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A Special Report on Selected Side Events at the 2-13 June 2008 Bonn, Germany |
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Events on Friday, 06 June 2008
Commission on climate change and development
Presented by Sweden
Anders Wijkman, Commission on Climate Change and Development (CCCD), Sweden, explained that the CCCD is an initiative designed to assist international efforts towards integrating adaptation and risk reduction into the development agenda. He said the CCCD’s final report will be presented in 2009 to the Swedish government, who will have the EU presidency during the Copenhagen negotiations.
Johan Schaar, CCCD, Sweden, said the CCCD believes in actively communicating and having a broad interface for engaging partnerships, while being careful not to duplicate efforts. He provided an update on the CCCD’s work, described its approach, and identified the three key issues that it will address: human dimensions; finance; and international institutional architecture.
Ian Johnson, CCCD, Sweden, elaborated on financial issues, noting that the CCCD is working to determine: scale and needs; current and future financing; and sequencing. He suggested that the timing and sequencing of adaptation investments should correspond with an increased understanding of the associated uncertainties, resulting in “no regrets” adaptation.
Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, agreed that understanding scale and needs is important, and recommended disaggregating information on the costs and benefits of adaptation to the national level, and transforming this information into an economically viable adaptation strategy. He stressed the importance of thinking about “what you will write down in Copenhagen” to catalyze action for raising and spending money, and developing the institutional interface to manage the process.
Saleemul Huq, International Institute for Environment and Development, said overseas development assistance (ODA) will be insufficient to meet adaptation funding requirements, and highlighted the benefits of the CDM levy for the Adaptation Fund. He suggested that other such levies, based on the polluter pays principle, should be considered.
Participants discussed: the political importance of supporting some of the adaptation assessments already completed; the proposed International Air Travel Adaptation Levy; the separation of adaptation finance from other climate change finance; difficulties in earmarking public finance; and how to allocate adaptation funds.
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| L-R: Saleemul Huq, International Institute for Environment and Development; Ian Johnson, CCCD, Sweden; Anders Wijkman, CCCD, Sweden; Johan Schaar, CCCD, Sweden; and Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary |
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| Johan Schaar, CCCD, Sweden, said that those who are vulnerable to climate change often have other stressors, as demonstrated by recent rises in food prices, and that the impacts of these often have a greater influence than direct climate change impacts. | Ian Johnson, CCCD, Sweden, highlighted that adaptation benefits should be considered as well as costs and that ODA must be “climate proofed.” | Anders Wijkman, CCCD, Sweden, chaired the side event. |
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European climate change and energy package
Presented by the European Community
Artur Runge-Metzger, European Commission (EC), emphasized that the EU Member States will meet their overall 20% reduction target compared to 1990 levels under the proposed EU climate change and energy package in a way that ensures cost-effectiveness and fairness by differentiating efforts according to gross domestic product per capita.
Willem Thomas Van Ierland, EC, explained that the package allows banking and limited borrowing in non-ETS sectors. He emphasized that if a stricter target is reached under an international agreement, the EU target will automatically be adapted to it.
Van Ierland said benefits of the EU package include innovation in the energy sector, energy efficiency improvements, energy security and health benefits. He added that the projected timeline for adoption of the package is late 2008 or early 2009.
Simon Marr, EC, explained that the ongoing review of the EU ETS will, inter alia: improve the ETS based on past experience; cover all large industrial emitters; and lead to lower overall costs. He said auctioning will be a key feature of the system.
Sandra Stevens, EC, detailed targets for renewable energy under the package, underscoring that it sets mandatory national targets for renewable energy shares, including a 10% biofuels share by 2020.
Participants discussed the use of Certified Emission Reductions and the costs and benefits of the package.
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| L-R:Simon Marr, EC; Willem Thomas Van Ierland, EC; Artur Runge-Metzger, EC; Sandra Stevens, EC |
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| Simon Marr, EC, highlighted that auctioning rights will be granted to EU Member States, and that auctioning must be carried out using harmonized rules. | Sandra Stevens, EC, explained that the package requires national action plans and administrative reforms, and that it standardizes “guarantees of origin,” which certify the renewable origin of electricity or heat. | Artur Runge-Metzger, EC, said that the package is a shared effort across EU ETS and non-ETS sectors. |
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Implementing and accelerating low carbon technology deployment: lessons from the work of the CTI
Presented by International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer
Puneet Katyal, Winrock International, India, described a Winrock project, supported by the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI), that aims to decrease energy consumption in a cluster of steel re-rolling mills in Gujarat state. He cited a lack of technological solutions to suit the specific requirements of small- and medium-sized steel rolling mills as a barrier, and noted the potential to scale up solutions once their benefits are demonstrated.
Wanna Tanunchaiwatana, UNFCCC, outlined key technology transfer outputs that the Expert Group on Technology Transfer (EGTT) will develop over the next two years, including performance indicators and assessments of: transfer and deployment options for post-2012; and gaps and barriers for financing. She highlighted a UNFCCC guidebook to help project developers write proposals, and said the Secretariat is organizing three regional training sessions on this topic.
Peter Storey, PPL International, stressed that funding is available for climate-friendly technology projects, but that developers must submit strong proposals to obtain it. He explained that the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) is a network of private sector companies and individuals that offers free consulting for project sponsors and developers to help them raise private sector finance. He noted that PFAN’s work was endorsed at COP 13 in Bali, and that it continues to attract more funding to scale up its activities.
Participants discussed: inclusion of adaptation projects in PFAN’s portfolio; how PFAN identifies projects; and management of perceived risks in project finance.
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| L-R: Martin Devine, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK (Chair); Peter Storey, PPL International; Puneet Katyal, Winrock International, India |
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| Wanna Tanunchaiwatana, UNFCCC, highlighted that the EGTT is working on two new themes related to technology transfer, namely innovative financing and technologies for adaptation. | Martin Devine, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK, outlined the objectives and activities of the CTI. | Peter Storey, PPL International, highlighted the lack of early-stage development assistance and financing in the public and private sectors for climate-friendly technology projects, noting PFAN’s potential to act as a gateway to private sector finance, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. |
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Business views on sectoral approaches
Presented by ICC
Brian Flannery, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), said the ICC encourages: adopting voluntary sector-based approaches; allowing markets to develop and select technologies; evaluating and giving priority to cost-effective measures; and maintaining comparable effort across sectors and countries.
Robert Chase, International Aluminium Institute, explained that voluntary approaches in the aluminium industry had enabled 70% emission reductions, with emissions falling from 96 to 24 million tons over the period 1990-2006.
Vincent Mages, Lafarge, outlined the Cement Sustainability Initiative’s view on a sectoral approach in this industry, and said the agreement must, inter alia: fall under the UNFCCC and be compatible with existing and future mechanisms; be mandatory; include major developed and developing countries; use simple metrics and methodologies; and use verified emissions data to track compliance.
Yoshiharu Tachibana, Tokyo Electric Power Company, described three products provided to power companies to help reduce emissions, namely a green handbook, checklist, and review sheets. He said peer reviews have been useful in increasing energy efficiency.
Joanna Lewis, Pew Center, US, emphasized that determining participation of, and differentiation between, sectors, gases, and countries is important for advancing sectoral approaches in the negotiations.
Participants discussed sectoral approaches in terms of: voluntary versus mandatory approaches; translation into actual emission reductions; the importance of a monitoring and verifying framework; emissions trading by sector; and difficulties in benchmarking.
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| L-R: Nick Campbell (Chair), ICC; Brian Flannery, ICC; Joanna Lewis, Pew Centre; Robert Chase, International Aluminium Institute; Vincent Mages, Lafarge; and Yoshiharu Tachibana, Tokyo Electric Power Company |
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| Brian Flannery, ICC, outlined factors that promote and inhibit an international agreement on sectoral approaches. | Robert Chase, International Aluminium Institute, highlighted the usefulness of competition and peer pressure in reducing emissions. | Vincent Mages, Lafarge, stressed the need to identify and quantify the benefits of sectoral approaches and determine how much real emission reduction potential exists. |
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