Highlights from Tuesday, 5 September

Delegates to the informal meetings preceding SB-13 met to consider: policies and measures (P&Ms); technology transfer; land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF); capacity building; compliance; FCCC Article 4.8 and 4.9 and Protocol Article 3.14 (adverse effects); the mechanisms; and guidelines under Protocol Articles 5 (methodological issues), 7 (communication of information) and 8 (review of information).

Policies and Measures
Chair Jose Romero (Switzerland, shown here on the right) outlined recent developments on P&M, including results from the Copenhagen Workshop on Policies and Measures (Click here for the ENB Summary Report of the Workshop). He then requested Parties to focus on developing a decision for COP-6. Chair Romero called attention to EU proposed objectives and said he would draft preliminary text for a draft decision and make it available Thursday morning.

The EU proposal outlines the following objectives:

• promote exchange of experience and exchange of information on Policies and Measures between all Parties, including developing ways of improving their comparability, transparency and effectiveness
• identify further opportunities for cooperation between Parties to enhance the individual combined effectiveness of Policies and Measures adopted under Protocol Article 2.
• identify supplementary information needed to facilitate assessment of demonstrable progress in 2005, in accordance with any decision taken under Articles 5, 7 and 8 of the Kyoto Protocol

Capacity Development Initiative
Delegates met to makes general comments on the GEF-UNDP Capacity Development Initiative (CDI), discussing in particular the Country Capacity Development Needs and Priorities: A Synthesis Report and the Regional Reports. SBI Chair John Ashe said the aim of the informal meeting was to discuss the conclusions of the CDI regional reviews. In the ensuing discussion, the G-77/China and others questioned the mandate of the CDI and its relationship to the intergovernmental process. Following an introduction to the CDI regional assessments, smaller groups were convened to discuss reports of the regional reviews. The group then broke into five regional groups: Africa, Asia (except Central Asia), Eastern Europe and Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean (except SIDS), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Above photo, from left to right: Gao Pronove and Janos Pastor, UNFCCC Secretariat, John Ashe, SBI Chair, and Havani Vaish, GEF. Below left: Delegates waiting outside the meeting room for the group on CDI to convene. Below right: delegates meeting in a very full conference room.

LULUCF
Delegates outlined Party submissions on LULUCF contained in a consolidated synthesis document presented by the Secretariat (FCCC/SBSTA/2000/9). Delegates discussed proposed definitions of forests and afforestation, reforestation and deforestation, as well as issues regarding accounting.

Right: Co-chair Philip Gwage, Uganda (center)

Mechanisms
Chair Kok Kee Chow gave a presentation on the CDM: Institutional Issues. Delegates also discussed a draft rules of procedure of the Executive Board of the CDM. The structure of the presentation was as follows:

• responsibilities and authorities of COP/MOP and the EB as in Article 12
• tasks and functions of the EB, as proposed by parties in SB/2000/4
• tasks and functions of COP/MOP, as proposed by Parties in SB/2000/4
• rules and procedures of EB, as contained in SB/2000/4 and existing international agreement

Greenpeace Solar Panels
Greenpeace exhibited solar paneling outside the Conference center and discussed the issue with delegates who stopped by. Greenpeace distributed a paper stating that the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol is at stake and urged countries to take decisions that do not create loopholes, which Greenpeace fears could lead to little or no action being required from industrialized countries.