new agreement and key considerations (paris climate agreement)

background, current status and the road towards COP-21, Achala Abeysinghe 1

Dr. Achala Abeysinghe

02/11/2015Author name

Date


02/11/2015

Dr. Achala AbeysinghePrincipal Researcher/ Legal Advisor

International Institute for Environment and Development

[email protected]

New Agreement and Key Considerations

mailto:[email protected]



02/11/2015Structure of the Presentation

• Introduction

• Timeline of negotiating texts

• The Paris Climate Package

• Negotiation mode: the spin-off groups

• Key topics and key questions

• Other legal questions



02/11/2015

The Ad hoc Working Group on Durban Platform for

Enhanced Action (ADP)

Key features:

• Longer time period for planning

• Legal in nature

• Applicable to all and aims to address

100% emissions

• Reevaluation of strict lines countries

• Scope is not limited to mitigation

Workstream I

• Adopt an Agreement in 2015

applicable to all Parties

• Enter into force in 2020

• To focus on, inter alia, mitigation;

adaptation; finance; technology

development and transfer;

transparency of action and

support; and capacity building

Workstream II

• Enhancing mitigation ambition by

identifying and exploring options

for a range of actions that can

close the pre-2020 ambition gap

AD

P M

AN

DA

TE

Up to 2015 2015-2020 Beyond 2020



02/11/2015

Draft Agreement and draft decision on workstreams 1 and 2

of the ADP

23 October 2015 version

•26 Articles in 33 pages•Enclosed as an Annex to a draft COP decision•Provisions in articles, following the UN treaties format Draft Agreement

•22 pages of the draft COP Decision•Divided into clusters of topicsIncludes provisions for Pre-2020 climate Action

Draft COP decisions



02/11/2015Frequent abbreviations

Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Agreement

Main governing body of the AgreementCMA

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

Nationally Determined Contributions/Commitments

Nationally Determined Mitigation Contributions/ Commitments

INDCs/NDCs/NDMCs

Vehicles for communicating national

plans

Intergovernmental Preparatory CommitteeThe body that will be established to negotiate during the period of 2016-2020

IPC



02/11/2015Structure of the Paris climate package



02/11/2015



02/11/2015Cross cutting institutional arrangements

• Several UNFCCC and Kyoto institutions will continue to serve the

Agreement.

• The decision making process will be headed by the CMA.

• The preparations for the entry into force of the Agreement may be

facilitated by the IPC

• SBI/ SBSTA and other UNFCCC bodies will also serve the

agreement.



02/11/2015

Key features of the draft agreement:

Summery of the analysis



02/11/2015Purpose of the Agreement (Art 2)

• To implement the Convention and to achieve the objective of the

Convention

• Long term temperature goal: Various options around 2 degree and

1.5 degree target

• Principles: CBDR, equity, sustainable development, protection of

human rights, gender equality and intergenerational equity, inter alia.

• Linking clause for developing countries implementation



02/11/2015

Mitigation (Art 3)

• Collective long-term goal: Parties aim to achieve... GHG emissions

peaking/reduction/transformation/neutrality.

• Reference to: 40-70% and 70-95% net emission reduction below 2010.

• Individual efforts: Each Party to communicate/prepare/maintain/fulfil and

implement an NMDC/recognizing CBDR/in accordance with CBDR/taking into

account CBDR

• Differentiated efforts: developed country parties to take the lead, unconditional

economy wide emissions reduction targets. LDCs and SIDS may communicate

policies and measures



02/11/2015

INDCs/NDCs

• Ambition: Successive NDCs to represent a progression beyond the party’s previous efforts

and highest possible ambition

• Substance: NDCs are to be quantifiable or quantified.

• Conditionalities: NDCs are to be, at least in part, unconditional.

• Comparability: NDCs are to be communicated with clarity, transparency and understanding

(and other conditions that may be established by the CMA).

• Accounting rules to be considered when submitting the NDC will be set forth in the

agreement alongside others that may be adopted by the CMA.

• Many other options and brackets.



02/11/2015Housing of NMDCs

• NMDCs shall be listed/published in an online registry

maintained by the Secretariat

• NMDCs shall be listed/published in an Annex/es to the

Agreement

• NMDCs shall be listed/published in the UNFCCC website



02/11/2015Relevant questions

What are the implications of such diverse terminology and to what

extent do each of them convey a legally binding obligation:

*Contributions

*Commitments

**Actions

*Efforts

Will such any chosen single term apply to all parties across the board?

Where should the INDCs be housed?



02/11/2015Adaptation (Art. 4)

• Global goal/long-term vision on adaptation: of enhancing adaptive

capacity, increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability to

climate change;

• Adaptation planning and communication: parties are to submit

communication on their adaptation undertakings

• Stocktake: global stocktake every x years

• Support for adaptation



02/11/2015Relevant questions

How to measure the aggregate effect of adaptation measures

in the pursuit of increase in global climate change resilience?



02/11/2015Loss and damage (Art. 5)

• A new International mechanism for loss an

damage/further developing Warsaw

• Options are either a mechanism or no text at all



02/11/2015Finance (Art. 6)

• Parties should/shall take action/appropriate steps to mobilize

finance; OR

• Developed Country Parties (reference to ANNEX II Parties as well)

to take the lead in providing climate finance

• Access to support by LDCs and SIDS

• Finance from developed countries to be scaled up from a floor of

US$100 billion per year from 2020

• Public funds, distinct from Official Development Assistance, will be

the main source of financing.



02/11/2015Relevant Questions

Will the the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and the

Least-Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the

Adaptation Fund also serve the Agreement?

What should be the vehicle for communicating information

on climate finance?



02/11/2015

Technology Development and Transfer and

Capacity Building (Art 7 and 8)

• Technology development and Transfer:

• Goal,

• Technology framework,

• Technology mechanism

• support

• Capacity building:

• Institutional arrangements for capacity building

• support



02/11/2015Transparency (Art. 09)

• Establishment of transparency framework for action and support

(common, unified with flexibility built in or continuation of the existing

system)

• Review of information

• Adopting modalities and guidelines?

• Provisions of support for developing countries



02/11/2015Global stocktake (Art 10)

• CMA to periodically take stock

• 1st stocktake in 2023 or 2024

• And every five years thereafter, or at regular intervals to be

decided by the CMA

• Take stock of the overall/aggregate/collective progress towards

the Convention/and Agreement



02/11/2015

Facilitating implementation and compliance

(Art. 11)

• Establishment/ nature/ purpose and structure of a facilitative/compliance

mechanism

• Key focus: Implementation/and Compliance

• Structure: Mechanism/process/Committee/s

• Other proposals: An International Tribunal of Climate Justice, multilateral

consultative assessment, no reference to compliance



02/11/2015Other legal questions

• Legal form

• Interplay of the Agreement with the Convention , Kyoto

Protocol and the COP decisions

• Which decisions can be left for further implementation by

the CMA?



02/11/2015Ratification and Entry Into Force (Art. 18)

• Ratification triggers: number [ x ] of Parties (and/or) x number of

Parties accounting for [ x ] per cent of total emissions in a given year

[ xxxx ]



02/11/2015Decision making process

• The mandate of the CMA is to review the implementation of the Agreement and

make the decisions necessary to promote its effective implementation

• Rules of Procedure shall be adopted at the first session of the CMA.

• Article 17 contains a placeholder for preconditions on “Further requirements

and decision-making rights”:

• [further discussion needed on whether there should be preconditions to join

the agreement and to exercise decision-making rights].



02/11/2015

Next steps

• Actions on the negotiating text

• Meetings organised



02/11/2015Author name

Date


02/11/2015

Thank you!

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]