Highlights and images for 9 September 2018

Thailand

Summary


As the Bangkok Climate Change Conference draws to a close, the draft APA Co-Chairs' text is distributed to delegates

The Bangkok Climate Change Conference closed on Sunday, 9 September, with negotiators concluding this session's work to advance the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) — the details required to operationalize the 2015 Paris Agreement. The PAWP is scheduled for adoption at the Katowice Climate Change Conference (COP 24) in December 2018. This is widely considered a challenging task. At the beginning of their week in Bangkok, COP 23 President Frank Bainimarama warned countries that “frankly, we are not ready for Katowice.” Following the conclusion of informal consultations in the morning, the contact group of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) met in the early afternoon. After some debate on how to reflect possible additional matters for the PAWP to address, the group adopted its draft conclusions.Closing plenaries of the APA, the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) convened in the afternoon, with each body adopting identical conclusions. Parties made “uneven” progress across the different agenda items. Outcomes under PAWP negotiating items are captured in the annexes to their conclusions as “the Bangkok outcome,” as well as in a 307-page “PAWP compilation.” In their conclusions, the APA, SBI, and SBSTA agree on a way to progress work intersessionally, notably that:

  • their Presiding Officers should prepare a joint reflections note addressing progress made at this session, and identifying ways forward, “including textual proposals,” to help advance parties’ deliberations towards the PAWP; and
  • the purpose of this joint note is to address all PAWP matters so as to ensure their “balanced and coordinated” consideration and facilitate successful completion of the PAWP at COP 24.

The note is due by mid-October 2018 in order to inform political discussions scheduled for the “pre-COP” meeting from 24-27 October 2018 in Krakow, Poland. The Conference was gaveled to a close at 7:57 pm following a joint APA-SBI-SBSTA plenary to hear country and observer statements. APA Co-Chair Tyndall declared: “Katowice, here we come!”

IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from the Bangkok Climate Change Conference - September 2018. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has publish a summary and analysis report from the Conference.

 

Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

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Informal Consultations throughout the Day
APA informal consultations on adaptation communication guidance
SBI/SBSTA contact group on response measures
SBSTA informal consultations on the technology framework
APA informal consultations on mitigation
Delegates huddle during the SBSTA contact group on modalities for the accounting of financial resources (Agreement Article 9.7)
APA informal consultations on issues related to the Adaptation Fund
APA transparency framework family photo
APA global stocktake family photo
APA Co-Facilitators family photo
APA Contact Group
APA Co-Chair Jo Tyndall, New Zealand
Delegates read the revised APA Co-Chairs' draft text

Delegates discuss the draft text

Delegates from Saudi Arabia
Delegates from India
Andrew Neustaetter, US
Chen Zhihua, China
Franz Perrez, Switzerland
Majid Shafie-Pour, Iran
Joint Closing Plenary of APA, SBI and SBSTA
View of the dais during the joint closing plenary
Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China
Helmut Hojesky, EU
Patrick Suckling, Australia, speaking on behalf of the Umbrella Group
Laura Juliana Arciniegas Rojas, Colombia, speaking on behalf of the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC)
Yoo Yeonchul, Republic of Korea, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG)
Amjad Abdulla, Maldives, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Gebru Jember Endalew, Ethiopia, speaking on behalf of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
Mohamed Nasr, Gabon, speaking on behalf of the African Group
Maesela Kekana, South Africa, speaking on behalf of Brazil, South Africa, India, and China (BASIC)
Reinaldo Salgado, Brazil, speaking on behalf of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay
Nedal Katbeh-Bader, Palestine
 Nanna Birk, Women and Gender
Lhavanya Dharmalinga, Environmental NGOs (ENGOs)
Around the Venue
 Renilde Ndayishimiye, Burundi
Hugh Sealy, Barbados
Delegates from the Youth NGOs (YOUNGOs)
Seyni Nafo, Mali, and Delphine Eyraud, France, SBSTA Co-Facilitators for modalities for the accounting of financial resources (Agreement Article 9.7)
Nurul Quadir, Bangladesh, and Nora Hamed Alamer, Bahrain
APA Co-Chairs Jo Tyndall, New Zealand, and Sarah Baashan, Saudi Arabia
A delegate reads the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) to keep track of negotiations
Alex Saier, UNFCCC Secretariat; Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary; and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa
Rueanna Haynes, Saint Kitts and Nevis
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) ENB team covering the Bangkok Climate Change Conference: Elaine Limjoco, the Philippines; Natalie Jones, New Zealand; Katie Browne, US; Cleo Verkuijl, Zimbabwe/the Netherlands; Aaron Cosbey, Canada; Jen Allan, Canada; and Kiara Worth, South Africa

 

Participants