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A delegate pours water into a globe to symbolize commitment to transboundary cooperation and water diplomacy On Friday, MOP8 participants resumed discussions on National Policy Dialogues and the European Water Initiative. They then moved into discussions on the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in transboundary basins, the International Water Assessment Centre, and efforts to identify, assess, and communicate the benefits of water cooperation. Representatives from the Sio-Malaba-Malakisi river basin in East Africa and Okavango-Cubango river basin in Southern Africa highlighted efforts to assess and communicate benefits of cooperation in their regions. Delegates also discussed how climate change adaptation will compound management challenges in transboundary river basins worldwide. They heard a report from the African Development Bank on a training conducted in Dakar in June 2017 on how to prepare bankable projects for financing adaptation in transboundary contexts. Delegates adopted the programme of work for 2019-2021 and approved the requested budget of US$12.1 million. The programme will further support the opening of the Water Convention to parties outside the pan-European region, facilitating accession of new parties, implementation of the Convention principles, and awareness raising about the benefits of transboundary water cooperation. Estonia offered to host MOP9 in 2021. Throughout the day, delegates from countries that share transboundary basins, rivers, and aquifers gathered at the entrance to the conference center to participate in a symbolic action. Groups from the Danube, Mekong, Okavango, and Kura basins, among many others, poured water into a globe to demonstrate their commitment to transboundary cooperation and water diplomacy. At the close of the meeting, delegates adopted a package of decisions by acclamation and elected the new Chair, Vice-Chairs, and bureau members. Outgoing MOP Chair Peter Kovács expressed his appreciation to all colleagues for their contribution, and to the Water Convention Secretariat and the Kazakh hosts. In closing remarks, Yerlan Nyssanbayev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan, hailed MOP8 as milestone meeting, as it was the first with participants from all continents. MOP8 Chair Péter Kovács closed the meeting at 6:11 pm. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily digital coverage and a summary report from MOP8.   Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Morning Session Delegates during the morning session Seppo Rekolainen, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland Péter Kovács, MOP8 Chair, Hungary Boško Kenjić, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Bosnia and Herzegovina Rachi Taibi, Consultation Mechanism of the North-West Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS) Callist Tindimugaya, Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda Claudio Bacigalupi, International Cooperation and Development, European Commission Harry Liiv, Ministry of Environment, Estonia Tracy Molefi, Permanent Okavango-Cubango River Basin Commission (OKACOM), Botswana Francis Bougaire, African Development Bank (AfDB) Niels Vlaanderen, Co-Chair of the Task Force on Water and Climate, the Netherlands Jos Timmerman, the Netherlands Paola Albrito, UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Afternoon Session View of the dais during the afternoon session Ardak Zebeshev, Kazakhstan Heide Jekel, Co-Chair of the Joint Ad Hoc Expert Group on Water and Industrial Accidents (JEG), Germany Francesca Bernardini, Secretary of the Water Convention, UNECE Serik Akhmetov, Director, International Water Assessment Centre (IWAC) Carlos Rodríguez Brianza, Uruguay Birgitta Liss Lymer, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) Christian Schilling, EU Lea Kauppi, Finland Anne-Marie Reckinger, Luxembourg Yerlan Nyssanbayev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan Francesca Bernardini, Secretary of the Water Convention, UNECE, presents Péter Kovács, MOP8 Chair, Hungary, with a gift Péter Kovács, MOP8 Chair, Hungary, hands over the chairmanship to Ardak Zebeshev, incoming MOP9 Chair, Kazakhstan Francesca Bernardini, Secretary of the Water Convention, UNECE, thanks Péter Kovács, MOP8 Chair, Hungary, for his 'super human efforts' throughout the MOP process Around the Venue Water Convention Secretariat family photo Members of UNECE and UNISDR stand with the newly launched publication 'Implementation guide for addressing water-related disasters and transboundary cooperation' Members of Water Convention Bureau Youth volunteers assisting with the meeting The 'single river of objects' artistic installation symbolizing the cooperation between parties that is necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Carolina Caycedo, Visual Artist, Colombia, who created the artistic installation One of the objects in the installation Delegates representing countries from the Danube basin pour water into a globe to symbolise their commitment to transboundary water cooperation Delegates representing countries from the Mekong basin Delegates representing countries from the Volta basin Delegates representing countries from the Kura basin Delegates representing countries from the Rhine basin Delegates from Russia Delegates from Kazakhstan Delegates from East Africa The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB+) team covering the meeting: Katie Browne, US; Dina Hestad, Norway; Asterios Tsioumanis, Greece; and Kiara Worth, South Africa  

A wooden carving from West Africa, part of the 'river of objects' art installation On Thursday, MOP8 delegates began the day with continued discussion on reporting under the Water Convention, with a focus on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 6.5.2 (proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation). Speakers highlighted the breakthrough the SDG indicator represents, as transboundary water cooperation is now included in the global indicator framework for the SDGs and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Representatives of UN-Water, UNECE, and UNESCO also presented on progress on reporting. Delegates also discussed the opening of the Water Convention for adoption by countries outside the pan-European region, with the Secretariat commending Chad and Senegal as the first non-UNECE parties to join and noting that many other countries are in the process of joining. Mahamat Alifa Moussa, Secretary General, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Fisheries, Chad, and Niokhour Ndour, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Senegal, presented on lessons learned in the accession process. Delegates also addressed the Water Convention’s increased visibility, major milestones since MOP7, and plans for future work. Nine additional countries announced their intention to accede. Recalling that parties at MOP7 had decided to “make the Convention fit for its new global nature,” MOP8 adopted a new global strategy. The strategy includes key objectives to increase: awareness of and political support for the Water Convention; accession; support for implementation of the Convention and transboundary water management; support for implementation of water-related SDGs; and partnerships and synergies with other actors. MOP8 also adopted decisions on: implementation and compliance; supporting application of the Water Convention through on-the-ground projects and capacity development; and the European Union Water Initiative and National Policy Dialogues. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily digital coverage and a summary report from MOP8.   Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Morning Session View of the dais during the morning session Péter Kovács, MOP8 Chair, Hungary Alistair Rieu-Clarke, Water Convention Secretariat Mahamat Alifa Moussa, Secretary General, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Fisheries, Chad Francesca Bernardini, Secretary of the Water Convention, UNECE Delegates during the session Jamal Mohsin Ali, Ministry of Water Resources, Iraq Niokhor Ndour, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Senegal William Reidhead, UN-Water Hayet Ben Mansour, Tunisia Afternoon Session View of the dais during the afternoon session Dragana Jovanovic, Serbian Institute for Public Health, Serbia Sibylle Vermont, Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland Christian Severin, Global Environment Facility (GEF) Vladimir Mamaev, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Marie-Flore Michel, France Andrés Sánchez, Organization of American States (OAS) Ababacar Ndao, Secretary General, Gambia River Development Organization (OMVG) Francis Bougaire, African Development Bank (AfDB) Aneta Nikolova, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Sarangoo Radnaragcha, Regional Advisor for Environment, UNECE Olcay Ünver, Vice-Chair, UN-Water Attila Tanzi, Chair, Water Convention Implementation Committee Carmen Neagu, Romania Around the Venue Delegates from Austria Francesca Bernardini, Secretary of the Water Convention, UNECE, speaks with a delegate Delegates speak informally Objects brought by delegates that will feature in the art installation - a 'single river of objects' representing the cooperation between parties that is necessary to achieve the SDGs Tools are lined up as the artistic installation gets underway Materials on display around the venue A photographic exhibit displaying the different water environments in Kazakhstan  

Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, UNECE, with Umirzak Shukeyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan The eighth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention MOP8), serviced by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), kicked off today in Astana, Kazakhstan with a high-level workshop on “Financing Transboundary Basin Development.” Over 80 participants from 29 countries gathered to discuss different financing sources for transboundary basin cooperation and how to match these sources to financing needs. Welcoming participants to Kazakhstan, Umirzak Shukeyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan, highlighted the need for effective solutions for financing of and cooperation on transboundary basin development. Pio Wennubst, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, UNECE, and Ato Brown, World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan, also addressed the attendees. Participants then engaged in an interactive exercise on transboundary financing, followed by two ministerial roundtables. In the first roundtable, participants discussed: availability of domestic sources and mechanisms to access these sources; potential to mobilize the private sector, including through blended finance; the role of international funding sources, including climate finance; how basin investment plans and strategies can help mobilize financing; and how project preparation facilities support initial project development. In the second roundtable, participants shared views on financing needs, including for information, water cooperation processes and institutions, and infrastructure. Danilo Türk, Chairman, Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace, moderated a concluding panel. Moderators for each of the roundtables reported on key messages and topics of discussion. Türk highlighted the differing modalities to fund transboundary water cooperation and underscored that the challenge is to bring them together. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily digital coverage and a summary report from MOP8.   Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Opening Session View of the dais during the opening session Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, UNECE Umirzak Shukeyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan Pio Wennubst, Vice Director General, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) Ato Brown, World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan Ministerial Roundtables: Exploring Different Financial Sources and Bringing them Together Delegates gather for the ministerial roundtables Susanne Schmeier, UNECE Francesca Bernardini, Secretary of the Water Convention, UNECE Delegates participate in an interactive exercise to discuss transboundary financing, examining the multiple uses and needs of water in and across different countries, discussing how to make the most optimal use of available funding, and placing monetary value for transboundary development categories Theme 1 - What different domestic public sources are available and which innovative mechanisms can be used to tap them? Theme 2 - How can the potential of the private sector (including through blending of public and private finance) be best mobilized? Theme 3 - What should be the role of international funding sources (both international funding institutions and donors), including climate funds, and how should it evolve? Theme 4 - How can basin investment plans and financing strategies help to mobilise sustainable financing for transboundary basin cooperation and development? Theme 5 - How can project preparation facilities and other mechanisms support the initial phases of project development in transboundary basins? Working Groups: Matching Financing Sources to Financing Needs Theme A – Financing information for transboundary basin development Theme B – Financing transboundary water cooperation processes and institutions Theme C – Financing infrastructure in transboundary basins Plenary: Moving Forward View of the dais during the report back session Danilo Türk, Chairman, Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace Sonja Koeppel, Water Convention Secretariat Christian Severin, Global Environment Facility (GEF) Jelle Beekma, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Iskandar Abdullaev, Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC) Francis Bougaire, African Development Bank (AfDB) Nick Marchesi, European Investment Bank (EIB) Lea Kauppi, Finland Niels Vlaanderen, the Netherlands Christina Leb, World Bank Iskandar Abdullaev, Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Claudio Bacigalupi, EU Yerlan Nyssanbayev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan Around the Venue Delegates gather for the start of the high-level workshop Umirzak Shukeyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan, enters the venue with Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, UNECE Delegates speak informally between sessions  

  Highlights for Saturday, 6 October 2018 WG Co-Chairs celebrating the adoption of the Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C The 48th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-48) concluded on 6 October 2018 in Incheon, Republic of Korea, after adopting the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15). Although the meeting was initially scheduled to end on 5 October, delegates ended up working through the night to agree line-by-line to the SPM in the first Joint Session of Working Groups I, II and III, which then forwarded the SPM to the Panel for acceptance. The SR15 SPM includes four sections: Understanding Global Warming of 1.5°C; Projected Climate Change, Potential Impacts and Associated Risks; Emission Pathways and System Transitions Consistent with 1.5°C Global Warming; and Strengthening the Global Response in the Context of Sustainable Development and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty. Through the adoption of the SPM, and acceptance of the underlying report, the IPCC responds to a 2015 decision of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which invited the Panel to provide a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission pathways. In addition to the SPM, IPCC-48 also adopted decisions on the IPCC Scholarship Programme and on the Ad Hoc Task Group on Financial Stability. IPCC-49 will convene in May 2019 in Kyoto, Japan, to approve the 2019 Refinement of the 2006 Guidelines on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. During the closing plenary, IPCC Chair Lee thanked all those who had contributed to the “keenly awaited” SR15 and its SPM. He said governments could start to use the Summary immediately, including at the Talanoa Dialogue during UNFCCC COP 24. Chair Lee gaveled the meeting to a close on Saturday at 3:41 pm. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) meeting coverage, is providing daily web coverage, as well as a summary and analysis from IPCC-48.   Photos by IISD/ENB | Sean Wu For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. A view of the venue early in the morning Delegates huddle to consult with IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee Conference staff setting up the desks for the Joint Session The dais during the Joint Session Daisuke Takayanagi, Japan Jean-Charles Hourcade, Author Authors in discussion Miles Perry, EU Volker Krey, Germany Delegates huddle outside the conference room. Trigg Talley, US Khalid Abuleif, Saudi Arabia WG Co-Chairs congratulating the approval of the Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C Group photo of the WG Co-Chairs and Authors following agreement on the SR15 SPM Republic of Korea welcomes the "historic" adoption of the SR15 SPM IPCC Legal Officer Sophie Schlingemann, IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee, and IPCC Secretary Abdalah Mokssit WG Co-Chairs and delegates applaud the success of IPCC-48. Around the Venue The ENB team (L-R): Sean Wu, Digital Editor; Elaine Limjoco, Logistics Coordinator; Leila Mead, Team Leader; and Maria Gutierrez, Deborah Davenport, Cleo Verkujil, Aaron Cosbey, Writers, make a Korean "Finger Heart".  

Highlights for Friday, 5 October 2018 David Morgan, CITES Secretariat, and Sevvandi Jayakody, Sri Lanka, officially unveil the CITES CoP18 logo Participants to the 70th meeting of the Standing Committee (SC) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) met for the final day of deliberations. SC Chair Carolina Caceres shepherded delegates through the remaining agenda items and reports of working groups.Highlights include the SC decisions: On Eels (Anguilla spp.), to encourage range states along with aquaculture, transit and consumer parties to build on the successes of existing enforcement efforts through cross-border as well as cross-agency collaboration and sharing of intelligence; On disposal of confiscated specimens, to forward to the 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) draft decisions calling, inter alia, on the Secretariat to collect information on existing networks and resources on the management of seized and confiscated live animals and make it available to parties; On Application of Article XIII in Nigeria, to agree that parties shall suspend commercial trade in specimens of the species Kosso Wood (P. erinaceus) from Nigeria until the party makes scientifically based non-detriment findings for trade in the species in the country to the satisfaction of the Secretariat and the Plants Committee Chair; and On engagement of rural communities, to note the report of the working group in particular the lack of consensus on the recommendations, asking CoP18 whether to extend the mandate of the working group on how to engage rural communities in CITES processes and report to CoP19. Parties and observers gave thanks to Chair Caceres and the Secretariat for managing such a large agenda.SC Chair Caceres concurred that it was one of the most difficult meetings to chair with a daunting agenda but gave much thanks to all participants for their flexibility and cooperation.She thanked the Secretariat, noting each person "does the work of five." The SC concluded with a look towards the next challenge ahead: CoP18 in Sri Lanka in 2019. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and a summary and analysis report from the 70th Meeting of the CITES Standing Committee. Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Morning Session View of the dais during the morning session Carolina Caceres, SC Chair, Canada Levente Kőrösi, Hungary Elly Hamunyela, Namibia José Funes, Mexico Sonja Meintjes, South Africa Jonathan Kolby, US He Jingxin, China Gerhard Adams, Germany Donald John Schubert, Animal Welfare Institute María Elena Sánchez Saldaña, Species Survival Network (SSN) Launching of CoP18 The CITES CoP18 website is officially launched  Daniel Fernando, Sri Lanka Sevvandi Jayakody, Sri Lanka Members of the CITES Secretariat with the Sri Lanka delegation responsible for CITES CoP18 Afternoon Session View of the dais during the opening session Ursula Moser, Switzerland João Loureiro, Portugal Mercedes Roman Nuñez, Spain Basile van Havre, Canada Roseline Mandisodza-Chikerema, Zimbabwe François Busson, EU Members of the Standing Committee The meeting is gavelled to a close Carolina Caceres, SC Chair, Canada, and David Morgan, CITES Secretariat Around the Venue Nadia Berny, CITES Secretariat (center), with the conference volunteers Delegates from Italy Delegates from Australia Delegates from Austria Delegates speak informally Delegates between sessions The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) team covering SC70: Tanya Rosen, Italy; Vijay Kolinjivadi, Canada; Mandy Rude, US; and Kiara Worth, South Africa