COP 23 – A success?

The climate conference in Bonn Germany ended on 18 November 2017 with progress being achieved in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Nevertheless, the progress did not meet up to expectations.

Dr. Bernd Bornhorst, Chair of VENRO, the association of German non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for development and humanitarian aid expressed disappointment „that the industrialised nations did not address the urgent issue of how to pay for the damage and losses caused by climate change. “

The non-governmental organisation CARE also pointed out that the continued tensions between developing and industrialised countries shows how global climate agreement demand a far stronger management, leadership and political will.

Important progress was made with the rulebook, the implementing provisions of the Paris Agreement. These determine, for example, how countries measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The Parties drafted texts on these issues in Bonn which are to be finalised and adopted by the COP in Katowice in 2018.

Talanoa-Dialogue

The Talanoa-Dialogue was triggered at COP 23 and in the coming years is to encourage the community of states to take ambitious action to close the global climate-protection gaps.

Talanoa is a Fiji term for a conversation in which the people involved share ideas. Under the leadership of Fiji and Poland, this dialogue aims to bring together contributions from the scientific sector, industry and civil society over the coming years. The Dialogue is to be structured around the following key topics: Where are we? Where are we going? How do we get there?

Powering Past Coal Alliance

An alliance of nations and states committed to moving the world from burning coal to cleaner power was launched by more than 20 partners at COP 23. The Powering Past Coal Alliance plans to grow to 50 or more members by this time next year. Its ambition is to lead the rest of the world in committing to an end to unabated coal power.
 
The members of the alliance commit to taking action such as setting coal phase-out targets, committing to no further investments in coal-fired electricity in their jurisdictions or abroad. Unabated coal is the generation of electricity from a coal plant without any treatment to reduce substantially the emissions of carbon dioxide. It emits twice as much CO2 as gas per unit of electricity.

Adaptation Fund

Member countries of the Kyoto Protocol decided that the Fund “shall serve” the Paris Agreement at COP 23. This decision has been pending for a long time: At COP 21 in Paris in 2015 it was resolved that the Fund ‘may’ serve the Agreement, at COP 22 in Morocco Parties went a step further, deciding the Fund ‘should’ serve it.  Now, the Adaptation Fund is to actually be continued in the scope of the Paris Agreements, pending final decisions on its governance and safeguards to be taken by 2018.

Just this year alone, reflecting the rising seas, increasing floods, droughts and intense storms occurring throughout the world, the Fund received a record of 54 project proposals valued at USD 350 million and decided to fund more than USD 104 million in new proposals. It currently funds 70 concrete adaptation projects in vulnerable communities of 58 developing countries, benefiting nearly 5.5 million direct beneficiaries.

Gender Action Plan

The Member States at COP 23 adopted a plan to intensify gender equality and strengthen the position of women in climate discourse and in combatting climate change.

The aim of the Gender Action Plan is to ensure that women can influence decisions relating to climate change, to which they are commonly more vulnerable, and ensure that women and men are represented equally in all aspects of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as a way to increase its effectiveness.

The first report to evaluate the progress on the implementation of the Gender Action Plan will be presented in November 2019.

More information on the Powering Past Coal Alliance

More information on the Adaptation Fund

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