Category: Previous Issues Articles

Diversity makes the United Nations great. This diversity represents people from across the globe fighting together for something better, but this beautiful diversity is under threat from climate change. Each day, crucial parts of our culture are being washed away by storms and rising seas, as people are displaced from their homes. 

As young campaigners, sitting in the mandated review of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) on Loss and Damage (L&D) has left us scared. Lack of action on this issue will categorically destroy the core of that diverse cultural heritage. 

We need delegations to start taking Loss and Damage seriously. We urgently need finance for countries to rebuild after disaster(s) and displacement. Undermining real efforts to evaluate and progress on the WIM in these sessions supports the escalating climate crisis, and perpetuates cycles of under-development, inequity and poverty.  Young people in climate-vulnerable nations are the least responsible, but face a lifetime of consequences for the carbon-intensive lifestyles that adults in the Global North continue to lead. We must break this cycle. States must correct this profound injustice. 

SB50 must be the start of a new era where nations in the Global North and big polluters recognize their historical responsibility, and protect the most vulnerable and marginalized.
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If you are looking for common tabular formats (CTF) in this article, you are reading the wrong piece. This CTF refers to the common time frames for the implementation of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs). We knows that when it comes to common time frames, most people think it is common sense to have a five-year time frame. Why? Well, the NDCs are communicated every five years and the global stocktake takes place every five years. Nevertheless, the negotiations on common time frames (and other areas) don’t always follow common sense.

We have followed the two negotiations on CTF at the Bonn session and, just as at COP24 in Katowice, not much progress has been made. At COP 24, Parties agreed that common time frames will apply to NDCs to be implemented from 2031 onward. However, it doesn’t really address when the NDC shall be communicated. 2025 or 2030? Well, the general consensus in the room is that NDCs communicated in 2025 should be implemented from 2031 onwards.

The other crucial question on CTF’s is, when will Parties finally make a decision on this important item? Some Parties have floated the idea of finalizing this important item by 2023, which is as late as you can get.
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By 2050, over 1 billion people will be forcibly displaced from their homes, according to the Institute of Environment and Human Security of the United Nations University. Climate change is, and will continue to destroy infrastructure, forcing millions from their towns and cities. Yet no one is talking about climate migration. My generation will be forced to migrate on an unseen scale, yet the generation who caused the crisis fail to put protections in place to ensure our human rights and livelihoods.

This is terrifying for those living in developing countries and small island developing states. The reality is that they will be hit the hardest, but it is precisely those most affected who lack the resources of rich nations to quickly respond and adapt. 

When presented with ecosystem change, species have three potential options: they adapt, they move, or they die. Recognizing this, protecting climate migrants is of the utmost importance because when your home is gone, where do you go? For us, the answer is simple: countries with more space and resources must provide asylum and social integration. These are the same countries who have created the climate crisis, they have a historical debt to pay. But, this is a complex problem.
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We’re back for another session of Article 6 negotiations. ECO knows that when it comes to the game of baselines, it’s time for Parties to take heed of lessons learned from the KP and other mechanisms. Otherwise, winter is coming…

Strong environmental integrity principles are critical for the Article 6.4 rules so that parties are prevented from gaming their baselines, and instead adopt accurate and conservative baselines. Baselines should reflect a conservative emission pathway to avoid hot air and non-additional credits in the 6.4 mechanism.

Baselines should be proposed by host countries, and approved by the Supervisory Body only if they are conservative, dynamic, and standardized. Ideally, they should be set at BAU or the level of policies incorporated into a host’s NDC, whichever is lowest. Under no circumstances should baselines be set above BAU, which would lead to the issuance of hot air credits.

In practice, ECO knows that quantifying policies in an NDC — first at the scale of sectors, and then projects — is challenging, and will require technical support and capacity building.  However, it is key to the principle of additionality that baselines be set at a level which takes a conservative approach to the calculation of “what would have happened otherwise,” and that they be re-set through a dynamic updating process.
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Still don’t grasp what the GAP is all about? What if we tell you that advancing gender mandates will give a real boost to your climate action?

Parties have just spent the last 4 days reviewing what has been achieved under the Gender Action Plan (GAP) so far and guess what? Implementing the GAP is not so scary after all. The gender workshop organized by the UNFCCC Secretariat Gender Team under its mandate, engaged all participants in a positive spirit thanks to fruitful experience sharing. Successful stories were presented by Finland, Tonga, and Bolivia. For instance, did you know that Chile engaged in a national gender-diagnostic and a targeted capacity building process in the energy, agriculture and fishing sectors to adopt a gender approach in its mitigation actions?

We also listened to the Adaptation Committee, CTCN, IPCC, PCCB, GCF, and WIM ExCom as they gave us the latest update on how they integrate gender equality in their actions. It’s clear, gender is relevant in all articles of the Paris Agreement: UNFCCC constituted bodies have done their homework; now Parties, it’s up to you!

We want a comprehensive, targeted and resourced GAP, as part of a renewed, long-term Lima Work Programme (LWP): this is critical to strengthen gender-responsive and human rights-based climate policy.
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Are you also a Head of State stressing out about what to pack for the climate summit in September? Fear not. ECO has everything you need to know on this year’s most important trends. As you know Secretary General António Guterres has asked Heads of State not to bring speeches but to bring action plans in line with 1.5 ºC. But ECO realises that some countries might not remember what ambitious action looks like. So, as a special service for those countries and for the viewing pleasure of the rest of you, ECO has today decided to bring the following picture as our centrefold:

This very fetching curve is bound to become a hit in New York this autumn. What you’re looking at is a depiction of the brand-new 70% reduction target that the incoming Danish government announced last night. Notice the clean lines, plummeting curves and great timing, just beautiful.

First to catch ECO’ eyes is how the 70% target in 2030 signifies a clear progression from previous efforts, especially the last few years. Secondly, extend the curve. Extend it all the way to where it will touch the x-axis. Notice that the intersection point will be in ca 2040.
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It is tough to be the new kid on the block, especially when you are trying to do things differently than those who have been around the block a couple of times. Especially when those other guys still want to stick around — even though they were invited to the block party only for a little while — and are playing by a different set of rules.

ECO has been reminded of this during the past few weeks with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) seeking its first formal replenishment this year, while the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) are pondering recapitalization at the same time. The CIFs were set up 10 years ago to be temporary players in the block party of multilateral climate finance, with the expectation that they would eventually gracefully move out of the way (aka “sunset”). This was supposed to happen once the GCF had shown that it is ready to fulfill its birthright — namely to be the main kid on the block for helping developing countries implement climate actions and raise their ambition under the Paris Agreement. Some 102 approved projects and programs worth USD 5 billion later, there can be no doubt that the GCF is ready to do just that.
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Did you know ECO was here before the smoothie bar?

Smoothie machines are great. You get a blender and insert let’s say apples and oranges and you could try to get a smoothie… wait… what?? Would you really drink a smoothie made of apples and oranges? We all know that does not make a good mix. If you think about it, apples and oranges are normally placed in separated baskets when you go to a store. And at the end of the day, just like you can’t compare loans and grants, you don’t mix apples and oranges.

ECO has been actively observing the discussions on transparency of support, particularly those linked to the adoption of the common tabular format of the Enhanced Transparency Framework agreed in Katowice (CTF). This CTF aims to enhance trust and make room for the new types of information that countries agreed on — support provided, mobilized (for contributor countries), received and needed (for developing countries).

ECO listened carefully and wonders if this warm weather and the accumulated number of smoothies negotiators have had lately to quench their thirst has inspired them to come to the room with very interesting and creative proposals to make the best out of this CTF.
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ECO recognizes that Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are on the frontlines of climate change, already facing impacts which pose an existential threat to their communities. This is their message to you delegates:

The Pacific deserves more than just to survive – we deserve to thrive. We are looking to you, delegates, for solidarity and the courage to act.

You can help to preserve the incredible wealth of this region’s languages which hold the stories and histories of thousands of islands, and millions of people whose culture, identity and traditional knowledge are a reflection of resilience, determination and courage in the face of the climate crisis.

These histories and cultures and our very identities are rooted in our homes, our islands and our oceans. Now, we stand to lose them all because of the current climate crisis – a crisis which we can still avert. A crisis which is causing many to leave our ancestral homes. Displacement and migration must be our last resort, and efforts to mitigate and transition to renewable energy should continue in order to minimize future impacts. However, if we are forced to move or choose to do so because of climate change, we should be able to do so safely and with dignity.
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Sitting in a recent informal consultation, ECO had an unwelcome flashback to Bible classes. The old story of Lot’s wife* looking back and being turned into a pillar of salt.

What inspired this unwelcome flashback? That would be the equally unwelcome assertion that the Review of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss & Damage (WIM) should be BACKWARD, not FORWARD looking, and should be constrained to just the work of the Executive Committee (ExCom).

What level of absurdness is that, you ask? Why review a body that has been in existence for six years, that was enshrined in the Paris Agreement (which, last time ECO checked, was a forward-looking agreement), without looking to the level of loss and damage that vulnerable countries will expect?

After six years in existence, it is time to assess whether the WIM is fit for purpose. Given the impacts the IPCC 1.5C report tells us are now on the horizon, this is about more than just the ExCom. This is about the Mechanism as a whole, and whether it has and CAN deliver upon its original mandate, which includes the enhancement of action and support, such as finance.

A Review that simply looks at what has been done, in order to determine if something has been achieved, is virtually a box-ticking exercise.
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