[Ngo Climate Change] Update from the 1st week of COP 21 in Paris

[Minh, Nguyen Anh]

Dear my colleagues,

Thank for the kind support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Vietnam, this year is the first time for CCWG to send its representative to attend the Conference of Parties (COP) organized by UNFCCC. It is a very good opportunity for us to bring the voice of the most vulnerable people in Vietnam to this high level meeting to contribute to increasing their resilience in climate change - long term goal of CCWG so far. Moreover, it is also a good chance to continue our position paper on COP 21 which was launched successfully in September this year at L'espace which I attached here with for further information.

Tomorrow, CCWG's Chair will deliver her presentation on "Community-base Adaptation in Vietnam & South East Asia: lessons learnt for policy makers" at Vietnam Pavilion in which she will share our recent documentation on Community-base Climate Change Initiatives. This report is the result of a participatory process gathering more than 20 climate change adaptation & mitigation models of NGO (member of CCWG) so far. I will update you on this event later on.

Lastly, we would like to take this opportunity to send you some update of the first week of COP 21 in below:

Delegates representing 195 countries at the Paris climate change conference have already spent five days hashing out an agreement to avoid a business-as-usual emissions scenario, and only one week of the high-stakes negotiations remains.

Progress has been slow and steady. Between Monday and Thursday, negotiators whittled the 54-page draft text down to 50 pages<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/03/science/03draft-agreement-COP21.html>.

Here are the major battles still in play:

2 degrees Celsius, or 1.5?

This week, Germany and France<http://www.climatechangenews.com/2015/12/03/germany-and-france-back-1-5c-global-warming-limit/> joined 43 of the most climate-vulnerable countries<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climateclimatechange-summit-goal-idUSKBN0TJ2XI20151130> in saying that the more ambitious 1.5-degree target should supplant the old and controversial 2-degree goal<http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/two-degree-target-debate>. (FYI: Based on current national strategies to cut carbon<http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/intended-nationally-determined-contributions>, we're looking at a global temperature boost of 2.7 degrees by the end of the century.)

Who's paying for all this?

President Obama said on Monday that "the United States of America not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it." Wealthy nations benefited from industrialization at the expense of the developing countries now dealing with its consequences-but exactly what kind of financial support the latter are owed and how funding will be handled after 2020<http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/paris-climate-conference-discussion-points> has been a serious point of contention.

How will we stick to our goals?

Countries making promises (perhaps out of fear of looking uncaring on the global stage) will get us only so far. Once a deal is made, there must be some mechanism to enforce and/or reevaluate each country's targets. That way, they can improve them as they go along. Most agree that a five-year review process is a good idea, but whether those check-ups would begin in 2020 or 2030 is in debate.

Even though the specifics of the main agreement aren't quite there yet, plenty of other climate commitments have rolled in this week. Here are some of the most promising announcements:

  *   Africa is making a big push<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/12/04/this-may-be-the-biggest-news-yet-to-come-out-of-the-paris-climate-meeting/> for clean energy.
  *   Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President François Hollande are launching an international solar alliance<http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/30/india-set-to-unveil-global-solar-alliance-of-120-countries-at-paris-climate-summit> of 120 countries.
  *   Twenty countries pledged to double their clean energy investments through Mission Innovation<https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/11/29/announcing-mission-innovation>.
  *   Agriculture got its own focus day, resulting in multiple initiatives<http://www.theguardian.com/environment/world-on-a-plate/2015/dec/04/food-at-cop21-three-new-initiatives-spotlight-food-insecurity-soils-waste> to improve food security and reduce farming's environmental impacts.
  *   Eighteen countries launched the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction<http://www.builderonline.com/newsletter/global-alliance-formed-to-help-building-industry-combat-climate-change_c> to build more resilience into cities and accelerate the sector's capacity for emissions reductions.
  *   Mayors from major cities hosted their own Climate Summit for Local Leaders<http://climatesummitlocalleaders.paris/>, where they swapped solutions<http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34999962> for local climate action and resilience. Cities, as well as companies, will be major players<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/companies-and-cities-vow-to-cut-more-pollution-than-india-emits> in filling the gap between where our national carbon cuts bring us and where we'll need to be.
For further information, please refer to UNFCCC website: http://newsroom.unfccc.int/ or follow CCWG on facebook.

My best regards from Paris,

Minh



Nguyen Anh Minh (Ms.) |  CARE International in Vietnam |  Programme Officer - NGO's Climate Change Working Group Coordinator
92 To Ngoc Van Road, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, Vietnam  | P.O. Box 20, Hanoi  |   http://www.care.org.au/vietnam
Tel: (+84) 4 3716 1930 ext.405  |  Fax: (+84) 4 3716 1935  |  Mobile: (+84) 982 774 186
Email: NguyenAnh.Minh at careint.org<mailto:NguyenThi.Yen at careint.org>  |  Skype: minh.nguyen.anh
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