core sector communique

Dear Members,

 

Please find below Copenhagen Summit highlights from Thursday, 17 December 2009. To read in detail please visit Earth Negotiations Bulletin, a flagship product of International Institute for Sustainable Development – Reporting Services at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop15/.  

 

Highlights

·       The COP and COP/MOP plenaries were convened on Thursday morning. In the afternoon and late evening, contact group meetings and drafting groups took place under the COP and COP/MOP.

·       On Thursday focus was on head of the states that started arriving, with out any draft to be considered. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for Copenhagen, who says India willing to do more, and ‘looks forward to constructive talks’

 

COP PLENARY

·       The new COP President proposed forwarding the texts for consideration by a contact group chaired by COP President’s Special Representative Connie Hedegaard, who resigned from COP presidency a day before.

 

COP Contact Group

·       On adaptation, drafting group reached a better understanding of a Copenhagen adaptation framework or programme, as well as agreement on objectives and principles and some categories of action.

·       Issues identifying to be addressed at a higher level were response measures; the polluter pays principle; and the concept of historical responsibility.

·       On technology, the reporting line between the committee and center; link between the committee and agreement on finance; and the issue of intellectual property rights were identified as issues that need ministerial intervention.

·       On financial institutional arrangements, drafting group addressed the issue of a climate fund or facility, and noted movement on the selection of a trustee to the fund or facility on an interim basis.

·       On capacity building, institutional arrangements and financial resources for capacity building; reporting and review of actions in terms of indicators; and the provision of capacity building as a legally-binding obligation were identified as “difficult outstanding issues” requiring political guidance.

·       On REDD-plus, the outstanding issues were relating to financing, relationship to NAMAs and MRV of action and support. On mitigation, there were issue of fixed positions.

·       Contact group’s mandate is to prepare the outcomes of Copenhagen emerging from the Protocol negotiating track, and that the work of the group would be based on the text forwarded by the AWG-KP to the COP/MOP.

 

Five drafting groups were proposes, namely on:

o        Annex I emission reductions, co-facilitated by Gertraud Wollansky (Austria) and Leon Charles (Grenada);

o        Land Use Land Use Change & Forestry (LULUCF), co-facilitated by Marcelo Rocha (Brazil) and Bryan Smith (New Zealand);

o        flexibility mechanisms, facilitated by Harald Dovland (Norway);

o        basket of methodological issues, also facilitated by Harald Dovland; and

o        potential consequences, co-facilitated by Mama Konaté (Mali) and Andrew Ure (Australia).

 

Joint Implementation (COP/MOP)

·       During the contact group on joint implementation (JI), a revised draft COP/MOP decision was introduced. It noted that the only outstanding issue is that relating to extending the share of proceeds to JI.

·       At a press conference, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US is prepared to work with other countries to mobilize US$100 billion a year by 2020. A financing announcement had also been made earlier by Japan to raise climate aid to about US$15 billion by 2012.

 

Regards,

 

Ramesh Kumar Jalan and  Kirtiman Awasthi

Resource Team

Climate Change Community, Solution Exchange,

United Nations Development Programme

55, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003, India

Tel: +91-11-46532383 Fax: +91-11-24627612

www.solutionexchange-un.net.in