Curtain Raiser ｜

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The 2019 Climate Change Conference will take place in Madrid, Spain, from 2-13 December. The Conference was originally scheduled to take place in Santiago, Chile. However, on 30 October 2019, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa was informed by the Government of Chile of its decision not to host the Conference, in view of the difficult situation that the country is undergoing. On 1 November 2019, the COP Bureau agreed that the Conference would take place on the originally scheduled dates in Madrid.

The 2019 Climate Change Conference comes amid calls for countries to step up the ambition of their climate pledges. The Chilean Presidency had billed the Conference as the “Time for Action,” and many are looking to this meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a turning point in climate ambition before the Paris Agreement begins in 2020.

This meeting will address issues that have implications for climate ambition before and after 2020. Delegates will take stock of the implementation and ambition of climate action before 2020 throughout the meeting. The technical phase of the stocktake will take place during the first week, followed by a high-level event for delegates to discuss mitigation, support provided, and actions of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action.

Other issues under consideration relate to the Paris Agreement. Article 6, which relates to internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs), a market mechanism, and a non-market mechanism, is a yet unresolved part of the Paris Agreement Work Programme—the rulebook of the Paris Agreement. Negotiations on Article 6 are scheduled to conclude at the 2019 Climate Change Conference. As highlighted in the summary and analysis of the negotiations held in Bonn in June 2019, delegates made progress, although some expressed concern of the amount of work remaining.

Parties will, for the first time, also consider of special needs and circumstances of developing countries, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Parties will give guidance to financial bodies, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) as they relate to the Paris Agreement. Other discussions related to the Paris Agreement will focus on technical issues such as reporting formats and the public registries for mitigation and adaptation pledges. There will also be a consideration of the outcome of the review of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts.

The Marrakech Partnership will host a series of events from 5-10 December 2019. The events will attempt to foster dialogue on actionable and collaborative solutions on a range of themes, including land use, water, oceans, resilience, and circular economy, among others.

The 2019 Climate Change Conference includes:

• the 25th session of the COP to the UNFCCC (COP 25);
• the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 15);
• the 2nd session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 2); and
• the 51st meetings of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 51) and of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 51).