Category: Previous Issues Articles

Who are the climate leaders in this era of emergency? ECO would argue they are typically found outside this conference centre. They are the everyday people on the frontlines of confronting the fossil fuel industry (psst … the biggest cause of the climate crisis), defending human rights, and working to transition their communities to 100% clean and renewable energy. 

For example, did delegates know that, just a short train ride from Bonn, 6,000 of these leaders came together in the Rhineland last Friday, with Ende Gelände, to peacefully block climate-wrecking coal operations for 48 hours? That 40,000 students took to the streets of Aachen that same day, to strike for a future they can thrive and survive in? And that the next day, 8,000 more people protested in solidarity with German towns threatened to be bulldozed by coal mine expansion? 

“Because politicians are failing, we are stopping the diggers ourselves,” said Nike Malhaus, press spokesperson for Ende Gelände.

Such protests respond to climate science. The carbon pollution locked in by existing oil, gas, and coal development globally is more than enough to push the world well above 1.5°C. It follows that a baseline for climate action is taking action to wind down the fossil fuel industry in a just and equitable way (i.e.,
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ECO is excited to see the trickle of pledged national net zero goals gaining momentum, with the potential to become a flood by 2020 when, ECO reminds you, all countries should have submitted updated NDCs in line with the 1.5ºC imperative and the need to reduce global CO₂ emissions by around half by 2030.

A newcomer to this net zero club is the UK. In May, its Climate Change Committee (CCC) recommended that the UK could adopt a net zero greenhouse gas goal by 2050 – advice, which was accepted by the government on June 12^th. Although ECO has reservations on the lateness of the date – 2040 would seem a more appropriate outer limit – this change in target would be transformative for the UK, not least as it covers for all greenhouse gases, not only CO₂. 

The CCC is notably conservative in its modeling, and has publicly noted, with some chagrin, how far out its assumptions were on the costs of renewables when it helped to prepare the groundwork for the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008. This time, it has still been cautious about its assumptions on the roll out of innovations, it makes no assumptions on the benefits to the UK economy of the transition to a net zero emission economy and hasn’t considered the benefits of avoided costs of impacts.
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ECO gets the feeling that negotiators prefer to talk about the past rather than about the future… 

In 2016, the development of a technical paper that elaborates sources of and modalities for accessing financial support for addressing loss and damage was mandated. The Secretariat had a very long time to prepare it and yet it was only released two days before SB50 started. However, we do believe that this paper provides a good starting point to discuss sources and modalities for L&D finance. It usefully gives examples of loss and damage and to some extent addresses the intersection between adaptation, humanitarian and development programs. It highlights how difficult it is to report on loss and damage financing, as it is not accounted for separately.

However, ECO believes that there are major problems with the paper, which are primarily rooted in its mandate: By focusing solely on existing funding, it delivers a backwards-looking analysis of financial contributions to avert, minimize and address L&D. The ill-designed mandate excludes a forward-looking component from the technical paper. It contains no references to  (future) needs, additional innovative sources or institutional arrangements to channel funding.

In the current negotiations on the WIM review, ECO notes that negotiators are experiencing the same struggle with back- and forward-looking components.
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With apologies to Justin Timberlake:
I’m bringin’ science back (yeah)
Some of the boys don’t know how to act (yeah)
I think it’s special, the IPCC and facts (yeah)
So workshops ho! the report we’ll unpack (yeah)

Last week, science got a rough ride in the SBSTA item on the IPCC SR1.5, with the Saudi assault on attempts to fulfill the COP instructions to engage with the content of the IPCC report.
This week, science has its mojo back, and defenders of science’s role in continuously informing policymaking appear to be on track to get substantive conclusions from this session and find a way to do justice to this momentous and ground-breaking report.
Most parties are now supporting a substantial package of draft conclusions to forward to the plenary, as well as additional time in the informal consultations to consider them.
Yesterday AOSIS, LDCs and AILAC presented a proposal to organize 4 workshops – 2 at SB51 and 2 at SB52, with a synthesis report for consideration at a high-level event at COP26. This process of unpacking the IPCC report can help inform the process of parties revising NDCs over the next year or so, and the synthesis report can inform the Second Periodic Review, which will likely start in 2020.  
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ECO is excited to see so many Annex I Parties participating in the multilateral assessment for their biennial reports. ECO congratulates Parties for participating and thinks the multilateral assessment can be a great place to share experiences and lessons learned with other Parties in a constructive environment. We look forward to hearing your presentations and Q&A sessions throughout the day. 
Since ECO can’t ask questions during these workshops, we figured we’d share our questions with you here:
To all Parties:
Can you provide an update regarding any action taken to strengthen policy-making processes — in particular public access to information and public participation — so as to improve climate responses and promote policy coherence in the context of progress made towards meeting your commitments under the UNFCCC?
To Norway:
Norway has a national goal to cut emissions 30% by 2020, and two thirds of these cuts should be done domestically. But in 2017, according to the Government’s Prop 1.S 2018-19, Norwegian emissions had risen 2.4% since 1990. What is Norway’s strategy to deal with this?
To the Russian Federation:
According to its own last national inventory report in 2017, Russian GHG emissions were 68% of 1990 level without accounting for LULUCF, and 51% with the given accounting.
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ECO is very pleased to have witnessed 26 countries publicly committing to “step up” and enhance their NDC by 2020 at the CAN booth here in Bonn:  
Belize, Benin, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, DRC, Ghana, Grenada, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, Micronesia, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, The Gambia, Tonga, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.

However, ECO realises that these nations are all developing countries. Many are least developed countries (LDCs), the poorest. There has been a noticeable absence of all the richer OECD and Annex I nations, as well as highly emitting countries in the G77 and China Group.      
ECO did some number crunching on most of these countries with regard to their present contribution to the climate emergency we are facing as well as their capability to address enhanced NDCs at home. 
These countries emitted about 820Mt CO2 from fossil fuels in 2016. This is 2.5% of all global CO2 fossil fuel emissions and 7% of the OECD total.
These countries register an annual average of 0.9tCO2 per capita emissions. This is about 80% below the world average and over 90% below the OECD average. 
Total GDP of these countries in USD was about 2.3% of global GDP and 3.5% of OECD GDP.
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A day without an ECO article about Article 6 would be devastating for all, ECO is sure of it.  But an Article 6 without human rights and proper safeguards would be even more devastating – in this case for people and the planet. 
ECO has heard a lot of discussion about the negative impacts of Article 6. And we agree. The Article 6 activities can lead to negative impacts, often on those who are denied access and control over their land. That’s why ECO has been highlighting the importance of having human rights-based social and environmental safeguards and an independent grievance redress mechanism. 
Let’s unpack this a bit. What do we mean by social and environmental safeguards? ECO is here to help. Don’t be afraid, you all have human rights obligations. And you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, these policies exist, including in the UNFCCC’s own financial mechanisms. Social and environmental safeguards cover a wide range of issues including human rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, gender equality, and the right to participation and access to information, just to name a few. All of these are critical and will help achieve the sustainable development Article 6 wants.  
Including rights-based safeguards in Article 6 is the way to help ensure that the activities start from a premise of doing no harm and ensuring sustainable development and environmental integrity. 
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ECO always highlights the importance of information access, public participation and justice. Years of ECO issues are the living proof of that. 
The Escazu Agreement is the latest agreement that works specifically on these issues in the Latin American and Caribbean region. And it is the first multilateral binding agreement that includes provisions related to the protection of defenders of human rights in environmental issues. After a successful adoption in 2018, 16 countries have signed, 1 has ratified and another one is in the process of depositing the ratification. Congratulations Guyana and Bolivia.
It came as a shock that one of the most active countries in the process, who will soon lead the climate negotiations, did not even sign, thereby somewhat undermining its credibility as a reliable international actor. 
Therefore, ECO would like to take the opportunity to welcome to Bonn Ms Carolina Schmidt, the incoming president of COP25, and to invite her to ensure that Chile signs and ratifies the Escazu Agreement by submitting it as soon as possible to the National Congress as a matter of urgency — showing Chile’s real climate and human rights ambition. In doing so, Chile would join the club of those countries committed to providing information, ensuring participation and defending human rights of the people who protect and sometimes even give their lives to defend the environment.
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How do you achieve inner peace? It is all about the yin and the yang. What’s the point of professional success if you cannot share it with friends and family. Right? But this is not a kitchen lifestyle philosophy piece that takes your mind off the complicated issues negotiated here. ECO is talking about the balance of mitigation and adaptation finance, or more precisely: the imbalance. It is clear that mitigation finance is crucial. However, people need to prepare for climate change today – by this we don’t mean you taking off your jackets on the way to the World Conference Centre Bonn during Germany’s highest June temperatures ever recorded. We refer to the people and communities most vulnerable to climate change.
But, of course, you know all of that. That is why some of you came up with the ‘silver bullet‘ that will also be the focus of the TEM-A: private adaptation finance. For years now, some of you have been trying to find out how it could be the key to restoring the balance. The only problem is: so far it has not delivered so far. The fact is, there is a very limited scope that private finance can achieve!
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As Ludwig sat in the Dialogue on Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) held yesterday afternoon, he reflected on the fine difference between “public access to information” – one of the core elements of Article 12 of the Paris Agreement – and information overload as an uninterrupted series of sixteen speakers delivered their presentations. With no opportunity to raise questions or intervene in the plenary sessions of the “Dialogue” – Ludwig wondered whether the principle of public participation – also itself a pillar of ACE – could not have been somewhat reflected in the format of the event. He left nonetheless reassured to learn that multiple breakout groups had discussed the importance of a human rights approach to implementing ACE and hopeful Parties will remember this aspect when they renew the ACE Work Programme next year.