Today we started to see some baby steps on this very important track of the Mitigation Work Programme. Once again ECO wants to remind you all that once the GST process is done, the MWP will be the only track dedicated to discussions on mitigation. That’s why we need it so badly.
One sentence that ECO always, yes always, keeps hearing is that MWP discussions need to “avoid duplication” with the GST. Since ECO follows both the GST process and the MWP processes, we see the synergies between the two tracks very clearly: the MWP is about creating the enabling conditions and discussing solutions and barriers to implement the guidance that will come from the GST. The GST is like the dome in the middle of the COP venue: our orientation point for the way forward.
Unfortunately we are faced with a chicken-and-egg dilemma when discussing the MWP text. And discussions have been as confusing as getting around the venue during the World Leaders Summit. For some negotiators, the solution is to get a mandate from the GST on the next steps for the MWP. For others, this is too prescriptive . They also feel that discussing text is premature. ECO wants to remind negotiators that the objective of this agenda item is to urgently scale up mitigation ambition. To achieve this, ECO asks Parties to urgently move forward.
In any case, we need to decide how to make the best use of the reports from the Global Dialogues and what kind of outcome we want out of this process. We love to get together to talk, but just talking and producing reports won’t help us mitigate the emissions that are causing the devastating impacts being felt worldwide (and ECO sure knows people have tried). So, as a bare minimum, a MWP decision must reflect key findings, barriers and actionable solutions discussed in the Global Dialogues on “accelerating just energy transition.”
Lastly, ECO wants to thank Colombia for highlighting the importance of organising room logistics in a manner that allows delegates and observers to enter the room where those (non)-discussions are taking place. It’s true, we are sometimes puzzled by what we hear. But we’d rather be puzzled than being left out.