Governments prepare to respond to calls for greater climate ambition at Bonn Conference

Set at the mid-point of a crucial year during which accelerated global climate action is both urgent and essential, governments are meeting in Bonn from June 17-27 June to make progress on several items central to climate change negotiations.

They will build on the success of the UN Climate Change Conference COP24 in Poland at the end of last year, which saw the adoption of the Paris Agreement Work Programme.

The package set out essential guidelines to make the Paris Climate Change Agreement operational, thereby opening the doors for its implementation and, ultimately, more ambitious climate action across the globe.

Against the backdrop of growing climate change impacts this year – including deadly storms in Africa and an ongoing heatwave in Asia – the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, warned that the world must take advantage of these sessions in Bonn to finalize outstanding elements of the Paris Agreement implementation guidelines and begin working towards significantly accelerating the pace of climate action.

“The Paris Agreement and the recent Special Report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reinforce the urgent need to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But we’re not on track—far from it. According to recent estimates, current national climate action plans will more than double this goal. This will have dire consequences for humanity if we do not significantly step up ambition,” she said.

The Bonn Climate Change Conference (SB50) will host a wide range of events, meetings, and negotiating sessions that will set the stage for raising adaptation ambition, accelerating resilience-building efforts, and ensuring that climate policy is built on a solid foundation of the best available science and knowledge.

In spite of the progress made in 2018, still, a few crunch issues are left unresolved in the negotiations on Paris Agreement implementation. Unresolved issues concern items under the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which would support countries to meet a part of their domestic goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions through the use of so-called “market mechanisms”.

This would enable business and other actors to participate in an action that will reduce emissions globally while also contributing to sustainable development and poverty eradication.

“I urge governments to use this opportunity to find solutions, allowing solid rules for carbon markets to finally take shape,” Ms. Espinosa said.

The UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn is part of a series of meetings this year to make progress in international climate action and work towards the 2030 Agenda.

Original source: UNFCCC
Published on 13 June 2019