ECO Newsletter

ECO has already heard that implementation of climate commitments made is key to tackle the climate crisis, and builds trust among Parties. One element of implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is advancing the legislation that underpins them. 
In the EU the negotiations on key climate files of the Fit For 55 package, launched by the European Commission in July 2021, are approaching a critical moment. Decision-making in the EU can be a bit complicated, and usually the outcome depends on negotiations between the European Parliament and the European Council formed by the 27 Member States’ governments, with the European Parliament in most cases pushing for higher climate ambition.

On 8 June (tbc), the European Parliament plenary will vote on the reports for the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), including the proposal for a new Emissions Trading System for road transport and buildings (ETS2), the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) and the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation.
We are still amidst a climate and environmental emergency. Hence, the current course of the EU to further increase its climate ambition is vitally important to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement in reach and protect people from climate disaster.
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ECO is happy to share this part of our publication with the Indigenous Peoples Caucus(IPO) to help amplify their voice. This article reflects the views of the IPO.The International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change is back in Bonn for in-person climate action call! We all witnessed the regression of climate actions during the Covid pandemic and the increase of inequality in and exclusion from decision making on climate change. Our priority is still an urgent call for sufficient reduction of GHG emissions in order to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. 
Climate action taken by States must not violate our collective rights. All climate actions must fully comply with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly, our rights to Self-Determination and Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
Our Indigenous knowledge, our rights, and our governance are recognized by the IPCC as crucial to address climate change. They recognize that colonialism continues to do us harm. Colonialism appears in the Paris Agreement itself, with its constant reference to “best available science” rather than “best available knowledge.” Indigenous knowledge must play its rightful role in addressing the climate crisis. Our contributions to climate action far exceed the emissions directly attributed to our communities.
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Yesterday morning, ECO started the day full of hope and energy, eager to join the class reunion. On its way to the World Conference Center in Bonn (WCCB), ECO enjoyed the bright sunshine and happily greeted old and new UNFCCC friends, while patiently waiting for its SB56 badge. After all, this was a special moment: the last in-person intersessional was 3 years ago!

The first day of the intersessional meetings started on a positive note as at the beginning of the SBSTA opening plenary, parties agreed to adopt a supplementary agenda item on the “Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation” (GlaSS).

However, the honeymoon feeling did not last very long. Immediately after, ECO sadly witnessed the 1-hour+ debate on whether there should be “two” or “at least two” meetings on the GlaSS at SB56. Now, who likes to discuss such logistics on their honeymoon?

 A vast majority of Parties took the floor to express the need to not restrict the time and number of sessions dedicated to discussions on adaptation, which clearly is a very high priority given the acceleration of climate impacts. The Africa Group called on Parties to scale up adaptation action and regretted having to request the addition of an agenda item on this while it was mandated in COP26 decisions.
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At the start of this year’s SBs, ECO would like to remind you of an important fact: while inside the conference center, arrangements for the funding to avert, minimize and address Loss and Damage (L&D) will be discussed from tomorrow on at the Glasgow Dialogue, outside people are already paying for L&D! It’s the most vulnerable people being least responsible for the causes of climate change. According to a study by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), rural Bangladesh households are spending almost US$ 2 billion a year to repair the damage caused by climate change and on preventative measures. This is twice the amount the government of Bangladesh spends, and 12 times more than international donors. This is the opposite of what we call climate justice!

ECO has noted that some countries in the Global North have recognized the problem. The communiqué by G7 ministers recently recognized  “the urgent need for scaling-up action and support, as appropriate, including finance, technology and capacity-building, for the implementation of relevant approaches to averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage in developing countries”. This is a good first step, but mere recognition does not help people rebuilding destroyed homes or dealing with non-economic damages such as loss of biodiversity, culture or language.
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Yesterday, IPCC lead authors gave a presentation to Parties on the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) , focusing on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. The scientists delivered a grim message: human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption affecting the lives of billions of people, with people and ecosystems least able to cope being hit the hardest.  They gave a dire warning about the consequences of inaction with the world facing unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next decades – even if we are able to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. And they also made clear that even temporarily exceeding this magnitude of warming will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible.

Tomorrow IPCC lead authors of the Working Group III report will tell Parties that it is still possible to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C and inform them about the pathways available to do this. Lest they spent the last 20 years living under a rock, Parties will not be surprised to hear these pathways require major transitions in all economic sectors, substantial reductions in the use of energy and natural resources, and the rapid phase-out of all fossil fuels.
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Today is the day to demand results from the most critical compromise of COP26: after G77+China demanded a Loss and Damage finance facility, they were fobbed off with the Glasgow Dialogue. Now ECO came across this great recipe for preparing a successful Glasgow Dialogue that can at least live up to its potential. A filling main dish that really supports those most impacted by the climate crisis,to prevent the bitter aftertaste of a talk-shop without results.

To avoid a bland taste and disappointing expectations, you need the following ingredients:
A good portion of: concrete outcomes that provide adequate, new and additional support for the most vulnerable people and countries in addressing L&D.
Avoid: duplication of previous dialogues – but focus on existing gaps and ways to increase finance including to address L&D and respective channels to provide it.
Add liberally: clear modalities of a L&D finance facility:
Its institutional arrangements, sources of predictable, sustainable, adequate and additional L&D finance
Equitable and direct access for vulnerable developing countries based on needs and priorities.
At COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheik countries must set-up a L&D finance facility. Subsequently, the Glasgow Dialogue should flesh out the operationalization of such a facility, including how L&D finance is delivered and how it can be made accessible for the most vulnerable.
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Article 6.8 fans, today is your day! And for those who aren’t fans yet, here are some reasons you should be and ideas to bring forward in today’s workshop:

Article 6.8 has often been left behind in the negotiations with Parties focusing on the market mechanisms contained in other parts of Article 6. But 6.8 has the potential to bring ambitious action immediately. In advance of the 6.8 workshop, ECO wants to share and support the idea of a matching facility.

Article 6.8 offers exciting opportunities for real ambitious action through a holistic, integrated approach focusing on joint mitigation and adaptation, resilience and rights. This is particularly true in the land sector, where there is critical potential for climate action, as well as major risks for land and food rights, if not done right. The 6.8 mechanism is a strong avenue for ambitious action on land and in the oceans.

A web-based registry along with a “matching facility” that connects possible contributions – from governments, private sector, philanthropies or elsewhere – with opportunities to increase ambition and action, including within NDCs, would be an exciting and empowering outcome from COP27. Concretely, some Parties could list their needs as part of their NDC, and other Parties would list their support capacities.
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Delegates, it has been three years since we met in Bonn! ECO knows you have been looking forward to a beautiful, picturesque walk by the Rhein and some beer garden visits at what might feel a little like a class reunion.

Yet, ECO is worried: If we want to keep 1.5°C within reach, the world has just about as much time as since your last gathering in Bonn – 3 years! – to return global emissions to below 2020 levels. At the same time, millions of people around the world are already suffering from the impacts of the climate crisis at 1.1°C of global warming. This happens even as all countries promised to strengthen their 2030 targets and agreed to phase-down unabated coal and phase-out fossil fuel subsidies. Yet they keep expanding their dependence on fossil fuels, further worsening climate impacts.

Six months after Glasgow COP26, hardly any country is coming forward with increased targets or new climate finance commitments. COP27 is meant to be the implementation COP. For ECO, this means that ministers MUST fulfill their promises and, frankly, to stop lying. ECO looked for a more diplomatic word but if leaders tell a story of action at COPs and a story of excuses at home we could not come up with one.
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