Daily report for 16 November 2017

The Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference continued on Thursday. Contact groups and informal consultations met under the COP and CMP in the morning. Throughout the day, the COP Presidency conducted consultations on several outstanding issues and the joint high-level segment continued.

COP / CMP

MATTERS RELATING TO FINANCE: Luke Daunivalu, COP 23/CMP 13 Presidency, chaired the joint COP/CMP contact group on matters relating to finance.

On COP issues, he encouraged parties to conclude considerations on the remaining COP finance sub-items by 1:00 pm. On matters relating to the SCF, he proposed the Presidency continue bilateral consultations. On guidance to the GCF and GEF, he proposed Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Stefan Schwager (Switzerland) continue to co-facilitate consultations. On information for Agreement Article 9.5 (ex-ante finance transparency), he proposed that Outi Honkatukia (Finland) and Andrés Eduardo Mogro Zambrano (Ecuador) continue co-facilitating.

All parties expressed their support for the COP 23 Presidency. Philippines, for the G-77/CHINA, called on the Presidency to ensure bilateral consultations both with the G-77/China as a whole, and with the main sub-groups of the G-77/China. Many groups requested clarity on the consultations’ timing, with CHINA pointing out linkages between the sub-item on Agreement Article 9.5 and discussions ongoing under the APA. Daunivalu recognized this linkage, and encouraged parties to advance on all issues in the morning.

With respect to Agreement Article 9.5, NORWAY urged for engagement at the technical as well as at the political level. Daunivalu expressed hope that progress could be made under the co-facilitators’ leadership, and that remaining issues could be resolved in bilateral consultations. Ecuador, for the LMDCs, said that progress on Agreement Article 9.5 depends on consultations in the APA, and asked if it is useful to proceed until parties are ready to engage in consultations. Consultations continued at a heads-of-delegation level.

Report of, and Guidance to, the GEF: Informal consultations, co-facilitated by Schwager, focused on a revised draft decision text. Parties made textual proposals and indicated their preferences with regard to paragraphs on, inter alia: a request to the GEF to ensure its policies and procedures for consideration and review of funding proposals are followed, or a request that the GEF support climate projects in its seventh replenishment period; and the operationalization of the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) and an encouragement/request to the GEF to assist/provide adequate resources to all developing countries, in particular the LDCs and SIDS, to help them access resources from the CBIT.

Parties agreed to a paragraph requesting the GEF continue implementing its established policies for grants and concessional funding in its seventh replenishment period, in support of all developing countries.

Noting parties had not been able to conclude a review of all paragraphs, Schwager encouraged parties to consult among themselves, noting the COP 23 President would decide on the way forward, including possible additional time for informal consultations. Discussions continued in informal informals in the afternoon.

Report of, and Guidance to, the GCF: In informal consultations, co-facilitated by Mpanu-Mpanu, parties discussed a revised draft decision text, which Mpanu-Mpanu said was a further iteration that sought to be balanced and reflect consensus amongst parties. Parties briefly discussed a paragraph requesting the Board ensure that all developing country parties have access to all financial instruments available through the GCF. Parties also discussed, but did not agree to, adding a paragraph requesting the GCF to report to the COP on the activities of initiatives that the trustee is taking to promote alignment of the assets of the fund with the Paris Agreement.

The parties agreed to forward the draft decision for consideration by the COP.

MATTERS RELATING TO THE ADAPTATION FUND: Report of the Adaptation Fund Board: Daunivalu said some aspects required political-level engagement and that bilateral consultations would commence in the afternoon. He also noted one technical issue that could be resolved in informal consultations. The BAHAMAS expressed doubt that the technical issues could be resolved before 1:00 pm.

Malawi, for the AFRICAN GROUP, asked that their group be consulted. Daunivalu said issues not resolved in the morning would be taken up in bilaterals in the afternoon.

IN THE CORRIDORS

On Thursday, negotiations went “underground” as heads of delegation and ministers scurried to bilateral consultations. Finance negotiators emerged in the morning to work on their remaining matters, before retreating behind closed doors. With the APA plenary still in suspension, consultations by the Presidency revolved around Article 9.5, the Adaptation Fund, the Standing Committee on Finance, and a “somewhat unexpected” loss and damage-related proposal.

With progress in the negotiations kept under wraps, speculation turned to the location of future COPs. Observers floated Brazil, Argentina, and Jamaica as a potential sites for COP 25. Turkey and Italy both put their names forward for COP 26 in their high-level statements, which echoed from monitors in the near-empty halls. Future COPs may have seemed distant, though, to delegates focused on the next, and last, day of COP 23, and on the long night that may lie ahead.

ENB SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS: The Earth Negotiations Bulletin  summary and analysis of the Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference will be available on Monday, 20 November 2017 at http://enb.iisd.org/climate/cop23/enb/