The UNFCCC Secretariat has announced that the negotiating text for the anticipated 2015 climate change agreement has been translated into the six official UN languages and formally communicated to governments. The text was agreed as the basis for negotiations by the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) at the eighth part of its second session in February 2015.
The global climate change agreement is expected to be adopted at the Paris Climate Change Conference in December 2015. According to the Secretariat, all the legal procedures required for countries to adopt a legal instrument under the UNFCCC have now been completed.
Communicating the text well in advance of the May 2015 deadline will allow early consideration of areas of emerging consensus and the range of options available to governments, according to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. The text contains various country proposals on mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, capacity building, and transparency of action and support.
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Even as the US officially pulled out of the Paris Agreement earlier this week, it might be too soon to lose hope on the country's long-term commitments to climate action. If a Democrat wins the upcoming presidential elections, which are set for November 2020, a reaccession process could begin shortly after the withdrawal is complete. In the meantime, however, the effect on trade policy could be significant.
European peatlands could turn from carbon sinks to sources as a quarter have reached levels of dryness unsurpassed in a record stretching back 2,000 years, according to a new study. This trend of “widespread” and “substantial” drying corresponds to recent climate change, both natural and human-caused, but may also be exacerbated by the peatlands being used for agriculture and fuel.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has contributed $28 million to back FAO's work to boost the resilience of food systems in Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan - part of a new initiative to scale-up resilience-based development work in countries affected by protracted crises.
A group of five small countries have announced that they will launch negotiations on a new Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability, which, if successful, would constitute the first international trade agreement focused solely on climate change and sustainable development. The initiative also breaks new ground by aiming to simultaneously remove barriers for trade in environmental goods and services and crafting binding rules to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. Small countries can pioneer the development of new trade rules that can help achieve climate goals, but making credible commitments, attracting additional participants, and ensuring transparency will be essential ingredients for long-term success.