Harjeet Singh delivers the SBSTA Opening intervention for CAN
Submitted by MBrockley on
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Tag: SBSTA
CAN Intervention - SBSTA Opening Plenary - May 14, 2012
Submitted by MBrockley on
Mr. Chair, Distinguished Delegates,
I speak on behalf of Climate Action Network, a global civil society network of over 700 NGOs. There are two issues I want to speak about and the first is very short, as CAN has pointed out in the past, the status of fossil fuel subsidies should be reported as part of a country’s national communication in order to provide improved transparency on this issue.
Second CAN appreciates SBSTA's efforts to discuss agriculture. Clearly food production in many countries is threatened. Every human being depends on agriculture for his/her very sustenance; most of the rural poor in developing countries depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Climate change puts all this at risk.
Agricultural sustainability and enhanced food security, now and in the future, are of critical importance while agricultural activities contribute a significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing these emissions will be critical if we are to achieve the UNFCCC goal of limiting the average global temperature to 1.5 or even 2°C.
Under the Convention, Parties have agreed to prevent dangerous climate change: so as to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
We recommend that developed countries must progress toward full and comprehensive accounting of the emissions associated with agricultural activities, including bioenergy production and use. For developing country agriculture the priority should be adaptation rather than mitigation. Parties must provide resources for transforming current unsustainable agricultural methods by promoting the development, demonstration, testing and implementation of biodiverse and resilient agriculture together with appropriate technology development and transfer.
Climate-related policies must include safeguards which protect and promote biodiversity, equitable access to resources, food security, the right to food and the rights of indigenous peoples and local populations, while promoting poverty reduction and climate adaptation.
Such policies should take into account recommendations from relevant international institutions.
If we fail in our efforts to progressively enable farmers to deal with climate change impacts we will see the complete destruction of rural livelihoods and food security in developing countries.
Thank you.
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UNFCCC Presents - Bonn Climate Change Conference - May 2012
Submitted by Secretariat on
http://unfccc.int/meetings/bonn_may_2012/meeting/6599.php
The 36th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), the fifteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), the seventeenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) will take place concurrently from 14 to 25 May. All sessions will be held at the Maritim Hotel in Bonn.
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CAN Submission - how to address drivers of deforestation and forest degradation - Feb 2012
Submitted by MBrockley on
CAN-International welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the work of SBSTA by giving our views on the issues identified by SBSTA at its thirty-fifth session, recorded in document FCCC/SBSTA/2011/L.25, paragraph 5.
Summary
For REDD+ to succeed, it must reduce, and ultimately reverse, the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation. REDD+ policies must address national- and local-scale drivers within REDD+ countries, but they will not significantly reduce deforestation and forest degradation unless they also minimize internationally- driven, demand-side pressures on the world’s forests. Forest loss is caused by many factors but, according to the latest analyses, international demand for commodities such as agricultural commodities, biofuels, wood products and minerals is the dominant driver of emissions in many countries. Countries responsible for this international demand need to take steps to reduce those pressures in conjunction with efforts by forested countries to reduce domestic drivers of deforestation and degradation.
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ECO 4, SB 24, English Version
Submitted by Secretariat on
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CAN International Briefing Paper, Reducing Deforestation Emissions, May 2006
Submitted by Secretariat on
CAN strongly welcomes the initiative to discuss reducing emissions from deforestation as proposed by Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Costa Rica and discussed at CoP-11 in Montreal. Tropical deforestation is responsible for 20 to 25 per cent of present carbon dioxide emissions and has huge negative impacts on biodiversity, local communities and indigenous peoples, sustainable long-term economic growth, air quality and other environmental and socio-economic goods and services.
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MRV and the Virtues of Clarity
Submitted by Anonymous on
As we look closely at the current state of the negotiations, the LCA text released over the weekend falls short of the advances we need on both clarification and accounting. Without more progress this week the environmental integrity of the regime will decay if not disappear altogether.
Amidst all the talk of lack of ambition, one would think that the far from sufficient pledges in hand today would at least be solid. But we don’t clearly know what is in the pledges and the foundation on which they supposedly stand – a solid accounting framework – is also at risk.
Here’s why we care about clarification of pledges. Recent workshops showed that countries have not been very forthcoming about their pledges, including underlying methodologies and assumptions. This is a serious problem for tracking progress towards both domestic goals and global temperature targets – and that’s at the heart of the matters before us, right?
We are looking at real challenges to understanding aggregate reductions, a key input into the 2013-2015 review.
And that’s not all. Without more transparency, it will also be difficult to avoid double counting of emissions reductions. So let’s review piece by piece where the text falls short.
Regarding Annex I targets, the text calls for workshops, a technical paper, and a template to be filled out by Parties (Chapter IIA, Para 9).
This is a good start, but the template should also request Parties to be forthcoming about market-based mechanisms accounting methodologies, procedures to avoid double counting, the use of uncovered sectors or gases acting as domestic offsets (if applicable) and related methodologies. And the template should be included in the Durban decision..
On non-Annex I actions, the text invites Parties to submit information on their actions (Chapter IIB, Para 23).
However, an invitation alone will not necessarily result in the information necessary for tracking performance. The COP should also create a mandate for non-Annex I Parties to provide information through the completion of templates or questionnaires, with capacity support as needed. These should be specific to various pledge types, given the diversity of actions.
Lastly, SBSTA should establish a process on how these details should be reported in biennial reports, and define adjustment procedures so Parties don’t just change assumptions and methodologies willy nilly with no real justification.
Now here’s why we care about accounting. Accounting for emission reductions is at the heart of environmental integrity of the climate regime. If done in a transparent, consistent, comparable, complete, and accurate manner, accounting ensures comparability, the ability to add up and assess global emissions reductions, and quality in the carbon market.
And here’s where the text falls short. On Annex I, while the text acknowledges the need for a common system for measuring progress (Chapter IIA, Para 14), the text does not refer to the word “accounting”, leaving the text fuzzy and vulnerable to co-opting.
The text further calls for a work programme to establish such a system but fails to mention “common” and “accounting”.
And a work programme is not necessary for Annex I targets, considering the experience we have gained through the Kyoto Protocol. There is no date by which the work programme is completed, so clearly these elements are just tactics for delay.
So to recap, If we are to preserve any environmental integrity of this regime, provisions for clarification of pledges and proper accounting needs to be strengthened this week.
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MAMA KONATE
Submitted by Anonymous on
Dear friends and colleagues,
During this African COP we honor the life and share great sadness in the passing of Mama Konate. He served as Director-General of the Mali Meteorological Service, permanent representative of Mali with WMO, former Chair of the LDC Group and the Expert Group on Technology Transfer, Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and UNFCCC Focal point for Mali.
He was widely known for his constructive and engaging approach to the problems of his country and our world.
There is a saying in South Africa, when an activist has passed, that we must pick up the spear that has fallen.
Mama’s spear was the most powerful of all weapons - his voice, his wisdom and his great humanity. Mama’s spear will be as sorely missed as it will be difficult for any of us to pick up and carry. We must do good in Durban.
May his beautiful soul rest in love and peace.
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CAN submission - Methodological guidance for activities relating to REDD+ - Sep, 2011
Submitted by MBrockley on
The Climate Action Network International (CAN-International) is the world’s largest network of civil society organizations, with 700 member organisations in over 90 countries, working together to address the climate crisis.
The Climate Action Network (CAN) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the work of SBSTA by giving our
views on the issues identified by SBSTA at its thirty-fourth session, recorded in document FCCC/SBSTA/2011/L.14.
This submission is in three main parts, corresponding to the issues identified by SBSTA:
1. Guidance on a system for providing information on how safeguards referred to in appendix I to decision
1/CP.16 are addressed and respected;
2. Guidance on modalities relating to forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels;
3. Guidance on modalities for measuring, reporting and verifying as referred to in appendix II to decision
1/CP.16.
In addition, there is a short section on forest definitions which might be considered as part of either the first or
third sections...
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CAN Intervention - SBSTA: methodological guidance on REDD+ - June 2011
Submitted by MBrockley on
We are encouraged by progress in SBSTA on methodological guidance on REDD+.
The safeguards information system discussion identified commonality between parties concerning:
• the full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders including indigenous peoples and local communities;
• the need to build on existing systems;
• regular international reporting, including biennial reports; and
• participation of observers in Submissions and Expert Meetings and Workshops.
We support the establishment of ‘Principles’ including Transparency, Regularity, Simplicity, Accuracy, Reliability, Participation, and Completeness.
Unfortunately, the continued failure to differentiate ‘natural forests’ from ‘plantations’ means further attention is required to properly address the safeguard against conversion.
We emphasise the urgent need for recourse mechanisms for affected people, in particular indigenous peoples and local communities.
Reference levels should be set to contribute to mitigation of climate change, encourage broad participation of countries, and we support the use of historical baselines for reference emissions levels.
We encourage further discussion on international baselines to address international leakage and the potential to address drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.
Finally, modalities for forest carbon monitoring and MRV will be important to address this year, in particular full and independent review and addressing gaps in COP and IPCC Guidance.
Thank-you
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