| Are you hungry? Desperately looking for a place in Bonn where you could finally have a good, healthy meal of your choosing? Just like an incomplete meal doesn’t give you all the nutrients and nourishment you need, an NDC that doesn’t cover all elements of climate action leaves you missing opportunities to effectively address climate change. Thankfully, the GST should be able to get you started on a balanced and complete approach. The next generation of NDCs are those that can keep the Paris Agreement’s objective to limit warming to 1.5 degrees alive. They can save ecosystems, jobs, livelihoods, and cultures. They can save lives, many lives. The GST process provides a large body of evidence to inform more ambitious NDCs, aligned with the best available, most recent science and human rights obligations. Countries need to transition away from fossil fuels, deliver adequate climate finance, protect people, forests, oceans and other ecosystems from climate catastrophes and enable adaptation and respond to impacts where they are felt. All these elements provide opportunities on their own, but when put together they pave the way to a planet that stays below 1.5°C. But for all of us to enjoy the successes that this path promises, the approach needs to be fair, equitable and just. And for that, countries must reckon with their historical responsibilities and support others accordingly. This is the difference between a GST that’s a tasting menu and one that offers a full meal. This weekend, IMO negotiators will convene informally in Bonn at the German Transport Ministry. ECO will be keeping an eye on these discussions, including the extent to which they involve and elevate the voices of those with most at stake in the outcome: SIDS and LDCs, who are both heavily dependent on international shipping and most vulnerable to climate impacts – including from emissions from ships. |