The Bonn Climate Change Conference took place in Bonn, Germany, from 4-15 June 2014, and included the 40th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). The fifth meeting of the second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2-5) also took place. The meeting brought together approximately 2790 participants, 1689 representing parties and observer states, 1068 from observer organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and 37 media.
The Bonn Climate Change Conference marked the first time in UNFCCC history that high-level ministerial events convened outside of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP). Ministerials convened during the first two days of the session, including the High-Level Ministerial Roundtable under the Kyoto Protocol, which aimed to assess implementation of the Protocol and provide ministers with an opportunity to increase their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments (QELRCs). The High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action aimed to raise pre-2020 ambition and provide momentum for negotiations on the 2015 agreement.
During the session, SBI 40 and SBSTA 40 began quickly moving through the items, with many considered in informal consultations rather than contact groups. SBI 40 made good progress, according to many, on issues including Convention Article 6 (education, training and public awareness). SBSTA 40 achieved progress as characterized by many on agriculture, and research and systematic observation.
ADP 2-5 convened in a contact group at this session, as decided at ADP 2-4 in March 2014, structured around workstream 1 (2015 agreement) and workstream 2 (pre-2020 ambition). Under workstream 1, the ADP discussed: mitigation; adaptation; finance; technology and capacity building (means of implementation); transparency; intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs); and other issues related to elements. Under workstream 2, Thematic Expert Meetings (TEMs) on the urban environment and land use were organized, and a forum on the role of cities and subnational authorities in mitigation and adaptation also convened.
For the complete report, please see iisd.
Pakistan’s unprecedented climate shocks make it clear: regional cooperation for managing shared waters is desperately needed. To halt the increasing impacts on agriculture and livelihoods that cripple the country’s economy, diplomacy is of paramount importance. In our interview, Moeen Khan explains how territorial and ethnic tensions with India hinder much-needed transboundary solutions – and how the international community can help.
Environmental defenders in Brazil are at risk — last year, 57 were assassinated and the numbers are increasing. The UN has launched a new initiative to address the escalating violence. This article shows the challenges faced by an activist from the Amazon region who fights for justice, and it notes how the Brazilian government can save lives while preventing unregulated exploitation in the region.
Changes are occurring that could make climate action a driver of the domestic agenda for economic and social progress and for international cooperation. With the help of market forces and technological advances, the tide is moving toward climate action. Paul Joffe argues that a key to success is a strategy that draws public support and makes climate policy a force in a larger industrial renaissance.
The world can achieve slower climate warming, preventing temperatures from rising by more than 1.5˚C, a global scientific panel says. But time is short.