Agus Sari, Global South Leadership Initiative, advocated the contraction and convergence approach and attempts to address the imbalance in the information flows between the South and North. He called for a commitment by the North to pay for the reduction of emissions. Steve Bernow, Tellus Institute, reported on research on the CDM, to examine whether the Mechanism will promote environmentally sustainable technologies and to establish the conditions required to ensure that CDM projects are consistent with the objectives of the Convention. One of the findings indicates that, depending on the openness of the regime, up to 25% of Annex I commitments could be met through spurious CERs. Prosanto Pal, TERI, suggested that delegations focus more on the supply side of the debate on technology transfer and advocated the incorporation of technology transfer into current government funded R&D programmes.

Simon Bullock, FoE (UK), outlined proposals to address shortcomings in the contraction and convergence model. He focused on a clean development fund proposal which would ensure that industrialized countries transfer billions of dollars in financial resources in proportion to the levels to which they exceeded a fair allocation of global emissions. He argued that such a system would be equitable, provide incentives for emissions reductions, and benefit the poor. Professor Emilio La Rovere, Rio de Janeiro University, updated participants on the Brazilian proposal for the introduction of a burden sharing scheme for the next commitment round of the KP.

Discussion: The discussion focused on questions raised about the operability of the equity-based proposals given their ambition, their assumption that prosperity and emissions go hand in hand, their failure to address intra-state disparities, and the assumption that there should be fair shares of the atmospheric commons available for all.

Title: Education, training and public awareness: learning from national and international experience
Sponsor: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Contact: Kevin Grose <kgrose@unfccc.int>
Internet: http://www.unfccc.int

Young people took centre stage at this special presentation on education, training and public awareness (FCCC Article 6). Co-Chair Teresa Fogelberg (photo right, seated left), Netherlands delegation to SB-13, took the opportunity to urge governments to bring young people between the ages of 13 and 18 with their delegations to COP-6. Co-Chair Kok Kee Chow, Malaysian delegation, also underlined the role of young people in underpinning the information and education objectives of the Convention.

The FCCC's Kevin Grose set the scene for the workshop and explained that another workshop at COP-6 will be followed by a report to SB-14 in June 2001. He outlined FCCC initiatives, including: the Climate Change Kiosk, a translation service for information products, and the development of a web-based clearinghouse for information tools, which was first proposed by Kok Kee Chow. Mousa Diakhité, FCCC, urged French-speaking delegations to visit the FCCC's Le Portail Francophone. Chow's new proposal is a distance learning centre.

Co-chair Fogelberg underlined the UN's recognition of the rights of young people to participate in international decision-making and their interest in the impact of climate change on future generations. Young people will participate in a special youth conference from 17-18 November 2000, to learn about the climate change negotiations.

French students (photo right) preparing for their Diploma in Environmental Engineering, Louis Debaisieux, Fabienne Debos, Angélique Montagnier and Béatrice Navette, made a presentation on climate change, noting objections to licensing the trade in pollution rights, and offering their support for the development of renewable energy technologies.

Dr Sudhir Sharma, TERI, New Delhi, presented an Asian perspective on climate change information dissemination, underlining the critical role of education as outlined in Agenda 21. He highlighted the importance of linking global environmental issues to local priorities. Louise Lassonde from the Geneva-based Fondation du Devenir, described her regional work with economic, political and community decision-makers on responding to sustainable development issues. Yvette Aguilar, El Salvador, described her country's efforts to build up national expert capacity. Mirna Marin, a teacher from Honduras, contributed to the Latin American case study, focusing on the preparation of a book and poster for students in elementary and public high schools, entitled "What we need to know about climate change."

Discussion: The Head of the Africa Group, Mamadou Honadia (photo top, seated right), kicked off discussion, describing education efforts in Burkina Faso, including the introduction of environmental teaching to primary and Koranic schools. A young representative from 'The Bet', a European youth climate change initiative, described how schools, universities and young people are planning to demonstrate that it should not take 8 years to cut emissions by 8%. At COP-6 they will launch an attempt to reduce their own emissions by 8% in just 8 months.

More information:
The Bet: http://www.thebet.org ; E-mail: <thebet.office@gmx.net>

Honduras publication for schools, "What we need to know about climate change" : Go to the UNFCCC web site and visit non-Annex I communications section.

Le Portail Francophone: http://www.unfccc.int/portfranc

Title: Carbon sequestration, sustainable agriculture and poverty alleviation
Sponsors: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
Contact: Bahman Mansuri <b.mansuri@ifad.org>
Internet: http://www.ifad.org

This event was convened to address emerging economic opportunities for farmers arising from increasing corporate interest in carbon trading and concerns about the limited availability of state-of-the-art systems for measuring carbon. Chair Bahman Mansuri, IFAD, stated that links between carbon sequestration and food security need to be explored further and highlighted that lessons can be learned from existing carbon sequestration projects with small-holder farmers.

Providing an overview, Dr Parviz Koohafkan, FAO, made a presentation on Synergies in Prevention of Land Degradation, Enhancing Food Security, Soil Fertility, Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration. He suggested exploring synergies between National Action Plans, partnerships, participatory systems and the various UN conventions.

Robert Ford, USAID, spoke about the Rural Agricultural Income and Sustainable Environment (RAISE) Project, which focuses on environmentally friendly land use management and enhancing food security. Speaking on the potentials of carbon sequestration for resource poor farmers dependent on degraded and marginal common property resources (CPRs), he raised the key issues of incentives, knowledge, practices and institutional structures required to facilitate positive involvement in these types of projects. John Kadyszewski (photo right), Winrock International, offered an example of project monitoring from the Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project, Bolivia. He stressed that monitoring costs could be kept low through relying on local capacity. M.V.K Shivakumar, WMO, highlighted that the concept of sequestering carbon in soils and biomass is not a new phenomenon, but has taken on a different meaning within the climate debate, and as such needs to be revisited. Ed Scheffner, NASA/California State University, stated that procedures for monitoring changes in land use practices, with a view to increasing soil carbon storage, should be designed and tested soon to determine if they are suitable for use in a soil carbon storage programme. The favourable conditions needed for positive involvement in carbon removal projects were highlighted by Bahman Mansuri: incentives, competitiveness and institutional support. Raul Ponce-Hernandez, Trent University, Canada, gave a presentation on assessment measures for above and ground carbon pools using simulation techniques, illustrating potential land use, biodiversity and carbon sequestration scenarios.

Discussion: Comments from the floor addressed the risks of carbon sequestration projects under the CDM being treated as a panacea. A speaker suggested exploring the potential links with the Convention to Combat Desertification with regard to financing and local development. Issues of permanence and leakage were discussed together with strategies to meet poverty targets through carbon sequestration projects. It was agreed that there should be more focus on bringing socio-cultural aspects into the discussion.

Related links:
Winrock International : http://www.winrock.org
Food & Agriculture Organization: http://www.fao.org

Title: GETS2 - Greenhouse gas and energy trading: a simulation by EURELECTRIC
Sponsor: Eurelectric
Contact: John Scowcroft <jscowcroft@eurelectric.org>
Website: http://www.eurelectric.org

In an effort to gain first-hand exposure to the trading of energy and futures by European companies, Eurelectric organized a greenhouse and energy trading simulation programme. Jean-Yves Canneill (photo right, seated left), Eurelectric, explained that 35 virtual companies were asked to comply with their KP targets and given the opportunity to trade energy and through an organized market, using the flexible mechanisms of the KP on a global scale. The simulation showed that companies must rethink their own internal strategies to cope with GHG challenges. The main lesson was that companies' investments drive environmental compliance as the emissions trading market allows them to fully integrate environmental goals into business strategies and decision making.

Several scenarios were played out, with varying degrees of technological innovation and economic growth. All scenarios showed that compliance was achieved, and that most reductions were obtained domestically through investments in new capacities and improvement of the industrial process. While gas proved to be the fuel of the future, renewables such as solar, wind, and biomass also experienced growth as the simulation proceeded. Antoine Rimpot, ParisBourse, argued that in the context of energy deregulation in Europe, credits must be listed with a large range of energy products, including electricity, crude oil, gas, and weather derivatives, and ultimately will function as a hedging energy risk management tool.

Discussion: Participants asked questions on how penalties and sanctions were enforced and discussed liability issues, the role of market makers, and how baselines were established.

Title: Commercial Investment under the CDM
Sponsor: World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Contact: Dave Moorcroft <moorcroft@wbcsd.ch>
Internet: http://www.wbcsd.org

Dave Moorcroft (photo right), WBCSD, explained that the event was convened to explore the steps some corporations are taking on the CDM. He introduced the panelists, highlighting the assumption that the CDM will rely significantly on private sector investment and arguing that there is a gap between current design concepts for the CDM and the "real world" of business investments. He argued that it would be difficult to keep both CER prices and transaction costs low (the mantra of this negotiation) and outlined the typical cost-benefit investment appraisal model. He predicted that in the initial stages of GHG abatement, CER prices will be low with high costs, therefore the CDM may have to rely on non-CER revenue streams. He argued that the CDM has the power to change traditional investment models.

Nick Hughes (photo below, seated right), British Petroleum (BP), and Mike Molitor, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, explained that in order to achieve BP's emissions reduction goals, approximately 50% may have to come from credit-based projects using the flexible mechanisms of the KP. In one case study in Algeria, BP is planning to spend several million dollars to reinject underground. Such an additional expense can only be justified by factoring in projected revenues earned from credits for emission reductions. Noting the variety of potential projects submitted by BP units around the world, Hughes argued against establishing a positive list.

Robert Kleiburg, Shell International, explained how the CDM will likely impact their current $4-5 billion investments in Annex B countries. He claimed that the CDM needs to reflect the commercial realities of project development by keeping transaction costs low and discouraging investment additionality. He explained that one way to keep transaction costs low is to establish standardized baselines for smaller projects and introduce clear and straightforward criteria on project eligibility.

More information:
Shell projects: http://www.foundation.no
BP: http://www.bp.com

Title: Climate Change (CC) Programme on capacity building and future experiences
Supporters: United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
Contact: Lorena Jaramillo <lorena.jaramillo@unitar.org>
Internet: http://www.unitar.org/cctrain

Marcel Boisard (photo right, seated left) UNITAR, kicked off the session by outlining the CC:Train Programme objectives of supporting developing country partners through training of national teams. Annie Roncerel, UNITAR, described UNITAR's three principles for capacity building: country driven approaches, regional implementation, and global coordination. She highlighted programme experiences such as the need to improve coordination, incorporate more countries, regions and institutions with specific expertise, find synergies with other Rio agreements, ensure protection of investments within the programme, and assess the evolving needs of partners. Luiz Paz, UNITAR, emphasized the importance of the programme network, which contains three critical components: training material, country based training and university based certificate courses. On Paraguay's country experience, Lilian Portillo (photo above, seated right), Climate Change Programme, said that the UNITAR system had significantly helped in establishing their national expert team on both technical and policy issues. Ndiaye Sylla, Climate Change Programme, Senegal, said that they had greatly profited from UNITAR's support. On lessons learned, Wayne King, South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, suggested that the network requires improvement through: enhanced coordination, wider participation by stakeholders and the need for a formal focal point. Marina Martynova, Centre for Preparation and Implementation of International Projects on Technical Assistance, Russian Federation, presented a proposal for a support programme on National Inventory Systems in Economies in Transition (EITs), which involves establishing training and technical support, with outputs such as regional workshops. Annie Roncerel, gave an overview of a new project on capacity building relevant to the FCCC/KP in developing countries.

Discussion: The university certificate system was discussed and UNITAR stated that it is in the process of developing a similar certificate programme for Latin America and Africa.