Eastern Partnership Panel Seminar on International Climate Negotiations
Date: 13 - 14 November 2014
Time: Two full days
Venue: Berlin, Germany
The Prague Declaration of 2009 launched the Eastern Partnership as a joint initiative between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, the European Union and its 28 Member States. The Eastern Partnership has established a specific Thematic platform on Economic Integration and Convergence with EU Policies, which itself includes a Panel on Environment and Climate Change. One of the stated goals of this Panel is to prepare partners for international negotiations on climate change and to assist in the area of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The EU-funded Clima East co-operation programme contributes to the objectives of the Eastern Partnership.
International climate negotiation workshops have previously been organised by the Clima East project team in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 29-30 October 2013 and in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 31 March -1 April 2014. These workshops have allowed partner country administration and DG Clima to exchange views and shape common understanding on key issues.
The pace is picking up towards the adoption of a new agreement in 2015 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as mandated by the Durban conference in 2011. Significant impetus to the process was given recently by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Leaders’ Climate Summit in New York on 23 September.
One particular element resulting from the latest conference in Warsaw is the call to all countries to prepare intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to the new agreement. This is an important signal for all to accelerate our domestic work in this regard, with a view to communicate these contributions by the first quarter of 2015.
Negotiations are now entering into a decisive phase with the Lima conference around the corner in December 2014 and the final stretch to the Paris Conference of December 2015. In Lima, the COP Presidency expects a decision on INDCs, reconfirming their timeline, providing guidance on the accompanying information to make them transparent and understandable, and establishing an international process throughout 2015 to clarify their fairness and adequacy in relation to our common objective of keeping the increase in global temperature below 2°C. The Lima conference will also deliver the elements of the new agreement, giving us the main terms on the table for final negotiations in 2015. The future of the workstream on enhancing pre-2020 mitigation ambition will also be considered.
The Lima conference will also contribute to the full implementation of earlier commitments. This should include initiation of the multilateral assessment of progress made by a number of Parties, further progress including on climate finance, the land sector, the technology mechanism, national adaptation plans and response measures. Of particular interest is the timely completion of the Doha amendment rulebook that will enable the prompt ratification and entry into force of the second commitment period of Kyoto Protocol.
Against this background, the Eastern Partnership Panel seminar on international climate negotiations took place in Berlin, Germany on 13-14 November 2014 in collaboration between DG Clima, DG DEVCO, EEAS from the European Commission side, BMUB, GIZ and the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV and the Clima East project.
Agenda:
DAY 1: Intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to the 2015 global climate agreement
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11:00-11:30 |
Welcome coffee/tea |
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11:30-11-45 |
Opening of the meeting Artur Runge-Metzger, Director of International and Climate Strategy, European Commission, Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) Camelia Suica, Policy Officer, Division for Eastern Partnership, Regional cooperation and OSCE, European External Action Service (EEAS) |
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11:45-13:00 |
General considerations on the INDCs to the 2015 agreement |
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State-of-play of negotiations; in particular the INDCs Artur Runge-Metzger, Director of International and Climate Strategy, European Commission, Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) |
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What science tells us about global emission pathways and the below 2°C target; Good practices for the preparation of INDCs Niklas Höhne, Founding Partner, NewClimate Institute |
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Discussion on general features of INDCs facilitated by Zsolt Lengyel, Team Leader & Key Expert, Clima East Project |
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13:00-14:00 |
Lunch |
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14:00-15:45 |
Country-specific preparations and considerations on INDCs |
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Update on domestic preparations, including as relevant national policy context, proposed targets, impact assessments, public consultation, cross-government coordination European Union – Dimitrios Zevgolis, Policy Officer, International and Inter-Institutional Relations, European Commission, Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) 2030 Framework for climate and energy Representatives of: - Armenia, by Larisa Kharatova, Chief specialist of the International Relations Division, Ministry of Nature Protection - Azerbaijan, by Issa Alyiev, UNFCCC Focal Point - Belarus, by Pavel Shermanov, Deputy Head of the hydro-meteorological activities department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection - Georgia, by Grigol Lazrievi UNFCCC Focal Point, Head of Climate Change Office, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection - Ukraine, by Natalie Kuskho, Advisor to Chief UNFCCC Negotiator (10 minutes each + Q&A 5 minutes for each presentation) Discussion facilitated by Marzena Chodor, Key Expert, Clima East Project |
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15:45-16:00 |
Short coffee/tea break |
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16:00-17:00 |
Country-specific preparations and considerations on INDCs (cont.) Discussion on opportunities and challenges related to the preparation of INDCs facilitated by Zsolt Lengyel, Team Leader & Key Expert, Clima East Project |
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17:00-18:00 |
International cooperation on climate policies |
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Overview of European Commission support Bella Nestorova, Programme Manager for the Eastern Neighbourhood, European Commission, Directorate-General for Development and Co-operation (DG DEVCO) Overview of German government support by Dr. Sebastian Wienges, Technical Adviser, Competence Center for Climate Change, GIZ Discussion on further cooperation perspectives |
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19:00-21:00 |
Evening reception of the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV BESL – Meistersaal, Köthener Straße 38, 10963 Berlin |
DAY 2: International climate negotiations: expectations for Lima and Paris
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8:30-9:00 |
Welcome coffee/tea |
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9:00-9:30 |
Opening of the meeting |
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Word of welcome by Karsten Sach, Deputy Director General, European and International Environment Policy, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) Main conclusions from day 1 and program of day 2 by Marzena Chodor, Key Expert, Clima East Project Overview of expected Lima deliverables and review of other decisions expected by Dimitrios Zevgolis, Policy Officer, International and Inter-Institutional Relations, European Commission, Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) |
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9:30-10:15 |
Nature, scope and process for INDCs to the 2015 agreement Input document: draft decision text (Draft INDC Text or any further iteration of it) Introductionby Issa Alyiev, UNFCCC Focal Point, Azerbaijan Discussion on the nature and scope of national contributions Discussion on the cycle of commitments |
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10:15-11:05 |
Elements of the 2015 agreement Input document: Durban platform Co-Chairs’ non-paper on Parties’ views and proposals on the elements for a draft negotiating text for the 2015 agreement (NonPaper on Parties’ views, or any further iteration of it, including its corrigendum). Introduction on mitigation by Liz Gallagher, E3G ACT 2015 Project Discussion on mitigation |
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11:05-11:20 |
Short coffee/tea break |
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11:20-13:00 |
Elements of the 2015 agreement (cont.) Introduction on adaptationby Zsolt Lengyel, Team Leader & Key Expert, Clima East Project Discussion on adaptation Introduction on means of implementation and general structure of the agreement by Liz Gallagher, E3G ACT 2015 Project Discussion on means of implementation and general structure of the agreement |
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13:00-14:00 |
Lunch |
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14:00-15:30 |
Accelerating the implementation of enhanced pre-2020 mitigation ambition Input document: Technical paper on mitigation benefits of actions, initiatives and options to enhance mitigation ambition (Document n° FCCC/TP/2014/3) and draft decision text (Draft pre-2020 climate action Text or any further iteration of it). Introduction by Jan-Kristof Wellershoff, Policy Advisor, International Climate Policy, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) Discussion on promising areas of cooperation Discussion on the future of this workstream under UNFCCC |
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15:30-16:00 |
Conclusions and next steps by Dimitrios Zevgolis, Policy Officer, International and Inter-Institutional Relations, European Commission, Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) & Zsolt Lengyel, Team Leader & Key Expert, Clima East Project |
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16:00-17:00 |
Networking coffee/tea |
Participants:
- Final List of Participants
Referenced UNFCCC documents:
- Draft INDC Text, or any further iteration of it
- NonPaper on Parties’ views or any further iteration of it (including its corrigendum)
- Document n° FCCC/TP/2014/3
- Draft pre-2020 climate action Text, or any further iteration of it
Photos from the event:
Artur Runge-Metzger (Director of International and Climate Strategy, European Commission, DG CLIMA) opening the meeting and presenting the general considerations on the INDCs to the 2015 agreement:
Bella Nestorova (Programme Manager for the Eastern Neighbourhood, European Commission, DG DEVCO) giving an overview of EC support:
Dimitrios Zevgolis (Policy Officer, International and Inter-Institutional Relations, European Commission, DG CLIMA) presenting the 2030 framework for climate and energy:
Niklas Höhne (Founding Partner, NewClimate Institute) presenting the scientific proof of global emission pathways and the below 2°C target:
Sebastian Wienges (Technical Adviser, Competence Center for Climate Change, GIZ) giving an overview of German government support:
More photos:
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