Highlights and images for 17 June 2019

Highlights for Monday, 17 June 2019

For the first time in 14 years, delegates gathered for a smaller session in Bonn with only two bodies convening. The fiftieth meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 50) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 50) launched their work on all agenda items.Outlining expectations for the meeting, many parties pressed to keep the momentum generated in December 2018 when they adopted the Katowice Climate Package, the so-called “rulebook” supporting the Paris Agreement. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), other international organizations, and developing countries continue to draw attention to the impacts of climate change on the environment, people, and livelihoods, several parties urged more ambition in pledges to the Paris Agreement; many developing countries called for greater financial resources. Chile, the host of the next Conference of the Parties (COP), declared ambition a central theme of the upcoming meeting.In the second workshop of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, participants grappled with three questions: how do we measure and evaluate adaptation practices in agriculture? What are the co-benefits of adapting agriculture systems to climate change? and how can we share knowledge and practices to ensure resilience in global food security? The workshop heard from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Adaptation Committee, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Expert Group, and the World Bank on recent practices in monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation planning; and shared views and best practices on adaptation in the agricultural sector.As delegates finished their first day of work, several were pleased that the SBSTA avoided a delay in adopting its agenda through informal discussions regarding the item on the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C of Global Warming. In December, the COP asked the SBSTA to consider the Special Report “with a view to strengthening the scientific knowledge on the 1.5°C goal.” Parties agreed to hold this discussion without pre-judging any potential outcome. Some delegates warned that sensitivity around this issue would continue throughout the conference.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the Bonn Climate Change Conference - June 2019, which is now available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

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SBI Opening Plenary

SBI Chair Emmanuel Dlamini, eSwatini, opens the SBI plenary.

Chizuru Aoki, the Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary

Birgit Aru, Estonia, reporting back on Katowice Committee of Experts on Impacts of Implementation of Response Measures (KCI)

Hana Hamadalla, Sudan, reporting back on the LDC Expert Group (LEG)

Gervais Ludovic Itsoua, Congo, reporting back on the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE)

Nicole Wilke, Germany, reporting back on the host agreement

Delegates during the session.

SBSTA Opening Plenary

SBSTA Chair Paul Watkinson, France (center), convenes the opening of the SBSTA plenary with an up-to-date version of the Keeling Curve, a graph of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.

Jörg Schulz, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Executive Secretary Anne Larigauderie

Abdalah Mokssit, IPCC Secretary

Salvatore Aricò, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)

Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture

View of the dais during the workshop on methods and approaches for assessing adaptation, adaptation co-benefits, and resilience.

Milagros Sandoval, Peru, Co-Facilitator of the Koronivia Workshop

Zitouni Ould-Dada, FAO

Navina Sanchez, Adaptation Committee

Martien van Nieuwkoop, World Bank

SBI/SBSTA Joint Plenary - Opening Statements

View of the dais during the joint plenary for opening statements.

Ammar Hijazi, Palestine, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China

Rodrigo Olsen Olivares, incoming COP Presidency, Chile

Majid Shafiepour, Iran, speaking on behalf of the Like-minded Developing Countries (LMDCs)

Lois Young, Belize, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)

Ana Villalobos, Costa Rica, speaking on behalf of the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC)

Franz Perrez, Switzerland, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG)

Mona Al-Attas, Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group

Sonam Wangdi, Bhutan, speaking on behalf of the LDCs

Ion Cîmpeanu, EU

Around the Venue

Delegates gather informally before the start of plenary.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa speaks with Stéphane Dion, Canadian Ambassador to the EU

Richard Kinley, former UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary

Sin Liang Cheah, Singapore, speaks with a delegate.

Delegates from Ghana review a document.

Members of the SBI Secretariat share a moment.

Delegates speak informally between sessions.

A delegate visits 'Awakening,' a photographic exhibition that confronts the urgency of sustaining life on earth by focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and challenging all people to 'design a world that works for everyone.'

Delegates meet informally in the exhibit area.

Materials on display.