Negotiating Bloc
Alliance of Small Island Developing States
Content associated with Alliance of Small Island Developing States
Daily report for 6 November 2017
Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference - November 2017
Summary report 6–17 November 2017
Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference - November 2017
Highlights and images for 6 November 2017
Fiji / Bonn Climate Change Conference - November 2017
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
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page.
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
Highlights and images for 20 July 2017
4th Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
On Thursday, 20 July, in an afternoon plenary, delegates considered a further revised Chair’s text including: a draft recommendation to the General Assembly on the substantive elements of an international legally binding instrument (ILBI), indicating that the structure and elements reflect the outcome of the PrepCom discussions, and are not exclusive and without prejudice to the position of states during the negotiations; a procedural recommendation to the General Assembly to take a decision, as soon as possible, on convening and intergovernmental conference (IGC) under the UN auspices, to consider the PrepCom’s substantive recommendations and to elaborate the ILBI text under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), with a starting date as early as possible; and two sections, one on elements of the draft ILBI text (section A) and the other on elements that require most attention towards further progress in the development of a draft ILBI text (section B).
Following a round of comments, Chair Duarte acknowledged that the revised draft did not fully reflect all positions; noted concerns expressed by some delegations and those requesting more time to make a decision; and adjourned the session, expressing willingness to exhaust every effort to arrive at consensus, in line with the PrepCom mandate, and inviting delegates to share suggestions with him.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the 4th Session of the Preparatory Committee Established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 69/292: Development of an International Legally Binding Instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Franz Dejon
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page
L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Barbara Boechat, Brazil; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS
John Brincat, EU
Lois Young, Belize, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Luis Oña Garcés, Ecuador, on behalf of the G-77/China
James Ndirangu Waweru, Kenya
Hina Saeed Baig, Pakistan
Luke Daunivalu, Fiji, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS)
Juan Carlos Mendoza García, Costa Rica
Maxim Musikhin, Russian Federation
Rena Lee, Singapore
Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh, on behalf of the Least Developed
Countries (LDCs)
Ismail Raushan, Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea
Ryan Fung A Loi, Suriname
Ariel Cayanan, the Philippines
Evan Bloom, US
Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico
Mohamed Atlassi, Morocco
Florian Botto, Monaco
Ma Xinmin, China
Narayanane Saravanane, India
Alain Tellier, Canada
EU delegates consulting immediately after the end of the session
Delegates from PSIDS consulting
Delegates in informal consultations
L-R: Elisa Morgera, IISD Reporting Services, in a discussion with John Brincat, EU
L-R: Alistair Graham, Australia, in a conversation with Gerardo Irimia, Panama
L-R: Susan Whelan, Holy See, in a conversation with Julian Jackson, The Pew Charitable Trusts
A delegate looking at IISD web coverage
Delegates from India
Daily report for 20 July 2017
4th Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
Daily report for 19 July 2017
4th Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
Daily report for 18 July 2017
4th Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
Daily report for 17 July 2017
4th Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
Highlights and images for 14 July 2017
4th Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
On Friday, 14 July, delegates met in the informal working group on crosscutting issues, discussing: use of terms, scope and objective of the ILBI, relationship with other agreements; as well as guiding principles and approaches, and international cooperation, for BBNJ conservation and sustainable use.
In the afternoon, plenary resumed to discuss next steps including the convening of an intergovernmental conference and the status of the Chair’s streamlined non-paper.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the 4th Session of the Preparatory Committee Established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 69/292: Development of an International Legally Binding Instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Franz Dejon
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page
L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Barbara Boechat, Brazil; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS
Metod Špaček, EU
Alice Revell, New Zealand
Matthías Pálsson, Iceland
Audrey Naana Abayena, Ghana
Kabure Yeeting, Kiribati
Josefina Bunge, Argentina
Javier Gorostegui, Chile
Narayanane Saravanane, India
Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea
Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh
Juan Cuéllar Torres, Colombia
Ismail Raushan, Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States
Diedre Mills, Jamaica, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Participants at PrepCom 4
Sesselja Sigurdardóttir, Iceland
Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico
Mamadou Diallo, Senegal
Rena Lee, Singapore
Evan Bloom, US
Luis Oña Garcés, Ecuador, on behalf of the G-77/China
Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation
Rogelio Villanueva Jr., the Philippines
Lisa Speer, Natural Resources Defense Council
Zentaro Naganuma, Japan
Hina Saeed Baig, Pakistan
Ma Xinmin, China
L-R: Kristina Gjerde, Cymie Payne, and Hiroko Muraki Gottlieb, IUCN
L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Barbara Boechat, Brazil; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS
L-R: Javier Gorostegui, Chile, in a conversation with Metod Špaček, EU
Greenpeace images and encouraging messages from the Alboran Sea
Duncan Currie (second from right), Greenpeace, in a discussion with delegates from New Zealand
Delegates from WWF
Daily report for 14 July 2017
4th Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee