Daily report for 11 December 2014

In the morning, the Lima Climate Action High-Level Meeting took place. The ADP contact group on item 3 briefly convened in the morning and was then suspended pending consultations among negotiating groups on the way forward. The contact group reconvened late in the afternoon but agreement could not be reached on how to move forward. Informal consultations took place throughout the day under the COP and CMP. An informal stocktaking plenary took place in the evening. Later in the evening the ADP contact group convened shortly for the ADP Co-Chairs to present a revised draft decision text, which parties agreed to discuss on Friday morning.

LIMA CLIMATE ACTION HIGH-LEVEL MEETING

COP 20/CMP 10 President Pulgar-Vidal noted that the conference hall was illuminated with the Nazca Lines accompanied by text inviting participants to “create,” “connect,” “act” and “transform.” He highlighted that non-state actors are already finding solutions, and asked how their initiatives could be scaled up and how collaboration with them could be improved.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the ambitious initiatives and actors that came together at the September UN Climate Summit. Noting that action begets ambition, he said actions now will set a strong foundation for Paris.

IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri highlighted key messages from AR5, saying the pursuit of efficiency and equity will drive the most cost-effective solutions.

Felipe Calderón, former President of Mexico and Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, reviewed the Commission’s achievements, highlighting the need for action to address emissions from energy, cities and land use, including by: phasing out fossil fuel subsidies; introducing predictable carbon pricing; and stopping the production of coal energy.

Ollanta Humala, President of Peru, noted that the objective of the high-level dialogue was to build bridges of collaboration among all levels of society and bring together state and non-state actors, while recognizing that climate change requires comprehensive, ambitious and transformative action at all levels.

Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs, France, called on “not only governments,” but society at large, including the private sector, indigenous peoples and civil society, to find “cross-cutting solutions” for a decarbonized world. He said that, in addition to commitments, an agenda of action is needed.

Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs of South Africa, emphasized the need to scale up action beyond business as usual, noting that less mitigation achieved means that more adaptation will be required.

Délio Malheiros, Vice-Mayor of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, presented examples of climate actions undertaken by his city.

Noting that climate change is an ethical issue, and that combatting it is a moral obligation for all, Gian Luca Galletti, Minister of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, Italy, stressed the major role non-state actors at all levels must play to ensure the successful transformation of global economies.

Mats Andersson, CEO, Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund, stressed the need to put a price on carbon, to send the right signal to markets, investors and polluters, and to make it mandatory for pension funds to publish their carbon footprint.

Tony de Brum, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Marshall Islands, urged immediate mobilization of action by a range of non-state actors “in and out of negotiation rooms” towards global decarbonization.

Alberto Pizango, Co-Chair of the Indigenous Caucus for Latin America, called for climate action through: land titles; respect for indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination; direct access to climate funds; adapting REDD+ to indigenous peoples’ rights; and control of drivers of deforestation. He called for a COP decision to establish a permanent forum for indigenous peoples to participate and forge alliances in the climate process.

Wael Hmaidan, Director, Climate Action Network, said non-state actors’ initiatives need to be considered as additional to government targets and cautioned against using them to help governments meet their targets.

Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, said business wants a clear long-term target for carbon emissions and a global, predictable and robust price on carbon. He highlighted an initiative through which businesses are collaborating to develop 10 technological solutions and said related plans will be presented at COP 21 in Paris.

Mathew Rodriguez, Secretary for Environmental Protection, California, supported recognizing the work of sub-national and regional entities, and noted California’s partnerships with national-level actors and other countries.

Grace Balawag, Indigenous Caucus, called for commitments toward equity, justice and a sustainable future for all.

Jennifer Morgan, Climate and Energy Director, World Resources Institute, encouraged civil society, cities and other actors to engage in decision making on the national contributions process to ensure that the frameworks they need will be established. She called for continuing high-level dialogues and for allowing observers to pose questions to countries about their contributions.

David Cadman, President, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, said cities’ contributions should be acknowledged and collaborative action should begin in 2015, not 2020.

Enrique García, President of Corporación Andina de Fomento, described his network’s catalytic role in addressing climate change.

Stressing that climate action is not an issue for national governments only, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres urged parties to establish ambitious regulatory frameworks at the international and national levels that will provide clarity and predictability, and allow non-state actors to contribute actions to combat climate change.

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, called for action towards a future of equity and dignity for all.

Underlining that there is general agreement that the solution to climate change lies in economic transformation, Rachel Kyte, World Bank Group, Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, noted that while “the economics are compelling, the politics remain challenging.”

Al Gore, former US Vice President, said that in Lima and Paris “we are designing the future of human kind.”

COP 20/CMP 10 President Manuel Pulgar-Vidal launched NAZCA, a portal showing actions that cities, companies, regions and investors are taking to address climate change. He said this initiative aims to provide strong momentum to the UN climate talks and to help to give governments the confidence to sign an ambitious agreement in Paris.

CONTACT GROUPS

ADP Item 3: ADP Co-Chair Runge-Metzger opened the morning session of the contact group addressing the draft decision on advancing the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, noting that the draft elements text would continue to “be with” the negotiators. He urged parties to seek common ground on the draft decision text and asked for suggestions on ways forward before the ADP closing plenary.

He identified five issues that needed to be resolved: the scope of INDCs; upfront information for INDCs; actions following INDCs’ submission; implementation of existing commitments to build confidence; and how to reflect elements in the decision.

Responding to the Co-Chairs’ question on the next steps, Bolivia, for the G-77/CHINA, noted the group’s ongoing work on a proposal on the way forward and asked for time to consult within the group. The Co-Chairs then suspended the meeting.

In the afternoon, ADP Co-Chair Kumarsingh opened the resumed session. Underlining the fact that the Co-Chairs were at the disposal of the parties on how to move forward, he urged avoiding the modality of “huddles.”

Bolivia, for the G-77/CHINA, with GUATEMALA, BRAZIL, SINGAPORE and EGYPT, highlighted the group’s effort to find common ground on various options around the areas identified by the ADP Co-Chairs in the morning session and noted they have proposals to put forward. He also proposed switching into an open-ended Friends of the Chair format.

Responding to SWITZERLAND and the EU, Bolivia, for the G-77/CHINA, clarified that they had been working to “slim down” the options contained in the Co-Chairs’ text, underlining that it was not new text. On the format of an open-ended Friends of the Chair, he said parties can identify representatives, and any interested party will be able to participate.

AUSTRALIA urged moving forward on the basis of the Co-Chairs’ text and expressed hesitation over working on the basis of text proposals being considered by the G-77/China.

SWITZERLAND proposed moving forward with the current format.

MEXICO noted that G-77/China’s consolidation of options may have taken some options “off the table,” and called for progressing on the basis of the Co-Chairs’ text.

SWITZERLAND called for moving away from line-by-line negotiations to an approach where common ground can be found. Nauru, for AOSIS, supported by GUATEMALA, expressed willingness to start negotiating immediately, irrespective of the label attached to the format.

The US and JAPAN lamented that the G-77/China had not reached convergence on workstream 1 (2015 agreement). AOSIS suggested the G-77/China be given “a bit more time” to find agreement.

The US supported working in a Friends of the Chair setting. The EU noted that divergences among parties on political issues require political guidance.

Malaysia, for the LMDCs, observed that: the Lima talks had started on the wrong foot with an unbalanced text; parties did the best they could; multilateral decision making is “a difficult affair”; and that through the party-driven process in Lima “we have captured essential elements in the text that can be taken further, whether in Lima or beyond.”

COP/CMP JOINT STOCKTAKING PLENARY

Highlighting Thursday, 11 December, as the last day for all outstanding issues to be resolved, COP 20/CMP 10 President Pulgar-Vidal urged parties to move the negotiations forward. He invited Ministers Edna Molewa (South Africa) and Edward Davey (UK) to conduct ministerial outreach on long-term finance and the GCF.

ADP Co-Chair Kumarsingh highlighted the lack of consensus amongst parties on how to proceed with textual negotiations.

Pulgar-Vidal emphasized the need to take decisions to capture the achievements of this COP and invited parties to table constructive proposals, urging them not to leave Lima “empty handed.” He assured parties of a transparent and party-driven working process.

Pulgar-Vidal noted the need for a strong decision on upfront information required for INDCs and pre-2020 actions, and a draft negotiating text containing a variety of views on elements of the 2015 agreement.

To move forward with ADP negotiations, Pulgar-Vidal asked the ADP Co-Chairs to prepare a revised text by 9:00 pm. He called for a focus on four to five key issues and said that he will continue consultations with ministers.

SBSTA Chair Emmanuel Dumisani Dlamini noted finalization of decision text on the revision of the guidelines for the review of biennial reports and national communications, and said negotiations continued on Protocol Articles 5, 7 and 8 (methodological issues under the Kyoto Protocol).

SBI Chair Amena Yauvoli reported on consultations on the implementation of response measures, noting lack of agreement, in particular on institutional arrangements and said parties are willing to continue negotiations on the basis of the draft decision text.

IN THE CORRIDORS

After nearly two weeks of intensive deliberations, many felt deflated as, on day 10 of the COP, the ADP seemed to lose momentum, with over 50 pages of bracketed text and no agreement on the way forward in sight.

 A mysterious draft decision document, which made a brief appearance on the ADP website in the morning, circulated broadly among delegates. Lost between the several pages of this draft text and the 50+ pages of the Co-Chairs’ draft containing all alternative proposals made by parties, many questioned Lima’s ability to build bridges to Paris. Yet, some wondered if, somewhere in there, the contours of the Lima outcome had started to become visible. Inspired by the positive spirit of the morning high-level meeting on climate action, one delegate mused: “maybe, like the Nazca Lines, we just need to climb up the hill to see the full picture.”

With the likelihood of a sleepless night dawning on the delegates, many felt that the clear direction given by the COP/CMP President had inspired them to climb up the steep hill ahead.

ENB SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS: The Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of the Lima Climate Change Conference will be available on Tuesday, 16 December 2014, online at: http://enb.iisd.org/climate/cop20/enb/

This issue of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin © <enb@iisd.org> is written and edited by Beate Antonich, Rishikesh Bhandary, Elena Kosolapova, Ph.D., Mari Luomi, Ph.D., Anna Schulz, and Mihaela Secrieru. The Digital Editor is Kiara Worth. The Editor is Pamela Chasek, Ph.D. <pam@iisd.org>. The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI <kimo@iisd.org>. The Sustaining Donors of the Bulletin are the European Commission (DG-ENV and DG-CLIMATE), the Government of Switzerland (the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. General Support for the Bulletin during 2014 is provided by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, SWAN International, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Japanese Ministry of Environment (through the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies - IGES), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Specific funding for coverage of this session has been provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the EC (DG-CLIMA). Funding for translation of the Bulletin into French has been provided by the Government of France, the Wallonia, Québec, and the International Organization of La Francophonie/Institute for Sustainable Development of La Francophonie (IOF/IFDD). The opinions expressed in the Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD or other donors. Excerpts from the Bulletin may be used in non-commercial publications with appropriate academic citation. For information on the Bulletin, including requests to provide reporting services, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at <kimo@iisd.org>, +1-646-536-7556 or 300 East 56th St., 11D, New York, NY 10022 USA. The ENB team at the Lima Climate Change Conference - December 2014 can be contacted by e-mail at <anna@iisd.org>.