The Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) is still up in the UNFCCC-universe orbiting planet Earth. This raises the question: When will the MWP manage to touch ground and deliver on its mandate to urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation in this critical decade in a manner that complements the Global Stocktake? This was explicit in the decision that created the programme back in 2021 and parties still don’t seem to get it.
Urban residents have increasingly been shaken up by extreme weather in recent years. So, it was timely to have the MWP Global Dialogue last week on the topic of Cities: ‘Buildings and Urban Systems’. After all, this is a topic in which many sectors come together and many actors can pool their energies. However, the key stakeholders – subnational actors such as city governments – were hardly present.
Well, as we have been saying all along, the MWP should have some form of regional dialogues to increase its relevance for participating actors. ECO believes that regional dialogues, which rope in subnational representatives and other relevant stakeholders in urban areas, could strengthen the next dialogue, leading to effective partnerships for decarbonizing urban systems.
ECO wants to remind parties that the MWP is not only about the Dialogue and the related reports. The Joint Contact Group should focus on its mandate, especially on complementing the GST. With the first GST completed just last year, this is the time to consider the GST outcome and how the MWP can contribute to its implementation. As a highly relevant example, the MWP could organize Dialogues for parties to share how they plan to transition away from fossil fuels.
Rather than drifting around in space, ECO believes that the MWP Dialogues could be a good venue on the ground for developed countries to present and discuss how they will lead in the global transition, and for developing countries to get support for their leadership role. Some parties have already been trying to re-establish contact with the MWP. ECO is eagerly waiting for the MWP to unfold its potential and return to planet Earth.