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Vienna Climate Change Talks 2007
AWG 4 and the Dialogue 4

27-31 August 2007 | Vienna, Austria

Highlights from Wednesday, 29 August 2007

On Wednesday morning, the fourth and final Convention Dialogue workshop convened in plenary. During the session, delegates exchanged views on next steps to take the Dialogue process forward. In the afternoon, the AWG met in a contact group to discuss analysis of mitigation potential and indicative ranges of emission reductions. Halldor Thorgeirsson, UNFCCC Secretariat, and Dialogue Co-Facilitators Howard Bamsey and Sandea De Wet at the conclusion of the fourth dialogue session.

 
Convention Dialogue: exchange of views on next steps in the development of an effective and appropriate international response to climate change
 
 
View of the dais during the morning dialogue session
 
 
Opening the final session of the Convention Dialogue workshop, co-facilitator Howard Bamsey reflected on the Dialogue and the building blocks he saw emerging from the process. He identified mitigation and adaptation as the key building blocks and indicated that technology issues are linked to both, and that the importance of finance and investment is better understood.

 
 

On elements that need to be further addressed, Carlos Fuller, Belize, for AOSIS (left), stressed the need to consider the impacts on vulnerable countries of a long-term target, trade-offs implicit in emissions pathways and damages caused by climate change. Thomas Becker, EU (right), identified a strong degree of consensus on certain building blocks, including the need for deeper absolute emission reduction commitments for developed countries, and measurable and incentivized action by developing countries.
 
 

China (left) called for legally binding instruments on adaptation, technology transfer and financing to safeguard the climate process. Philip Gwage, Uganda (right), said it was time for the Dialogue to deliver and called for the launch at COP 13 of a formal process leading to a legally binding instrument.

 

Jim Wolf, Business Council for Sustainable Energy (left), supported a legally binding agreement post -2012 to underpin climate responsible investment and accelerate the deployment of renewable and energy efficient technologies in the coming decades. Martin Khor, Third World Network (right), expressed skepticism about the role of private finance and called for a viable adaptation fund.

Rajasree Ray, India (left), gave a presentation on her country's commercial energy needs and GHG mitigation potential in key sectors, linking energy to the Millennium Development Goals.
 
 
Dialogue Co-Facilitator Sandea De Wet (right)
 
Ad hoc Working Group on Further Commitments: Contact Group
 

 
View of the dais during the AWG contact group

 
 

AWG Vice Chair Oouti Berghall with Chair Leon Charles (left), who opened the AWG contact group on analysis of mitigation potential and possible ranges of emission reductions. Alf Wills, South Africa, speaking for the G-77/China, highlighting the potential of the flexible mechanisms, stressed that the level of mitigation ambitions could be increased.

 
 
Press Briefing: United States
 
 
Harlan Watson, US, in a response to a Bloomberg journalist's question on the the Washington meetings for major economies and whether the US would state how much it would be prepared to cut its emissions, said that the US would "come forward with what we believe is our contribution."
 
 
ENB interview with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer
 
 
ENB writers Kati Kulovesi, Peter Doran and Suzanne Carter discuss the Vienna meeting as well as prospects for Bali with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer
 
 
UNFCCC Side Event: Investment and finance scheme to address climate change

 
 
A side event was held during the lunch break addressing the analysis prepared by the secretariat of existing and planned investment flows and finance schemes relevant to the development of an effective and appropriate international response to climate change
 
Workshop for developing country journalists
 
 
A workshop on environmental reporting was held in Vienna for developing country journalists

 
Kevin Conrad, Papua New Guinea, discusses reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries
 
 
 
 

 

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