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Equity Reference Framework

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Equity for All

Submitted by MBrockley on June 4, 2013 - 1:06am

ECO hopes that the ADP discussions will focus on solving the equity puzzle. The world needs an effective, science-based, fair and ambitious climate agreement. Here is an attempt by ECO to demystify the climate puzzle we are facing. The fact that atmospheric CO2 concentrations recently reached the 400 ppm mark was an ominous reminder about the urgency of substantial actions to keep temperature rise well below 2 degree C, and the ultimate goal to return it to 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial levels. To resolve this challenge, developed countries must increase their pre-2020 pollution reductions and ramp up support for developing country actions through finance, technology and capacity building. Adaptation and loss and damage should also be given the necessary levels of support. These are the preconditions to rebuild the trust among Parties and for a successful outcome from Paris in 2015.

ECO believes that negotiations will never succeed unless Parties confront the equity challenge. More precisely, Parties need to deal with their differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, while protecting developing countries’ need to provide their citizens with sustainable living standards, as is available to citizens of any other country.

At the minimum, this means Parties need to develop a shared “Equity Reference Framework” that embodies the Convention’s core equity principles. ECO identified these as: a precautionary approach to adequacy, CBDRRC and the right to sustainable development. Along with the latest science, these core principles, taken from the Convention itself, including of course the call for developed countries to take the lead in climate mitigation – can be used as a benchmark when framing, setting and reviewing Parties’ pledges and financial commitments. Increasing ambition of pollution reduction should be based on a fair share approach.

To achieve this task in a time bound manner, ECO suggest that Parties need to take a systematic approach to make best use of the time and resources available. First, we need to hear Parties' focused ideas about core equity principles and respective indicators. We also need to hear Parties' ideas for a process by which relevant articulations of the core Convention principles and proposed indicators can be quickly distilled into a concise list. This list can then be used to establish the fair share commitments of Parties in what ECO calls the Equity Reference Framework. Over the next two weeks, the ADP should begin the discussions required for the 2015 agreement, in the context of standardised equity indicators and taking steps to realise this framework. ECO seeks an Equity Reference Framework that institutes a process to scale up Parties' commitments and pledges for the post-2020 agreement, by inviting Party submissions and a process that includes review of commitments by international experts.

Parties must go beyond just the principles to develop standardised indicators. The present session should be sufficient to crystallise the indicator discussion, which will lead us to the development of the framework.

At the end of the day, of course, all of this will depend on Parties taking the equity challenge seriously and stepping forward to make the difference required for a successful ADP outcome in Paris. ECO will be closely watching, and that’s really not a surprise, as we are friends of equity and the ADP

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How Much Climate Finance Will Developed Countries Provide in 2013 and Beyond?

Submitted by MBrockley on June 4, 2013 - 1:02am

Based on pledges/statements made in UNFCCC…

Finland, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK were first off the blocks in making financial pledges in Doha. This was welcome. But the adequacy and the clarity of these pledges vary significantly and need to be pinned down.

And then there’s the rest…

No developed country Party should be coming back to this process empty handed! ALL developed countries need to urgently commit to what climate finance they will provide in 2013 and beyond, in a way that is transparent, comparable and makes clear how finance is new and additional.

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ECO's (Che)easy Guide to Success in Bonn

Submitted by MBrockley on June 3, 2013 - 2:45am

The year is not even halfway through and we have already seen devastating floods in Argentina and the melting of Arctic sea ice being linked to not only Australia's harshest ever summer, where they needed new colours to define “hot” on the map, but also a frozen spring in Europe. Climate impacts like these were hitting all corners of the planet, as carbon pollution in the atmosphere pushed through the landmark of 400 parts per million - levels the world has not seen for millions of years.

And here we are in Bonn again to work out how to get those levels down, not up. With as few as five sessions left before we need to agree to a comprehensive climate plan in 2015, it is high time to roll up our sleeves, put on hold short term interests and work together to refocus the planet away from burning destructive fossil fuels and onto a path to a safe future.

Delegates – you are going to have to earn your Maritim cheese sandwiches! As much remains to be done before COP19 in Warsaw. You need to continue the good work started last month by mapping out the structural and technical elements of the 2015 climate plan to be captured in a draft decision at Warsaw, whilst committing to concrete steps to increase ambition before 2020.

Equity

At the Bonn meeting in April, equity took centre stage. Parties seem to recognize at last that there won't be any ambitious 2015 deal without equity (and no equity without an ambitious 2015 deal). ECO is pleased that the ADP co-chairs, in the informal note on the last Bonn session that contained their reflections of the perceived common ground on Workstream 1, have confirmed the “the principles of the Convention will apply and need no reinterpretation in the 2015 agreement.” This is, for ECO, of course a very important common ground that ADP 2 needs to build on.

It should not be forgotten in the myriad of issues that the Parties need to push in this session to agree to an international mechanism to deal with communities and cultures that will suffer from irretrievable loss as a result of climate change.

Short Term Ambition

Current mitigation commitments have us on a catastrophic 4 degree pathway. Clearly, raising ambition before 2020 must be a priority. And International Cooperative Initiatives are no replacement for increased mitigation and finance pledges. And 2014 is the year for your increased ambition to shine – the KP Ministerial Roundtable next year should be an opportunity for all developed Parties – not just KP Parties – to increase their current, embarrassingly low levels of ambition. And Ban Ki-moon’s Summit likewise offers a good opportunity for developed countries to increase commitments, and developing countries to increase pledges. Of course this will require facilitation by additional means of implementation for developing countries, which is meagre at this time.

The first volume of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report in September will provide the perfect backdrop for such an increase in ambition, as well, of course, for quality input into the First Periodical Review.

The AOSIS proposal on energy efficiency and renewable energy deserves significant attention at this Bonn session. It calls for technical level workshops on implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency-based mitigation options here in Bonn, followed by a submission process and a ministerial meeting at Warsaw, offering plenty of opportunity for countries to consider how clean technology can drive an increase in their pledges. There are, indeed, no shortage of ideas on how countries could increase their ambition. (The UNFCCC technical paper on short term ambition reductions offers a whole range of ideas on how short term pollution reductions could be achieved.) All in all, the conditions look promising for 2014 to be the year of short term ambition increase for all.

Market mechanisms

Carbon markets will be an important topic: Both the CDM and JI are scheduled to undergo reform. The CDM needs to phase out project types that are clearly not additional (large power, for example) and ban project types that are clearly harmful, such as coal power. Human rights need to be respected by all projects. JI, the troubled brother of the CDM, needs much stricter rules, period. The over 95% of JI credits that have been issued under track 1 lack transparency and integrity, to put it politely.

Why we would want to increase the supply of market units by creating new mechanisms is still a bit curious, given that current prices for CDM and JI credits are at 20 Euro cent. Nevertheless, Parties will discuss new market mechanisms (NMM) and a FVA (Framework for Various Approaches). Ensuring quality through clear and conservative rules, international oversight and comprehensive tracking and accounting rules are key.

Never will so many delegates pay so much for Maritim cheese sandwiches. And we don’t mean in Euros (though we all pay quite a bit for them as it is) – we are talking about the sweat on your iPads. ECO expects you to draft decision text for the Warsaw Finance Ministerial, outlining a pathway, including mid term targets, to get to the US$100 billion by 2020. And delegates, the time has come, as the walrus said, to speak of many things. Including where, how and when finance fits under Workstream 1. In order to ensure that sufficient means of implementation are assured to support the level of mitigation and adaptation ambition necessary for the 2015 agreement, these discussions must begin soon.

Much more is needed, of course; expect a few more recipes for success over the next 2 weeks. But for now, all this typing is making ECO hungry...

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Flexible Mechanisms

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CAN can Cook

Submitted by MBrockley on June 3, 2013 - 1:49am

FAB 2015 Protocol
(serves billions)

Take a carbon budget compatible with staying below 2°C warming (1.5°C if you want to serve all);
Make sure that the lid covers 100% of global emissions;
To raise, add a framework for equitable burden sharing;
Add two generous cups of money, one for adaptation, one for mitigation;
Bouquet of Means of Implementation (MOI);
Handful of common accounting and transparency;

Pour over 194 government representatives, let boil for two weeks in a conference centre in Paris. DO NOT OPEN DOORS UNTIL A FAIR, AMBITIOUS AGREEMENT IS REACHED. Check for loopholes and legal bindedness. Serve immediately with vigorous enforcement.

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Adaptation

Mitigation

MBrockley's blog

Time For a Timetable

Submitted by rvoorhaar on May 3, 2013 - 12:31am

The scope, structure, and design of the 2015 agreement must keep the global temperature increase below 1.5ºC. It must contain national, legally binding targets and actions on mitigation, adaptation and finance to achieve this goal within an overall framework of ambition, accountability and equity.

There has been a lot of discussion here in Bonn on the process and timetable for developing such an agreement by COP21 in 2015. ECO suggests the following:  

First, countries should agree at COP19 that mitigation action and finance will be evaluated in light of both the collective level of ambition needed to achieve the temperature limitation goal, and on the basis of a set of equity principles that helps assure the overall fairness of country efforts in relation to each other.

The Science Review starting at the next Bonn session will help guide the first part of this evaluation. At COP 19 in Warsaw, Parties need to launch a parallel process to develop an equity reference framework. See the box on page 2 for the details. The key is that equity must become an enabler of increased trust and ambition. It is also critical that, when Parties pledge their targets, they should be aware that their pledges will be reviewed both against the science as well as equity criteria.

Ban Ki-moon’s Leaders Summit offers a timely opportunity for countries’ mitigation and finance action to be placed on the table in accordance with the requirements of ambition and equity. Submitting actions at this point will allow adequate time for a full review and subsequent submission of revised proposals before COP21 in Paris. Such a full review should evaluate the collective adequacy of these proposals in satisfying the agreed global temperature goal. Each individual proposal should also be evaluated in terms of its adequacy with regard to ambition and equity.

Turning to the other ADP Workstream, ECO fears that short-term ambition is in danger of becoming the poor cousin of the 2015 agreement – when in fact it is an essential precursor. Sufficient political will to reach a 2015 agreement cannot be built without clear evidence that countries have made progress on the short-term ambition front. If it’s apparent that developed countries are not meeting their obligations to increase their ambition, then there won’t be appetite amongst their developing country partners for a 2015 agreement with an updated interpretation of equity.

So what needs to happen in Workstream two? First and foremost, developed countries must increase their current, weak targets. Despite a constant flow of new evidence of increasing climate change impacts on vulnerable countries and people, not a single developed country has shown any intention to actually increase its target. The KP review process in 2014 is the opportunity to change that, as long as a parallel process for non-KP developed Parties is established, and ministers bring ample quantities of political will with them to the negotiating table.

Some developing countries can increase their ambition too. The wealthy countries of the Persian Gulf, and other advanced developing countries that currently have no pledges, should be prepared to announce them in Warsaw.

We also suggest that Parties engage in discussion about how to create an upward spiral of increasing ambition in developing countries, facilitated by increasing means of implementation. Parties could explore practical ideas about how this could work, e.g. through a dedicated workshop and submissions by Parties. Perhaps the registry could play a role in this process.

Finally, ECO welcomes the proposal tabled yesterday by AOSIS calling for an accelerated ADP process to provide incentives for, and address barriers and disincentives to, more rapid deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technology. This should culminate in a ministerial roundtable and COP decision in Warsaw.

So there you have it – a road map to success in both Workstreams, at no charge from your friends at ECO. But let’s be clear about what’s really needed. The main barrier to adequately addressing the climate crisis isn’t lack of knowledge about the problem, nor is it the lack of cost-effective solutions. It’s the lack of political will to confront the special interests that have worked long and hard to block the path to a sustainable, low-carbon future. In this regard, the sustained engagement of national leaders in providing strong political guidance is critical to achieving a successful outcome in Paris. And as we all learned in Copenhagen, this engagement cannot wait until the final moments of these negotiations.

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From Bonn to Berlin: Ministers At the Petersberg Dialogue Take Over

Submitted by rvoorhaar on May 3, 2013 - 12:29am

When the climate policy train leaves the ADP2 station in Bonn today, it moves on to Berlin at the Petersberg Dialogue. Germany and the next COP host, Poland, will serve as the conductors for this next stop. Three dozen ministers from around the world have been invited to this informal exchange of views to complement the UNFCCC process. ECO is happy to hear that ministers are finally getting together to work on the next steps after Doha. We encourage ministers to put more details to key challenges identified in the past week here in Bonn.

ECO identifies the following tasks for ministers to work on during the Petersberg Dialogue:

1. Make further progress on developing a shared understanding of how to assess individual countries’ contributions to an equitable sharing of the global mitigation effort. This should include discussions on the provision of climate finance to developing countries. A 2015 deal cannot be agreed unless the concerns around equity are resolved.

2. If you are truly serious about the 2°C commitment, you’ll need to re-double your efforts to increase ambition before 2020. Ministers at the Petersberg Dialogue should explicitly recognize that developed countries must increase their woefully inadequate mitigation pledges during 2014. Opportunities such as the KP review cannot be missed.

3. Ministers should engage in discussions on how developed and developing countries can create an upward spiral of increasing climate finance and increasing ambition in developing countries.

4. Ministers should engage in discussions on complementary measures. Warsaw could make significant progress in closing the gigatonne gap by seeing various types of complementary measures launched – such as phasing out HFCs under the Montreal Protocol or a dedicated agenda item within Workstream 2 to develop options to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.

5. Ministers should identify milestones to achieve major progress on climate finance at Warsaw. Demonstrable progress on climate finance will be an essential pre-condition for the 2015 outcome. Developed country ministers need to ensure that they can present a track record of year-by-year climate finance increases in 2015. This would lend much needed credibility to further plans for scaling up finance towards the 2020 commitment. Ministers also need to ensure that public climate finance is allocated equitably between adaptation and mitigation.

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ECO has learned that German chancellor Angela Merkel will open the Petersberg Dialogue. Attending Ministers may wish to use this opportunity to ask her about Germany’s psychological state. ECO finds it difficult to understand how Germany can claim the limelight through the proclaimed Energiewende (energy transformation) to renewable energies while at the same time failing to support recent attempts to reform the EU Emission Trading System. Does the German government realise that it is starting to look schizophrenic? Strengthening the ETS is crucial for the Energiewende and more.

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The Equity Review

Submitted by rvoorhaar on May 3, 2013 - 12:24am

Today, it is widely understood that without a Science Review there would be no real possibility of achieving the ambition required by science. An Equity Review is imminently needed to muster sufficient political will for that needed ambition.

Such a review must be based upon the equity principles that are embodied in the Convention, most notably the principles of ambition, responsibility, capacity and developmental need.

The challenge now is to develop a set of indicators that properly express these principles, and to build them into an Equity Reference Framework. Such a Framework could help Parties to negotiate a set of pledges that are robust and fair enough to yield the breakthrough that we need in Paris.

This is not about a “formula”. Rather, an Equity Reference Framework would be a tool that the Parties – perhaps with a bit of assistance from their friends in civil society – can use to review and improve each other’s proposals in the later part of the political negotiations.

Procedurally, the key is that, when developing their pledges at the national level, Parties would be fully aware of the fact that these pledges will be evaluated against the science as well as the Convention’s equity principles.

Of course, after this evaluation, Parties will want to scale up their pledges, until they finally have a set that fairly distributes the effort of holding warming to a manageable 1.5°C.

Thus, we are calling for a process that allows a COP decision to launch the Equity Review at Warsaw. This decision should include the following:

Parties and Observers should be called upon to make submissions to the ADP co-chairs with their views on relevant equity principles and indicators. These submissions should be made by May 27, 2013.

The co-chairs should organize a Roundtable on equity principles and the Equity Review during the June Bonn session.

A decision text should be drafted during the autumn session.

A decision to launch the Equity Review should be made at COP19 in Warsaw.

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Climate Finance In No Man’s Land

Submitted by rvoorhaar on May 3, 2013 - 12:20am

The importance of finance to both raising pre-2020 mitigation ambition and getting a successful deal in 2015 cannot be overstated. Right now, climate finance appears to be in no man's land.

This year should mark the start of a new finance period, given that the Fast Start Finance period ended last year. Instead, we are almost halfway through the year and we’ve seen no new finance commitments beyond the small handful of pledges made in Doha.

This is unacceptable, and ECO thinks that no developed country should be coming back to this process empty handed. Developing countries are facing escalating climate impacts and associated costs. The livelihoods, food security and survival of millions of people are at stake because of a climate crisis they did not create. There can be no justification for holding back on promised finance.

Today's briefing on the Long Term Finance Work Programme provides delegates with an opportunity to focus on how the process can secure concrete outcomes by COP19. Linking the Work Programme to the COP Ministerial on finance (which crucially must involve finance ministers) is key.

By COP19, we need all developed countries to set out what public climate finance they will provide over the period of 2013-2015 as part of a roadmap for scaling up public finance towards the promised US$100bn per year by 2020. The Green Climate Fund cannot remain an empty shell for a fourth COP in a row. As they start to fill the fund, Parties also need to agree that public climate finance delivered between now and 2020 will be equitably divided between mitigation and adaptation.

Developed country claims that they do not have public money to commit ring hollow. Trillions of dollars have been made rapidly available to pay for wars and bank bailouts. And there are plenty of feasible innovative public sources of climate finance, including financial transaction taxes, switching of fossil fuel subsidies, the closing of corporate tax loopholes, bunker fuel levies and more. The current fixation on leveraging private finance must be redirected towards implementing these public sources.

ECO wants to stress that scaling-up pre-2020 public finance cannot be postponed until COP21. A new, comprehensive climate agreement is very unlikely to emerge if developing countries do not see existing promises being met. Progress between now and 2015 is critical to ambition, and will determine whether climate finance will make or break a deal at COP21.

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