Tracking Transport @ UNFCCC Negotiations
Tracking Transport at UNFCCC Negotiations
Following the successful experience of tracking UNFCCC Negotiations from a transport perspective in Lima during COP20, the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport will continue to track how transport is reflected in negotiations on the road to Paris.
The first report from events on the road to Paris was from the UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) which held its Session 2-8 in Geneva, Switzerland in February 2015. The second report from events on the road to Paris was from the UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) which held its Session 2-9 in Bonn, Germany in June 2015.
UNFCCC SB 42/ADP 2-9 Bonn Session- June 1-11, 2015
Summary Report: Progress at Bonn Session Steady but Slow
The report summarizes the country negotiations under the UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), Session 2-9, from June 1-11, 2015, in Bonn. The report concludes that the Bonn session offered little progress toward streamlining the unwieldy Geneva negotiating text, and gained little ground in substantive negotiations toward the formation of a solid draft COP21 decision document. Furthermore, a lack of resolution on key issues such as pre-2020 action and INDC review periods makes forthcoming sessions an increasingly heavy lift for negotiators. Thus, nearly halfway through 2015, the road to Paris remains an uphill climb.
For the full-text of the report, please click here.
Transport Tackles Climate Change Side Event
In June 2015, Sustainable Transport Research Director Karl Peet joined the Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany. There he met with invited panelists for the side event ‘Transport Tackles Climate Change’ where they discussed the preparation and implementation of transport components within INDCs, with a particular focus on how transport mitigation actions can be scaled up and accelerated to tap the full mitigation potential of this sector.
During the side event on the 4th of June, SLoCaT Partnership Sustainable Transport Research Director Karl Peet presented examples of knowledge products on emissions assessments, policy analysis and climate finance, and discussed PPMC’s support for the transport commitments made at the Secretary General’s Climate Summit in September 2014 (and where appropriate, support for the Lima-Paris Action Agenda).
For the full text of the summary, please see here.
UNFCCC ADP 2-8: Geneva Session-February 8-13, 2015
Summary Report: Geneva Generates Momentum Toward Paris
The report summarizes the country negotiations under the UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), Session 2-8, from February 8-13, 2015, in Geneva. The report concludes that discussions in Geneva offered glimmers of hope for elevating the stature of transport within the UNFCCC process in raising key topics such as fossil fuel subsidy reform, establishing transport more tangibly in to the scope of CTCN activities, and proposing greater scrutiny for emissions generated through the aviation and maritime sectors. Nonetheless, it is important to note that ‘transport’ appears only three times in the 86-page negotiating text (including twice in an ICAO/IMO context), and that transport has yet to find a firm foothold among discussions of pre-2020 ambition and continues to trail other sectors in discussions of post-2020 action.
For the full-text of the report, please click here.
Transport @ COP20
The SLoCaT Partnership, along with the Bridging the Gap Initiative, for the first time, provided regular updates on how the COP20 discussions were affecting land transport.
Specific attention was paid to the following areas:
- ADP Work Stream 2 – Mitigation Potential For Raising Pre-2020 Ambition
- Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)
- Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
- Technology and Executive Committee (TEC)/Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)
- Standing Committee on Finance (SCF)
Final Report: Transport at COP20: Despite Limited Leaps, Lima Limps
This report assesses the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP20) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Lima, Peru in December 2014, as viewed through the lens of sustainable transport. The report is the final output of the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT Partnership) and the Bridging the Gap Initiative (BtG) tracking team, which for the first time monitored five negotiating streams with particular relevance to transport, which included pre-2020 ambition, INDCs, nationally-appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs), technology transfer, and climate finance (a sixth area, adaptation, is also included among the areas of analysis in this document) at COP20.
The outcome document of the COP20 in Lima was the Lima-Paris Action Agenda. For full text of the document please click here.
- December 11, 2014: Final Edition: Is Lima Limping or Leaping?
- December 10, 2014: Climate Finance Still Falling Short
- December 9, 2014: ADP Revisions Trouble for Transport
- December 8, 2014: Draft Decision Breathes New Life Into ADP
- December 7, 2014: From Lima to Paris Looking Toward COP 21
- December 6, 2014: MRV’s New Moment is NAMAs’ Second Wind
- December 5, 2014: ADP in Neutral as NAMAs Limp Along
- December 4, 2014: Priorities for NAMAs and INDCs
- December 3, 2014: Transport @ COP20: Will Lima Limp or Will Lima Leap
If you are interested in more information or would like to join the SLoCaT volunteer team to track negotiations, please contact Karl Peet at karl.peet@slocatpartnership.org.