Categoría: Previous Issues Articles

ECO welcomes Party delegates to Bonn. Now get to work! We know that you fully recognise the immense responsibilities you have at this session. Coming hot on the heels of the sobering IPCC Working Group 3 report, there should be no doubt that the following urgent tasks must be delivered at this Bonn Session:

Close the Ambition Gap in the pre-2020 period: ECO is very disappointed to hear that not many Ministers will attend the high-level segment this week on the Kyoto Protocol and the ADP review.   ECO suggests that those that do make the effort to come use the time here to tell us how they plan to deal with this gap in the near term. Deeper developed country emissions reductions in this KP commitment period is clearly a key element, as is their support to developing countries for enhancing their efforts to reduce emissions. All countries should use complementary concrete measures – such as scaled up implementation of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency – to close the gap.

Put the money in the Fund: Developed country Ministers present in Bonn have an ideal opportunity to signal commitment to mobilising resources for the “newly opened for business” Green Climate Fund.
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CAN is turning 25 this year. That’s right, CAN has been fighting for the climate even before the UNFCCC was established. To celebrate this, we are organising a birthday party and we want you to join us.

Come learn about what makes CAN special and engage in discussions with leaders of civil society on how we can strengthen the climate movement. We have always tried to influence your discussions – now, it’s your opportunity to influence ours.

On June 16, we will be sharing CAN’s new direction, and we welcome your input on how CAN could be even more effective going forward as we strengthen the larger climate movement. This half day discussion will be followed by a reception in the Old Town Hall, and an all night party (some traditions never change!) to celebrate all of our successes.

Register here: http://bit.ly/RegisterCAN25Anniversary

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a cornerstone of the emerging architecture of the global climate regime. Just two weeks ago, the Board of the GCF surprised many observers when they reached agreement on the eight essential requirements for the GCF to begin to receive, manage, and disburse funds. This deprives those developed countries who bear the primary responsibility for contributing funds to the GCF, and had been holding back pending these board decisions, of an excuse to delay making substantial contributions to the fund. We now fully expect these countries to put substantial financing at the disposal of the fund by Lima, with disbursements starting in 2015.

Just what does “substantial”mean? The volume of funds must be sufficient to inspire developing country confidence in the commitment of developed countries to support climate action and inspire developing countries to put sufficient effort into creating projects and programs to make good use of this funding. It must also enable the GCF to create a paradigm shift in the transition to a low emissions, climate resilient world, and to contribute significantly to closing the mitigation gap in the pre-2020 period.

ECO wonders how serious developed countries are about the GCF, really. As soon as the GCF is fully operational, and the institutional arrangements are in place for direct access by developing countries, ECO suggests that regular contributions to the GCF increase rapidly, surpassing USD$10 billion annually.
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If the findings of the IPCC’s AR5 were not enough of a call to action, the melting of a major section of the West Antarctic ice sheet now appears irreversible. This is yet another reminder about the extent of climate impacts to which society is already committed and that critical tipping points are now being crossed.

Enough is enough already! ECO thinks it is high time to start phasing out all fossil fuel emissions and phasing in a 100% renewable energy future with sustainable energy access for all. It is not enough to stabilise emissions or to slow down their growth.  Eventually, all emissions have to be brought to zero.  The sooner this happens the better, however the science is clear that it must be before 2050 if we want to limit warming to the lowest levels.

ECO can see no alternative but to transition to a world free from fossil fuels. Much of the known reserves will simply have to stay in the ground. This just transition must and can be achieved while ensuring that everyone has access to sustainable energy that would enable all people on the planet to achieve a decent standard of living. The agreement in Paris must acknowledge this fact and send a transformational message to investors, business leaders and decision-makers around the world.
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Everybody always talks about equity, but no one ever does anything about it. In hoping that someday Parties might, ECO would like to present this quick cheat sheet.

It’s not true that “equity is in the eye of the beholder”. Sure, there’s a lot to disagree about, but the UNFCCC really does give us somewhere to stand. Three places, actually, for when all is said and done, the Convention affirms three high-level precepts: 1) Avoid dangerous climate change, 2) Divide the effort of doing so on the basis of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”, and 3) Protect “the right to sustainable development”. If it’s consistent with these 3 principles, it’s probably fair, or at least a fair enough start.

It’s CBDR+RC, not CBDR. Those last words in the second principle – “respective capabilities” – may be challenging, but they’re not any more challenging than “historical responsibility”. And in any case, they’re not going away anytime soon. Just because some Parties wish that the responsibility issue would simply fade away, that doesn’t mean that other Parties are being helpful by trying to push capabilities off the boat. Two wrongs, as they say, don’t make a right. Not even a development right.
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