Category: Previous Issues Articles

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.

ECO has always been a faithful attendee of the long-term finance workshops, and has sympathy for the working group set-up. This approach offers much more room for creativity and constructive exchange as, in theory, people do not need to hide behind their country’s flags. Of course, there isn’t exactly a lack of talkshops in this world, so ECO knows that the value of it heavily depends on how it will ultimately feed back into actual negotiations and sound agreements to advance the climate finance agenda. The good news is, each of the scheduled working groups offers potential to do just that. Let’s have a little look, shall we?

For instance, the first group will tackle the question of interlinkages between provided and mobilised finance and the temperature goals. It’s not rocket science to understand that the more we want to limit planetary overheating, the more we need to shift investment flows away from fossil fuels toward renewables, and the more much-needed assistance has to flow from developed countries to developing countries for enhanced climate action. And, ECO’s here to remind you that the less the world achieves this, the more financial assistance will be required to enable vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change and recover from losses and damages.
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The Warsaw International Mechanism on loss and damage (WIM) is approaching its sixth birthday and Parties are busily negotiating the Terms of Reference (ToR) for its review. ECO has listened and clearly supports the views of those vulnerable developing countries that the WIM was set up for; who ask that their needs in addressing loss and damage should be a key guiding aspect of the review. And, to be honest, understanding this request is pretty straightforward and simple. ECO was happy hearing that some Parties suggested this should include consideration of particularly vulnerable populations and ecosystems, as well as better integrating gender concerns, beyond country needs, as has already been in the work plan of the WIM. ECO is annoyed about those developed countries who are resisting referencing developing countries’ needs in the ToRs.

When negotiators hone in on finalising the ToRs, it is essential that they do so with the perspective to provide the COP with the information necessary to take immediate action to strengthen the WIM, in particular in relation to finance to allow vulnerable countries to deal with the losses they face. That is why substantive discussions on the way forward for finance, for an improved architecture and new sources of finance, need to happen between Bonn and COP25.
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Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) forms a crucial pillar for successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and is the focus of Article 12. It includes six elements: education, training, public awareness, public access to information, public participation, and international cooperation.

Today is the second ACE day of SB50, so what needs to be done? We need to start moving from evaluation of the eight-year-long Doha Work Programme (DWP) to look towards a new ambitious framework for ACE. Here are some thoughts from ECO:

1) Talk loudly and proudly about ACE and invite others to join the debate, making sure that the voices of those groups explicitly mentioned in the DWP are included. ACE matters!
2) After the review of the DWP, ACE needs to empower learners and take into account the new UNESCO ESD2030, currently a draft, which emphasises “ESD has to affect the unsustainable production patterns of current economic structures more directly”.  ACE empowers learners for transformation and active global citizenship. ACE matters!
3) ACE efforts need to be valued. All countries are encouraged to incorporate their ACE activities in their upcoming NDCs, reflecting all six elements in a balanced manner. ACE matters for NDCs!
4) Public participation is a human right.
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Today, ECO is redoubling its efforts, and sharing not one, but two pieces about Article 6! You guessed it, this one is about double counting…
There is no time to double-back on this. Parties, remember when you signed the Paris Agreement? That’s when you agreed to avoid double-counting.

Corresponding adjustments must be applied to all credits transferred, both from inside and outside of NDCs, and regardless of whether they are used towards an NDC or any other climate commitment.  ECO is frightened by the prospect of CORSIA, the international aviation’s carbon market, going ahead in 2021 without proper accounting rules having been agreed on by the UNFCCC. Additionally, transparency must be ensured, and the thought of having to track credits around the world is making ECO dizzy. Avoiding double counting will take a combination of proper accounting rules and sufficient transparency to ensure those rules work. Simply reporting transfers without actually adjusting the relevant emissions account (based on the Party’s inventory) is not enough to ensure environmental integrity or proper accounting.  

Preventing double-counting is one aspect of ensuring the environmental integrity of carbon markets. Robust rules must be applied to all aspects of 6.2, 6.4, and all other potential or future mechanisms where mitigation outcomes are transferred between countries or used for other international purposes (e.g.
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It’s exciting 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 lessons learned and experiences with other Parties in a constructive environment. We look forward to hearing your presentations and listening to the Q&A sessions throughout the day. 

Since ECO can’t ask questions during these workshops, we thought we would share our questions with you, so here they are:

To all Parties:
Can you provide an update regarding any action taken to strengthen your policy-making process – in particular in relation to 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?
Australia:
Australia’s Minister for Emissions Reductions states that the country’s growing fossil fuel LNG exports is a “substantial global contribution to be proud of,” as it led to avoided emissions of 148 MT. Can Australia say how it came up with this number for avoided emissions? Is Australia keen to change the accounting framework to take ownership for Scope 3 emissions? 
Denmark:
There is a risk that emissions from biomass combustion are not accounted for when importing from countries where forests and deforestation is not counted in their NDCs.
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