Download FCCC/AWGLCA/2008/6 Page 1 UNITED NATIONS Distr. GENERAL

UNITED
NATIONS
Distr.
GENERAL
FCCC/AWGLCA/2008/6
1 November 2008
Original: ENGLISH
AD HOC WORKING GROUP ON LONG-TERM COOPERATIVE ACTION
UNDER THE CONVENTION Fourth session Poznan, , 30 November to 11
December 2008
Item 3(a) of the provisional agenda . Enabling the full, effective and
sustained implementation of the Convention through long-term
cooperative action now, up to and beyond 2012, by addressing, inter alia:
a. A shared vision for long-term cooperative action
A shared vision for long-term cooperative action1
Note by the Executive Secretary
This paper is part of a simulation of the Poznan negotiations undertaken for the
2008 Capstone of the International Relations Program at the Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. It is not a document of the
United Nations.
1
FCCC/AWGLCA/2008/6
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At its first session in Bangkok from 30 March to 4 April 2008, the Ad Hoc Working
Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA)
established procedures for negotiating the successor to the Kyoto Protocol of the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by the conclusion of the
15th Conference of Parties to the Convention (COP-15). It decided to continue a
parallel focus on the five critical themes:





Shared vision for long-term cooperative action
Enhanced national/international action on mitigation
Enhanced action on adaptation
Enhanced action on technology development and transfer to support action
on mitigation and adaptation
Enhanced action on the provision of financial resources and investment to
support action on mitigation and adaptation and technology cooperation.
The Bali Action Plan, adopted at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP-13)2
2. Decides that the process shall be conducted under a subsidiary body under
the Convention, hereby established and known as the Ad Hoc Working Group
on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, that shall complete
its work in 2009 and present the outcome of its work to the Conference of
the Parties for adoption at its fifteenth session;
It requested that the group to report to the Conference of the Parties at its
fourteenth session on progress made;
In the agreed conclusions of the first meeting of the AWG-LCA prepared by the
Chairman3,
The AWG-LCA agreed that its work should be facilitated by workshops and
other activities to deepen understanding and clarify elements contained in
the Bali Action Plan. Accordingly, the AWG-LCA requested the secretariat,
under the guidance of the Chair in consultation with Parties, to organize the
workshops listed in the annex. The AWG-LCA requested the Chair in his
summary of each session to include the views expressed at the workshops.
According to the agreed schedule one of the workshops at its fourth session in
Poznan, is on the Shared vision for long-term cooperative action.
The Bali Action Plan specifies that the negotiations need to address, inter alia,4
2
FCCC/2007/6/Add.1, Decision 1/C.13, para. 2.
3
FCCC/AWGLCA/2008/L.2
4
FCCC/2007/6/Add.1, Decision 1/C.13, para. 1(a)
FCCC/AWGLCA/2008/6
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A shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term
global goal for emission reductions, to achieve the ultimate objective of the
Convention, in accordance with the provisions and principles of the
Convention, in particular the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities, and taking into account social
and economic conditions and other relevant factors;
This implies that the workshop and subsequent discussion should address two
distinct, but related issues, (1) the long-term goal for emission reductions, including
both the amount and the timing, and (2) the common but differentiated
responsibilities of States based on all relevant factors.
In order to help focus the discussion, the Secretariat has arranged for two experts to
participate in the workshop panel, together with the representatives of several
States party. The experts will present the results of the Fourth Assessment Report
prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.5 State will recall that6
Climate change is a very complex issue: policymakers need an objective
source of information about the causes of climate change, its potential
environmental and socio-economic consequences and the adaptation and
mitigation options to respond to it. This is why WMO and UNEP established
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.
The Fourth Assessment Report was issued in late 2007 and was based on the results
of Working Groups I, II and III. The workshop will include a presentation on the
findings of Working Group I that describe progress in understanding of the human
5
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf
6
http://www.ipcc.ch/about/index.htm
The IPCC is a scientific body: the information it provides with its reports is based on
scientific evidence and reflects existing viewpoints within the scientific community. The
comprehensiveness of the scientific content is achieved through contributions from experts
in all regions of the world and all relevant disciplines including, where appropriately
documented, industry literature and traditional practices, and a two stage review process by
experts and governments.
The IPCC provides its reports at regular intervals and they immediately become standard
works of reference, widely used by policymakers, experts and students. The findings of the
first IPCC Assessment Report of 1990 played a decisive role in leading to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was opened for signature in the
Rio de Janeiro Summit in 1992 and entered into force in 1994. It provides the overall policy
framework for addressing the climate change issue. The IPCC Second Assessment Report of
1995 provided key input for the negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Third
Assessment Report of 2001 as well as Special and Methodology Reports provided further
information relevant for the development of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The IPCC
continues to be a major source of information for the negotiations under the UNFCCC.
FCCC/AWGLCA/2008/6
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and natural drivers of climate change,1 observed climate change, climate processes
and attribution, and estimates of projected future climate change. It will also
include a presentation of the findings of Working Group III that describe new
literature on the scientific, technological, environmental, economic and social
aspects of mitigation of climate change, published since the IPCC Third Assessment
Report (TAR) and the Special Reports on CO2 Capture and Storage (SRCCS) and on
Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System (SROC).
As a starting point, it should be recalled that the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change states as its objective that7
The ultimate objective of this Convention and any related legal instruments
that the Conference of the Parties may adopt is to achieve, in accordance with
the relevant provisions of the Convention, stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be
achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt
naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened
and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
In adopting the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention in 1998,8
The Parties included in Annex I shall, individually or jointly, ensure that their
aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the
greenhouse gases listed in Annex A do not exceed their assigned amounts,
calculated pursuant to their quantified emission limitation and reduction
commitments inscribed in Annex B and in accordance with the provisions of
this Article, with a view to reducing their overall emissions of such gases by
at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to
2012.
The Kyoto Protocol only entered into force in February 2005. The process of
negotiating the commitments for the successor period have been entrusted to the
AWG-LCA.
The subsequent assessments by the IPCC suggest that a longer time horizon may be
necessary. It also presented several scenarios describing when the consequences of
climate change was likely to become particularly severe.
In examining the how to apportion responsibility for both adaptation strategies and
mitigation of greenhouse gas emission during the period that will be determined,
7
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf , Article 2.
8
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf , Article 3, para. 1.
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the issues of economic and social development are expected to be taken into
account. In addition,, the UNFCCC specifes that 9
In the implementation of the commitments in this Article, the Parties shall
give full consideration to what actions are necessary under the Convention,
including actions related to funding, insurance and the transfer of
technology, to meet the specific needs and concerns of developing country
Parties arising from the adverse effects of climate change and/or the impact
of the implementation of response measures, especially on:
(a) Small island countries;
(b) Countries with low-lying coastal areas;
(c) Countries with arid and semi-arid areas, forested areas and areas liable
to forest decay;
(d) Countries with areas prone to natural disasters;
(e) Countries with areas liable to drought and desertification;
(f) Countries with areas of high urban atmospheric pollution;
(g) Countries with areas with fragile ecosystems, including mountainous
ecosystems;
(h) Countries whose economies are highly dependent on income generated
from the production, processing and export, and/or on consumption of fossil
fuels and associated energy-intensive products; and
(i) Landlocked and transit countries.
The result of the discussions on a shared vision should be included in the
Chairman’s summary that should, following past practice, be agreed by consensus
among the Parties.
9
Ibid. Article 4, para. 8