ECO attended the World Café and the first roundtables of the Global Stocktake. While the statements of Parties and observers were full of political expectations and wishes to engage constructively in this important component of the ambition mechanism of the Paris Agreement, there is still work to do in ensuring a successful GST.
The World Café on Friday was quite inspiring. Despite the slightly chaotic organization and the noisy environment, ECO and many participants were glad to have frank and open conversations, with representatives of Parties, NGOs, companies, and subnational authorities. The World Café avoided becoming a talk shop with just statements and no concrete action. ECO would like to see this format used in future technical dialogues, but with more time for discussion.
The thematic roundtables on mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation and support were launched last Friday, together with cross-cutting themes like loss & damage, human rights, gender equality and equity included in all three. While the roundtable on means of implementation was quite fluid, the other two were not so interactive, especially the one on mitigation. The co-facilitators encouraged participants to make concise, interactive responses to each other and to stay focused on technical topics, but most interventions were clearly prepared in advance, and there were limited reactions to what was said by others. Some Parties (and non-Parties) read lengthy statements that put forward oft-repeated political points rather than practical examples, and that failed to spur real dialogue. At the end of the mitigation roundtable, 17 Parties and non-Parties were still waiting for their moment to speak, and thus did not get the opportunity.
This is not the exercise ECO was hoping to assist in. Thus far, the GST has mostly consisted of a series of statements without any meaningful interactions, especially between Parties and non-Parties. We know where this will end up leading us: beyond 1.5°C, as we are not responding to the imminent crises people are facing on the ground. The Global Stocktake is the occasion to co-create new kinds of discussions and ECO encourages all participants to stay concise, focus on technical topics, and engage in real dialogue with each other.
A final point: ECO would like to especially remind Parties that this process is more than a technical and academic exercise. The Global Stocktake is the guarantee of the Paris Agreement: its accountability mechanism and the best way to know if we are on track. It will tell us not only where the gaps are but how to fill these gaps, and which solutions and practices Parties should implement faster and incorporate more fully in their next NDCs. Without a successful Global Stocktake, the Paris Agreement’s legitimacy will be undermined. Without accountability, the UNFCCC and the global climate regime might lose the little remaining trust it still has amongst Parties (especially those most impacted by climate change), non-state actors and citizens. If the COP27 and COP28 presidencies – as well as other fora such as the G7, G20 and the UN General Assembly do not fully take this process into consideration and fail to support high-level political leverage of the Global Stocktake, climate action will be slow, unholistic, and top-down. Thus, let’s seize this precious opportunity to have a process that will help deliver 1.5°C-aligned post-2030 NDCs in 2025!