Farewell, farewell…
ECO assisted the last events on the Global Stocktake on Tuesday with the plenary session and the Joint Contact Group meeting, where sadly observers could not take the floor during the second one.
The World Café was probably the highlight of this first technical dialogue. Even if the place was noisy and a bit crowded, we had useful conversations across several themes and also between parties, observers and non-state actors. ECO recommends prioritising this format for Sharm el-Sheikh, which means smaller groups, on more specific topics, and more importantly, with the same diversity of views and actors. The participation of observers and non-state actors beyond the UNFCCC constituencies is critical for the success of the Global Stocktake. Without this, it cannot be meaningful.
However, some key issues for the transition were missing from the conversations, especially for the roundtables. ECO welcomes the fact that losses and damages were discussed at the adaptation and means of implementation roundtables: we are in an emergency crisis and we must respond to the needs of the most vulnerable. The GST should most definitely be a key support to increase loss and damage assessment in terms of impact, good practices, and dedicated finance. However, fossil fuel issues did not receive sufficient focus. Let’s not be shy about this: we will not achieve 1.5ºC without phasing out of fossil fuels before 2050. We need dedicated discussions on this transition, that needs to be just, in Sharm el-Sheikh. Additionally, human, gender and Indigenous rights, and roles and knowledge were absent from the debate.
ECO highlights the need for the presence of frontline communities, of women in all their diversity, and Indigenous leaders at each panel of the next roundtables to ensure their views are considered. This is surely relevant for another priority topic: the role of land and coastal ecosystems in mitigation and adaptation (see Box). However, the large gaps that must be addressed to enable implementation of ecosystem-based approaches were notably absent from the discussions on finance and capacity building.
To finish, ECO wishes to elaborate on our expectations for the joint contact group this year. We see considerable value in a decision text at COP27 that goes further than mere platitudes. Let us not waste the work we have done here in Bonn. A COP27 decision outcome could serve to build greater momentum for a high ambition outcome of the GST through 2023 and COP28, sending important signals that can elevate the Global Stocktake and build a bridge from the technical work done here in Bonn to the ultimate political outcomes taken in the UAE.
ECOSYSTEMS
Land and the role of ecosystems was a key topic in the GST discussions on mitigation and adaptation in Bonn. Protecting and restoring ecosystem integrity, and sustainably managing production systems on land and in marine areas, are critical to reaching 1.5ºC and our adaptation goals to protect the most vulnerable and to enhance biodiversity protection – and assessing how this contributes to the Paris goals is critical for the GST. However, ECO would like to remind Parties that climate action to protect nature must be alongside, not instead of the urgently needed just transition away from fossil fuels and industrial agriculture.
As a YOUNGO delegate highlighted, exotic forest plantations, biofuels and BECCS can harm biodiversity, are unproven climate solutions, and often fail to protect human rights and development needs. The GST has heard from expert scientists on the technical accounting challenges (and ECO has shared solutions on this too) but where are the voices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities? We urgently need to include their knowledge and experiences in GST discussions to ensure that action in the land sector and in the ocean delivers ambition on all parts of the Paris Agreement.