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Twenty-Fourth sessions of the
Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA)
and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) of the UNFCCC
and First session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further
Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG)
and related meetings
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Highlights for
Tuesday, 16 May 2006
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The twenty-fourth sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB 24)
of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) are taking place from 18-26 May 2005, at the
Maritim Hotel in Bonn, Germany. SB 24 will follow a UNFCCC
"Dialogue on long-term cooperative action to address climate
change by enhancing implementation of the Convention," being
held from 15-16 May. In addition, the first session of the
Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I
Parties under the Kyoto Protocol will take place in parallel
with SB 24, from 17-25 May. Both the UNFCCC Dialogue and the
Ad Hoc Working Group under the Kyoto Protocol are being held
as a result of decisions taken during the eleventh
Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the UNFCCC and first
Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the
Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 1) in Montreal in
late 2005. At COP 11 and COP/MOP 1, delegates adopted a
number of decisions to engage in discussions for considering
a framework for the post-2012 period (when the Kyoto
Protocol's first commitment period ends) and long-term
cooperative action on climate change.
At SB 24, the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) will
take up such issues as national communications, financial
and administrative matters, capacity building, and amendment
of the Protocol in relation to the compliance mechanism. The
Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA)
will consider a range of issues, including the five-year
work programme on adaptation, mitigation, technology
transfer, reducing emissions from deforestation in
developing countries, and a range of methodological issues
under both the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. Both SBI and
SBSTA are expected to produce a number of draft decisions to
be forwarded to COP 12 and COP/MOP 2, which will take place
in November 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya.
More information. |
| Dialogue on
long-term cooperative action to address climate change
by enhancing implementation of the Convention |
| Richard Kinley,
Officer-in-Charge, UNFCCC Secretariat, and Halldor
Thorgeirsson, UNFCCC Secretariat (left), and
Co-Facilitators Sandea de Wet, South Africa, Howard
Bamsey, Australia (right) |
| On Tuesday morning,
Co-Facilitator Bamsey opened the meeting,
emphasizing that the previous day's discussions had been
valuable. He noted that the workshop agenda also
referred to an exchange of views and ideas on how to
enable parties to continue developing appropriate
national and international responses to climate change,
promote research and investment, support action put
forward voluntarily by developing countries, and promote
access by developing countries to cleaner technologies
and technologies for adaptation. |
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| Surya Sethi, Planning
Commission, India, gave a presentation on
energy trends and options for developing countries. He
noted the relationship between energy consumption per
capita and the human development index (HDI). He
underscored that India is not following what he called
the “fuelish” path of developed countries. He also
stressed technology transfer of clean technologies and
the Asia-Pacific partnership (AP6). He said carbon
savings from nuclear technology and hydropower storage
should be tradable. |
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| Brazil (left)
highlighted the potential of biofuels to mitigate
climate change, and urged a new paradigm to make
South-South cooperation effective. Noting the
unwillingness to change lifestyles, the Republic
of Korea (right) stressed the future role of
technology and the need for technology policies. He
noted existing technology cooperation initiatives
outside the UNFCCC and said the Convention should
provide an opportunity for those initiatives to be
presented and linked to the convention. |
| Egypt
noted that mitigation efforts in developing countries
are receiving more support than adaptation measures
through CDM.
Keith Christi, Canada (right), called for
better deployment of existing technologies and
aggressive diffusion and demonstration of innovative
technologies. He noted innovative approaches for
international cooperation, such as those that are
sectoral or intensity-based. |
| Bernarditas
Mueller, Philippines, said donors should not
place conditions on funding, particularly for
adaptation, and urged innovative mechanisms for
financing adaptation.
Artur Runge-Metzger, European Commission,
stressed the role of the private sector, noting that the
total value of the global carbon market in 2005 was many
times greater than government funding for the GEF. He
stressed the importance of a global carbon market with a
sound legislative and regulatory framework and long-term
certainty. |
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| Philip Gwage, Uganda,
stated that all the issues being taken up in the
Dialogue eventually come down to technology, and
expressed concerns that a market approach could further
exacerbate the imbalance among attention given to
different developing countries. Papua New Guinea
outlined its proposal to replace perverse incentives for
deforestation with positive incentives to avoid
deforestation by valuing ecosystem services and
reforming commodity pricing. He urged flexible
incentives for North-South and South-South relations. |
| Co-Facilitators meet
with observers (left) and the Russian Federation
(right) noted lack of scientific certainty
relating to climate systems, the value of reliable data,
and the critical importance of technology transfer.
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Enele Sopoaga, Tuvalu (left), noted discussions
on the same issues at CSD 14, and stressed the need for
direct linkages between climate change and sustainable
development. He underscored the need to recognize the
Mauritius Strategy and said that savings from home-grown
technologies will help to cope with adaptation costs.
Khalid Mohammed Abuleif, Saudi Arabia,
stated that the UNFCCC, which is a “framework” treaty,
could be built on but that its basic principles should
not change. He urged solidarity from Annex I parties to
meet their commitments. |
| Delegates from
Kazakhstan and Japan; During the dialogue,
Kazakhstan said adaptation measures are vital.
Noting that many bilateral technology transfer
activities are not conducted through UNFCCC,
Japan said future discussions should consider
broader issues in examining implementation. |
| Statements by
Observer Organizations |
| Mozaharul Alam,
Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies, Climate Action
Network, speaking on behalf of Environmental NGOs,
underscored the “planetary emergency” climate change
presents, noting that the time remaining to address it
is rapidly running out. He said the need for agreement
on what constitutes dangerous levels of climate change
was long overdue. He also underscored the need to expand
market mechanisms significantly in order to reduce
emissions, noting that deep reduction commitments are
required to maintain the carbon market, and that
voluntary commitments are simply not adequate. |
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| Norine Kennedy,
International Chamber of Commerce, speaking on behalf of
Business and Industry, said business expects
consistent, coherent, long-term policies that provide
markets with the necessary signals to undertake
investments. She said policy should be flexible to
accommodate new scientific evidence and correct
unintended consequences of previous policies. She added
that long-term action should pursue voluntary and
market-oriented approaches and address capital markets,
stimulate research and development and capacity
building, particularly in developing countries. She also
called for the promotion of public-private partnerships
and welcomed the G8 and Asia-Pacific Partnerships. |
Guidance on the
Organization of Future Workshops |
Harlan Watson, US
(left), suggested devoting half-a-day to each
of the four items, with a presentation leading each
item. He said the co-facilitators could prepare
questions that capture the current discussion and
circulate them among Parties well in advance of the next
Dialogue. Jose Romero, Switzerland (right),
said the second workshop should be as focused as
possible and concentrate on technical or practical
activities. He suggested that the co-facilitators should
provide a document by the end of August 2006. |
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