Summary
The Bonn Climate Change Conference ended on Thursday as each of the three bodies adopted conclusions for most of the issues on their agendas and agreed to future work, including at the next meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
There were mixed views on progress made on the issues related to finalizing the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP), the set of decisions that will help countries implement the Agreement. Some of the items discussed most in the closing statements were:
- Transparency framework: There are different views on how the framework should help provide information on countries’ actions and support to developing countries, but many highlighted this issue as one needing further work.
- Information on finance, especially provided by developed countries in advance of its provision: Many developing countries noted this issue is important to them in the overall PAWP package.
- Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIP): Many countries and non-party stakeholders said they were disappointed with progress on this issue.
- Action on Climate Empowerment (ACE): Parties agreed to a decision, the first issue completed in the PAWP, that will continue parties' and stakeholders' efforts on issues such as public participation, education, and access to information.
The PAWP is slated for conclusion in December 2018. At this meeting, parties agreed to several steps to move the work forward:
- The Co-Chairs of all of the bodies will prepare a note that will consider all of the items and propose ways forward.
- The Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) will prepare a “tool” that will help parties develop an “agreed basis for negotiations.”
- There will be an additional meeting in Bangkok devoted to the issues under the PAWP.
Parties adopted several decisions on issues related to the ongoing implementation of the UN Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, including the Koronivia joint work programme on agriculture, which includes a roadmap outlining the issues, workshops, and inputs of the work programme.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily digital coverage, daily reports, daily videos, and a summary and analysis report from the Bonn Climate Change Conference - April/May 2018. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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SBI Closing Plenary
View of the dais during the SBI closing plenary
SBI Chair Emmanuel Dlamini, Swaziland
Vladimir Uskov, Russian Federation
Wang Tian, China
Ravi Prasad, India
Reinaldo Salgado, Brazil
Ziaul Haque, Bangladesh
Abdullah Tawlah, Saudi Arabia
Delegates from Switzerland
SBSTA Closing Plenary
View of the dais during the SBSTA closing plenary
SBSTA Chair Paul Watkinson, France
Henrik Eriksen, Norway
Walter Schuldt Espinel, Ecuador
Franz Perrez, Switzerland, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG)
MJ Mace, Saint Lucia, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Iwaki Kohei, Japan
Catherine Stewart, Canada
Julio Cordano, Chile
APA Closing Plenary
View of the dais during the APA closing plenary
Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary
APA Co-Chairs Sarah Baashan, Saudi Arabia, and Jo Tyndall, New Zealand
Joint Closing Plenary
View of the dais during the closing plenary
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa thanks Halldór Thorgeirsson, Senior Director for
Intergovernmental Affairs, UNFCCC, for almost two decades of service
Halldór Thorgeirsson, Senior Director for Intergovernmental Affairs, UNFCCC
Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China
Boriana Kamenova, EU
Majid Shafie-Pour, Iran, speaking on behalf of the Like-minded Developing Countries (LMDCs)
Mohamed Nasr, Gabon, speaking on behalf of the African Group
María del Carmen Herrera Caseiro, Cuba, speaking on behalf of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA)
Patrick Suckling, Australia, speaking on behalf of the Umbrella Group
Harlino Nandha Prayudha, Youth NGOs (YOUNGOs)
Patricia Bohland, Women and Gender
Nathalie Rengifo, Climate Justice Now! (CJN!)
Around the Venue
Delegates from Austria
The SBI family
The SBSTA family
Delegates from Kuwait
Delegates from Morocco
Delegates from Kenya
Delegates from Kyrgyzstan
UN Security family photo
Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary (center), speaks with members of the UNFCCC Secretariat
Delegates from Maldives
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) team meeting with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa and Incoming COP 24 President Michal Kurtyka, Poland
Delegates between sessions
Media briefings took place throughout the day
The ENB team covering the negotiations (L-R): Rishikesh Ram Bhandary, Nepal; Katie Browne, US; Natalie Jones, New Zealand; Cleo Verkuijl, Zimbabwe/ the Netherlands; Jennifer Allan, Canada; Aaron Cosbey, Canada; Kati Kulovesi, Finland; Annelies van Gaalen, South Africa; Asheline Appleton, Kenya; Felipe Ruiz, Colombia/Spain; and Kiara Worth, South Africa
