The UN climate talks in Paris have entered the phase where negotiators mostly forgo sleep as they stay locked in meeting rooms overnight trying to edge the process forward. Carbon Pulse follows the talks and will keep you updated on new developments.
0230 CET – NEW TEXT: A new draft Paris Agreement was proposed tonight. The full text is available here.
Here are the bits of article 3 that concern markets:
20. [Cooperation between Parties in the implementation of ### includes approaches that enhance mitigation and adaptation ambition, promote sustainable development and environmental integrity and act in harmony with nature, consistent with guidance adopted by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Agreement. Parties shall, where engaging on a voluntary basis in cooperative approaches that involve the use of internationally transferred emission reductions towards ###, promote sustainable development and environmental integrity, and apply robust accounting to ensure, inter alia, the avoidance of double counting, consistent with guidance adopted by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Agreement, and ensure transparency in the governance of the approaches.
Article 3 ter
1. [A mechanism to contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and support sustainable development [in developing country Parties] is hereby established under the authority and guidance of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Agreement, shall be supervised by a body designated by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Agreement, and shall aim to:
(a) Promote the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions [in developing country Parties] while fostering sustainable development;
(b) Incentivise and facilitate participation in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions by public and private entities authorized by a Party;
(c) Contribute to the reduction of emission levels in the [developing country] host Party, which will benefit from mitigation activities resulting in emission reductions that can also be used by another Party to fulfil its ###;
(d) Promote a net contribution to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions;
2. Emission reductions resulting from this mechanism shall not be used to demonstrate achievement of the host Party’s ###, if used by another Party to demonstrate achievement of its ###.
3. The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Agreement shall ensure that a share of the proceeds from activities under the mechanism are used to cover administrative expenses as well as to assist developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change to meet the costs of adaptation.
4. The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Agreement shall adopt modalities and procedures for this mechanism at its first session.]
2016 CET – DELAYED ENCORE: Rumours are that the release of the newest draft text has been pushed to 2145 CET (from 2100).
1925 CET – EU’s PUSHES FOR PRE-2020 INDC REVIEWS: The EU is pushing for the Paris global climate deal to take stock of all national pledges before 2020, a move that Europe’s climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said would mean the 28-nation bloc and many other countries would come under pressure to up their goals.
The EU has long backed five-year reviews of national pledges, but throwing its weight behind a pre-2020 stocktaking is the clearest signal yet the bloc could be willing to scale up its current 2030 emission reduction target of at least a 40% cut from 1990 levels.
“If we do this stocktaking starting now, in 2021 we will be able to raise the level of ambition on a voluntary basis,” Arias Canete told a press briefing at the talks. See full story.
1836 CET – PLENARY DELAYED: The next meeting of the Paris Committee has been tentatively rescheduled to 2100 CET, two hours later than the previous announced start. It remains somewhat uncertain if that means the new text will be delayed as well.
1504 CET – CANADA’S IN THE CLUB: Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s chief of staff tweeted that the Marshall Islands’ Tony de Brum has invited the country to join the “High Ambition Coalition”, which includes the EU, US, Norway, Mexico, Colombia, and more than 70 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations.
1439 CET – EU TARGETS SHIPS AND PLANES: EU Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete and Giovanni La Via, an Italian MEP and chair of the EU Parliament’s environment committee, strongly urged negotiators to reinsert text targeting aviation and shipping emissions into the draft agreement, after language on this was removed in the latest update. Both highlighted that emissions from these two sectors could rise to a 33-40% share of global GHGs if left unregulated.
La Via reiterated the Parliament’s goal to include in the post-2020 EU carbon market reform process provisions to earmark a portion of EU Allowance sale revenues for climate aid for vulnerable countries.
Canete added that the EU has concerns over a number of areas in the latest draft, including the review cycle for national pledges and the measures to ensure transparency and accountability.
1438 CET – NEW TEXT DELAYED: The new draft text for a climate treaty due Thursday has been postponed until 1900 CET (from 1500 CET), meaning negotiators likely face another long night of tough talks after working through last night until 0600 this morning.
1416 CET – NGOS URGE MOVEMENT ON BIG ISSUES: Climate negotiators must sort out some major issues if the Paris Agreement is to be of any value, green groups said Thursday. “This process, however good, has not yet succeeded in dealing with all the crunch issues. The Paris ambition mechanism, the loss and damage language, and scaling up commitments by 2018—these issues all need to get sorted,” said Alix Mazounie with RAC France.
“You’ve got to get transparency right first. You can’t have effective compliance without information on what countries are actually doing – no matter what’s written on paper. We also need to prohibit double-counting of emission cuts and lock in a solid legal framework for monitoring and reviewing progress,” said Alex Hanafi of the Environmental Defense Fund.
1036 CET – NEW ZEALAND PREPARING DECLARATION ON CARBON MARKETS: New Zealand is drumming up support for a declaration it is preparing on international carbon markets, hoping to provide a signal that emissions trading has a future despite opposition from some of the delegations in Paris. See full story here.
0918 CET – LITTLE PROGRESS IN OVERNIGHT TALKS: Delegates made little progress over night, according to Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout:
Today might be rumours day. Since the all-nighter lead to nothing, people start doubting whether a new text is possible today… #COP21
— Bas Eickhout (@BasEickhout) December 10, 2015
0836 CET – NEW DRAFT TEXT THIS AFTERNOON: A new proposal for a Paris Agreement will be published this afternoon, and will reveal whether negotiators have managed to make progress on hard topics like finance, differentiation and markets overnight.
By Carbon Pulse – news@carbon-pulse.com
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