The Africa Group Negotiators
on Climate Change (AGN)
met in Durban at the International Convention
Center, the venue for the United Nations
Conference on Climate Change to be held
in November/December 2011, CoP17/CMP7.
The AGN is a structure
of all African Member States’ senior officials,
experts and negotiators in the UNFCCC negotiations,
with the African Ministerial Conference
on the Environment (AMCEN) providing political
oversight on the group. The group met in
Sandton in March to prepare for the first
UNFCCC meeting of 2011 in Bangkok, as well
as in Cape Town in preparation for the Bonn
meeting held in June. The Durban meeting
was held in preparation for the resumed
session of the Bonn negotiations to be held
in Panama on 1-7 October 2011. The Group
is chaired by Mr. Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu of the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The meeting of the negotiators
was preceded by a meeting of the Bureau
held from 6-7 August 2011. The Bureau of
the AGN Bureau, was established in June
in response to a decision of the African
Union requesting the AGN to form a Bureau
as part of enhancing Africa’s engagement
with ‘one voice’ in the climate negotiations.
The Bureau deliberated on several strategic
issues of Africa’s engagement as part of
the preparations for CoP17/CMP7 including,
updating the Africa Common Position on Climate
Change, entitled “African Climate Platform
for Durban”, for consideration by the AMCEN
Ministers scheduled for the 15th - 16th
September 2011 in Bamako, Mali.
The meeting further
deliberated on a strategy being developed
by the African Union Commission for the
implementation and governance of climate
response by the continent in concrete implementation
of adaptation and mitigation actions as
well as enhancing coordination structures
in the negotiations.
Following the Bureau
meeting, the full African Group convened
on 8-10 August. The meeting worked on developing
the ‘African Climate Platform for Durban’,
which is the African position for CoP17/CMP7.
This position paper is to be presented to
the meeting of African Ministers of the
Environment (AMCEN) meeting for adoption
at the Bamako Conference.
The meeting addressed
issues arising under the two tracks of negotiations
under the UN Climate Convention. On the
Kyoto Protocol the AGN emphasized the need
for leadership on the question of the Kyoto
Protocol, and urged developed countries
to provide leadership by ensuring that there
is no gap between the first and second commitment
periods of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Chair of the AGN,
Mr. Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu stated in his opening
statement that “Our priority is to keep
Africa safe through ambitious progress in
the climate talks to implement the UN Climate
Convention and its Kyoto Protocol, and an
outcome in Durban that is science-based
and fair”.
The AGN emphasized the
need for a balanced and ambitious outcome
in UN climate negotiations going to CoP
17/CMP7 in Durban citing that:
1. Maintaining the integrity
of Africa’s socio-economic development is
an essential goal of all African countries
participating in the negotiations through
ambitious outcomes on both tracks of the
climate negotiations to implement the Convention
and its Kyoto Protocol:
a. Ensuring the full,
effective and sustained implementation of
the Convention through the multilateral
process is an essential outcome, by ensuring
that progress on the unresolved issues agreed
to in Bali in 2007 is achieved, whilst ensuring
that the decisions made in Cancun are operationalised.
b. Protection of the
global climate for present and future generations
is a priority for Africa hence a solution
for securing the 2nd Commitment Period of
the Kyoto Protocol, as well as comparable
emission reductions for non-Kyoto Parties,
is central to the outcome of the Durban
Conference.
2. In terms of mitigation
developed countries are called upon to undertake
ambitious mitigation commitments from 2013
to 2017 of at least 40 percent and to reduce
their emissions by at least 95 per cent
by 2050, compared to 11000 levels. Africa
will showcase its ambitious mitigation and
adaptation actions at an African Climate
Pavilion in Durban.
3. Adaptation should
be at the center of the deal by ensuring
a process for concrete implementation of
adaptation activities, and recognizing that
adaptation needs and financing depend on
emission reduction ambition of all Parties.
Durban is expected to finalize an ambitious
Adaptation Framework, develop guidelines
and support for our National Adaptation
Plans and build momentum towards a mechanism
to compensate for climate-related losses
and damage.
4. Technology will be
addressed through operationalisation of
the Technology Mechanism agreed in Cancun
to enable enhanced action on technology
development and transfer to support developing
countries to adapt and mitigate climate
change; and
5. Finance discussions
offer the opportunity for an enhanced common
reporting framework for short-term finance,
clarity about the long-term sources and
scale of finance for developing countries,
as well as operationalization of the Green
Climate Fund and Finance Committee agreed
in Cancun. Africa is looking forward to
a significant enhancement of funds pledged
by the developed countries to assist developing
countries meet the challenges of climate
change.
The AGN reaffirmed its
support for the South Africa COP Presidency
in the build-up, during and after the Durban
Conference of Parties on Climate Change.
The next meeting of the AGN will be held
in Panama immediately before UN climate
negotiation begins on 1 October 2011.
Close to 200 people
attended the meeting and the following Member
states and organizations participated in
the meeting: Algeria, Angola, Botswana,
Benin, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote
D’voire, Congo, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon,
Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Lesotho, Liberia,
Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao
Tome, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia,
AMCEN, AU Commission, AfDB, Pan African
Parliament, UNECA and SADC.
+ More
JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED
AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE EIGHTH BASIC MINISTERIAL
MEETING ON CLIMATE CHANGE, INHOTIM, MINAS
GERAIS 26-27 AUGUST 2011
The eighth BASIC Ministerial
Meeting on Climate Change took place in
Inhotim, Minas Gerais, on the 26th and 27th
of August 2011. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota,
Minister of External Relations of Brazil,
Izabella Teixeira, Minister for the Environment
of Brazil, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister
of International Relations and Cooperation
of South Africa as incoming COP President,
Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental
Affairs of South Africa, Xie Zhenhua, Vice-Chairman
of the National Development and Reform Commission
of China, and J.M. Mauskar, Special Secretary
for Environment and Forests of India attended
the meeting. In line with the “BASIC-plus”
approach, Argentina as chair of the G77
and China was invited.
Durban outcome
Ministers reiterated
the importance of achieving a comprehensive,
balanced and ambitious result in Durban
in the context of sustainable development
and in accordance with the provisions and
principles of the Convention, in particular
the principles of equity and common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities, and the Bali Road Map. This
result must fully cover negotiations under
the two tracks of the UNFCCC: the Ad Hoc
Working Group on Further Commitments for
Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol
(AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on
Long Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA).
They emphasized that
Durban must advance all aspects of the negotiations,
including the establishment of Annex I commitments
for the second commitment period of the
Kyoto Protocol and comparable commitments
by non-Kyoto Protocol Annex I parties, the
operationalization of Cancun decisions and
resolving pending issues not concluded in
Cancun. Ministers emphasized the centrality
of adaptation and means of implementation
as part of a balanced and comprehensive
outcome.
These are elements needed
to ensure balance in the completion of the
Bali Road Map and Bali Action Plan. Ministers
underlined that agreeing on the second commitment
period is the central priority for Durban,
as failure in this regard would generate
a challenge to multilateralism and would
undermine the rules based multilateral response
to climate change under the UNFCCC. Ministers
reiterated their support for a transparent
and inclusive preparatory process to ensure
that Durban takes a major step forward in
working towards the perspective of a comprehensive,
ambitious, fair and effective outcome, ensuring
the full, effective and sustained implementation
of the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol.
Kyoto Protocol
Ministers reaffirmed that the Kyoto Protocol
is a cornerstone of the climate change regime.
They underscored the role of the Kyoto Protocol
in ensuring deep cuts in greenhouse gas
emissions from developed countries commensurate
with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) assessments and the 2°C
goal recognized in Cancun.
They stressed that the
continuation of the flexibility mechanisms
of the Kyoto Protocol, in particular the
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), is contingent
upon the establishment of quantified emission
reduction commitments by Annex I Parties
under the second commitment period.
They urged Parties to
the Kyoto Protocol to work constructively
to ensure that there is no gap between the
first and second commitment periods. Ministers
emphasized that the perspective of Annex
I Parties leaving the Kyoto Protocol to
present their mitigation contribution under
the AWG-LCA can only be the reflection of
reduced political will to cut their greenhouse
gas emissions. It is hardly conceivable
that a country would leave the Kyoto Protocol
to do more.
Pending issues to be
concluded
Taking note of India´s
submission of items to be added to the provisional
agenda of the COP, Ministers underlined
the importance of addressing pending issues
which must be advanced in Durban. This is
essential to generate the necessary balance
in the climate change negotiations.
Cancun operationalisation
Ministers also called
for the early operationalisation of all
the institutions agreed to in Cancun, including
the registry for nationally appropriate
mitigation actions and international support;
the Adaptation Committee; the Technology
Executive Committee, Centre and Network;
and the Green Climate Fund, which must provide
significant means of implementation for
immediate action to tackle climate change.
They highlighted that the extent to which
developing countries can implement their
actions is dependent on the extent to which
developed countries fulfill their commitment
to provide sufficient financing, technological
support and capacity building for both mitigation
and adaptation.
Green Climate Fund
Ministers stressed the
importance of ensuring appropriate overview
of the Green Climate Fund by the Conference
of the Parties, in order to ensure its adequate
management and timely disbursements to developing
countries. They emphasized that the Transitional
Committee should interact with, and be guided
by the AWG-LCA.
Financing
Ministers considered
work by BASIC experts on a common reporting
format for rigorous, robust and transparent
accounting of finance by Annex I Parties.
A common reporting format for finance is
a priority for Durban to enable accounting
of performance against the delivery of the
quantified finance target of US$ 100 billion
per year by 2020. Ministers also underlined
the importance of ensuring the scaling up
of financing up to and beyond 2020.
They reiterated the
need to ensure that accounting of finance
by all developed countries be consistent,
complete, comparable, transparent and accurate.
Ministers also stressed the importance of
detailed and comprehensive information on
fast start financial flows provided by developed
countries, which should be made available
officially. They reaffirmed their view that
the UNFCCC Secretariat should publish information
on funding already disbursed under fast
start financing, as this relates to a multilateral
commitment.
MRV
Ministers also reflected
on BASIC expert discussions on measuring,
reporting and verifying Annex I mitigation.
They underscored the need for stringent
common accounting rules, with a view to
ensuring transparency and comparability
of mitigation commitments by all developed
countries. They stressed that the rules
of the Kyoto Protocol are the reference
for the efforts undertaken by all developed
countries in this area. They expressed the
importance of operationalising the transparency
arrangements by developing countries, based
on existing provisions under the Convention.
They pointed out the robust contribution
already offered by developing countries
in emission reductions, which demonstrates
a higher level of effort in comparison to
mitigation by developed country Parties.
Equitable access to
sustainable development
Ministers welcomed the
work undertaken by BASIC experts on “a framework
for equitable access to sustainable development”,
as requested at the 6th BASIC Ministerial
Meeting. This work will serve as a valuable
contribution to the body of scientific knowledge
informing policy development.
Reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+)
Ministers recognized
the importance of enhancing action to reduce
emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation, enhance removals by forests
and sustainable forestry management practices,
on the basis of scaled up international
financing and technology transfer. They
also underlined important additional benefits
that REDD+ can offer to sustainable development
in areas such as biodiversity protection.
Dangers of unilateralism
Ministers expressed
their concern with unilateral climate change
measures, planned or implemented, which
generate negative impacts on other countries.
They expressed their strong concern with
the decision of the European Union to include
the aviation sector in the EU Emission Trading
System, including flights to and from its
territory by non-european companies
G77 and China
Ministers emphasized
the importance of G77 and China unity and
its key role in climate change negotiations.
They noted the clear demonstrations by the
G77 and China of leadership and willingness
to contribute to a strong global effort.
They decided to maintain the “BASIC-plus”
approach, in order to enhance the transparency
of its meetings. They also praised the role
played by the South African incoming COP
Presidency and its efforts to organize inclusive,
high-level consultations on climate change,
which will contribute to a successful and
ambitious outcome in Durban.
Rio +20
The Ministers also had
an opportunity to discuss the perspective
for the Rio+20 Conference in 2012. In this
regard, they stressed the important role
of BASIC countries in ensuring success of
Rio+20, as well as the Durban Conference
on Climate Change and the New Delhi Conference
on Biodiversity. This is a clear sign of
their firm commitment to advance multilateral
solutions to global problems.
Ninth Meeting of Ministers
Ministers welcomed the
offer of China to host the Ninth BASIC Ministerial
Meeting on Climate Change on the 31st of
October and the 1st of November. A meeting
of experts will be held alongside this Ministerial
meeting.
