On 14-15 July 2014, about 35 Ministers and their representatives, the Co-Chairs of the ADP, as well as the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, met in Berlin at the invitation of the governments of Peru and Germany. In an informal setting Ministers discussed how to accelerate progress in the UN climate negotiations and how to enhance climate action in their respective countries. Chancellor Merkel called on Ministers to take immediate and bold action and stressed that all countries need to act. President Humala underlined in his speech Peru’s commitment to national climate action and to securing a successful outcome to COP20 in Lima. The main messages from the ministerial discussions are summarized below in a non-exhaustive manner.
Broadening the consensus on the 2015 climate agreement
Ministers acknowledged the need to accelerate work in 2014 on developing clear and concise elements of a draft negotiating text. The useful work so far had led to an increasing consensus that a number of elements needed to be balanced out in the final outcome, specifically: a clear signal that states intend to keep temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius or even 1.5 degrees Celsius by taking ambitious, equitable mitigation action and, as some suggested, by setting goals to decarbonize their economies in the long-term; improvement of resilience through national and collective actions on adaptation and loss and damage that strengthen existing institutional arrangements; reinforcement of the means of implementation (specifically finance, technology and capacity building) for promoting low-carbon and climate resilient development; and the provision of sufficient transparency to ensure both collective and individual ambition is sufficient, fair and appropriate. There was a broad understanding that the issues that would especially require political attention would most likely include the legal form of the agreement, differentiation, means of implementation and ambition.
For the complete conclusion, please see Petersberg Climate Dialogue V.
As falling renewable energy costs and a shadow carbon price are making coal power investments unviable the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is making a decisive shift to clean energy, according to bank energy chief Yongping Zhai.
The Global Climate Action Summit has created a subtle, yet resonating effect on international climate diplomacy. Arguably, its biggest contribution lies in reaffirming the active role of the US in climate action – a refreshing sign of political maturity and environmental responsibility in Trumpian times.
Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro has named an anti-globalist diplomat to lead foreign affairs and his country’s relationship with the Paris Agreement. Ernesto Araújo, a relatively junior diplomat, accuses the left of using the environmental cause ‘to serve their political project of total domination’
As opposed to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, India could lead a campaign for climate-responsible international development cooperation, shifting from coal to renewables domestically and promoting the values of the International Solar Alliance globally.