There are growing concerns that the U.S. pledge and review preference is gaining momentum amongst countries who want to see the U.S. in the next climate deal. For example, in a significant shift from their long-held position, China is showing indications that it might be moving in that direction. But at what cost? As UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christina Figueres points out "The process is not on track with respect to the demands of science."
Mohammed Adow and Alden Meyer made a presentation to the ADP Co-Chairs during the civil society session on behalf of CAN International pushing back on the notion of a pledge and review system. CAN is calling for an Equity Review that would occur in parallel with the scientific and political review of the pledges. Wisely, CAN is calling for a decision on the Equity Review by Warsaw and for national proposals to be submitted by COP20 to allow for adequate time to evaluate the proposals based both on ambition and on equity. This commitment to deadlines and principles are critical to avoiding a repeat of the mistakes made by countries during the last major push for a global deal in Copenhagen.
Arguably today's roundtables on workstreams 1 and 2 did not produce as many concrete suggestions as the civil society session. CAN made concrete recommendations on pre-2020 ambition to the ADP co-chairs that included a ramp up of ambition by developed countries, the Gulf countries and other advanced economies. CAN made the point again on the need to phase out fossil fuel subsidies with the concrete suggestion that a workshop be held with developing countries that explored phasing out subsidies while advancing development priorities. They also referenced the phase down of HFCs that can be achieved under the Montreal Protocol and referenced in a COP decision, and the critically important discussion underway at the ICAO to curb aviation emissions from international fights.
Resources & Tools
From our partners and peers
Figueres: 2015 climate deal must kickstart green growth
Ed King has an interview with Christiana Figueres on the most noteworthy aspects of this session.
Pablo Solon: everyone must accept binding climate commitments
Pablo Solon expresses the same exasperation felt by many civil society representatives in Bonn this week when he states "in the UNFCCC every delegation knows the urgency of the climate crisis… but the speeches and arguments are almost the same."
Who is to blame for soaring levels of carbon dioxide?
John Parnell digs into India and China's role in getting us to that ominous threshold of 400ppm.
From our Negotiator Trackers
Sebastien Duyck and I discussed day fourin a live-broadcast from the World Conference Center.
Seb's next blog will take a critical look at the proposal put forward by the US for a bottom up approach and suggesting that leaving each country free to choose its own contribution is the most effective way to prevent dangerous climate change. Watch the AaN website.
Elsewhere on the interwebs Trackers
UN envoys consider 2050 carbon target in climate deal talks
Bloomberg has a story on this week's negotiations.
Low-key U.S. plan for each nation to set climate goals wins ground
Alister Doyle examines the US pledge and review idea for Reuters
Bonn climate change talks going ‘surprisingly well’, say delegates
The Irish Times seem to think everything is going swimmingly.
Outside the negotiating halls
Outside the negotiating halls, today is officially the #FossilFreedom Day of Action. There are a number of gatherings taking place around the world worth checking out, but we want to point you to this piece in The Economist, called Unburnable Fuel. Let's call it redemption after The Economist stirred up a maelstrom last month when they published an editorial misrepresenting climate science.