Summary
The Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference opened in Bonn, Germany. In the morning, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, Fiji, was elected COP 23 President by acclamation. He then presided over a traditional Fijian ceremony, the Qaloqalovi, which included the presentation of a Tabua, the tooth of a sperm whale. During the opening ceremony, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa called on parties to act with urgency, saying “right here, right now is where we begin.”
The opening plenaries of the Conference of the Parties (COP), Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) and Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) met during the morning and early afternoon.
In the afternoon, the opening plenaries of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) met in parallel and, later, in a joint plenary. Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) roundtables met on compliance and on further guidance relating to the mitigation section of Decision 1/CP.21 (the Paris outcome) in the afternoon. SBSTA and SBI contact groups and informal consultations also met in the afternoon.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has providing daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference 2017. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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Opening Ceremony
Delegates gather for the opening of COP 23/CMP/CMA
Salaheddine Mezouar, COP 22/CMP 12 President
Salaheddine Mezouar, COP 22/CMP 12/CMA 1 President, hands the gavel to Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, Fiji, and COP 23/CMP 13/CMA 1-2 President
Delegates are welcomed to the meeting with a musical performace
Frank Bainimarama, COP 23/CMP 13/CMA 1-2 President
Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa
Hoesung Lee, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair
Barbara Hendricks, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany
Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, Mayor of Bonn, Germany
Jan Szysko, Minister of Environment, Poland, and incoming COP 24/CMP 14/CMA 1-3 President; Frank Bainimarama
COP 23/CMP 13/CMA 1-2 President; and Salaheddine Mezouar, COP 22/CMP 12/CMA 1 President
Representatives from Fiji perform a traditional ceremony, known as the Qaloqalovi, to open the meeting
Barbara Hendricks, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany,
and Sai Navoti, Fiji, drink kava - a traditional Fijian drink used in welcoming ceremonies
COP, CMP and CMA Opening Plenaries
View of the dais during the opening plenaries
Ravi Prasad, India
Frank Bainimarama, COP 23/CMP 13/CMA 1-2 President
Majid Shafie-Pour, Iran, speaking on behalf of Like-minded Developing Countries (LMDCs)
Franz Perrez, Switzerland, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG)
Chen Zhihua, China
Walter Schuldt Espinel, Ecuador, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China
Ian Fry, Tuvalu
Meelis Münt, EU
Halldor Thorgeirsson, UNFCCC Secretariat
Marcela Main Sancha, Secretary to the COP/CMP, UNFCCC
Patrick Suckling, Australia, on behalf of the Umbrella Group
Gemedo Dalle, Ethiopia, speaking on behalf of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
Abdullahi Majeed, Maldives, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Delegates during plenary
SBSTA Opening Plenary
View of the dais during the SBSTA opening plenary
SBSTA Chair Carlos Fuller, Belize
Elena Manaenkova, WMO
Thinley Namgyel, Vice Chair of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) Advisory Board
Michael Rantil, Technology Executive Committee (TEC) Chair
Abdalah Mokssit, IPCC
SBI Opening Plenary
View of the dais during the SBI opening plenary
SBI Chair Tomasz Chruszczow, Poland
Ovais Sarmad, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary
Felipe Ferreira, Brazil
Philip Weech, the Bahamas
Chizuru Aoki, the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
SBI/SBSTA Joint Plenary
View of the dais during the SBI/SBSTA joint plenary
SBI Chair Tomasz Chruszczow, Poland, and SBSTA Chair Carlos Fuller, Belize
Hussein Alfa Nafo, Mali, speaking on behalf of the African Group
Jean Diur Muland, Democratic Republic of the Congo, speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN)
Chan-Woo Kim, Republic of Korea, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG)
Liliam Ballón Sánchez de Amézaga, Peru, speaking on behalf of the Independent Alliance of Latin America and the Carribean (AILAC)
Around the Venue
Barbara Hendricks, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany, arrives in plenary
Hamza Tber, COP 22/CMP 12/CMA 1 Presidency, with Aziz Mekouar, Morocco, COP 22/CMP 12/CMA 1 Presidency
Nazhat Shameem Khan, COP 23/CMP 13/CMA 1-2 Presidency, speaks with a delegate
Delegates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Morocco, and the US
Delegates between sessions
