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With the end of the first week of the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference nearing, co-facilitators across many negotiation rooms reminded delegates of the need to conclude consideration of the items set to be forwarded to the closing plenaries of the Subsidiary Bodies (SBs), scheduled for the next day.
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COP/CMA
Guidance to the Green Climate Fund; Guidance to the Global Environment Facility: In informal consultations, Co-Facilitators Toru Sugio (Japan) and Richard Muyungi (Tanzania) invited parties to reflect on a compilation of submissions received from parties on guidance to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), starting with guidance from the COP. Sugio explained that a compilation of submissions on guidance for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was being prepared. Many countries noted they had not yet received the GCF compilation, while others noted it had 125 paragraphs and was convoluted. Agreeing with the assessment, Sugio explained that parties had not yet provided the co-facilitators a mandate to prepare draft text. All parties agreed to mandate the co-facilitators to streamline the text, making specific suggestions on how to do this and highlighting their priority issues and “red lines.”
On suggestions for streamlining, parties requested removing: duplication; repetition in areas where guidance already exists; and elements contradicting the GCF Governing Instrument. A developing country group pointed out that parties’ understanding of what constitutes a contradiction with the Governing Instrument varies, with a developed country suggesting the co-facilitators focus on paragraphs most likely to achieve consensus.
On priorities and red lines, many developed countries called for keeping the guidance at a high, strategic level and avoiding micromanaging the GCF Board, including on issues already decided or under consideration, or preempting the quantity of the second GCF replenishment. Countries called for inclusion of, inter alia, gender considerations, access policies, complementarity with other institutions, and REDD+. One developing country group cautioned against including guidance that reinterprets the UNFCCC or its principles. A developing country opposed language on just transitions. Several developed countries called for GCF-related elements discussed under other items, including loss and damage and national adaptation plans, to be centralized under this item.
On a compilation of submissions for CMA guidance, parties provided the co-facilitators a similar streamlining mandate. They disagreed on whether and how to include guidance relating to Paris Agreement Article 2.1(c) (on consistency of finance flows). Muyungi explained that compilations of GEF guidance submissions would be available on Saturday morning, 12 November, and the co-facilitators would endeavor to provide draft text for both entities by the end of the first week.
Matters Relating to Funding Arrangements Responding to Loss and Damage Associated with the Adverse Effects of Climate Change, Including a Focus on Addressing Loss and Damage: In informal consultations, Co-Facilitator Julio Cordano (Chile) noted that parties had made important progress in sharing general expectations, and invited a focus on: elements for the outcome from COP 27/CMA 4; timeline for work through 2024; potential work under the SBs; and the role of the Glasgow Dialogue on loss and damage.
On elements for the outcome, developing countries listed, inter alia: acknowledgement of the gap between needs and support; new, additional, and adequate financing; and creating an operational entity and “a series of conversations to develop the details of this entity.”
On the timeline and work for the SBs, a developed country suggested mandating the SBI to implement the work programme under this item and report on its progress, and that a decision be taken at the COP/CMA in 2024. Another developed country suggested mandating SB discussions on this item.
On the role of the Glasgow Dialogue, developed countries made various suggestions, including: considering the current loss and damage support landscape, including how relevant institutions can provide support, coordinating these actors, and identifying gaps and ways to address these gaps; and mapping potential sources of funding. They proposed technical papers, further workshops, national and regional meetings, ministerial roundtables, submissions, inputs from initiatives being established in and outside the UNFCCC, and special and annual reports to the COP/CMA. One developed country said that form should follow function, calling for “time to get it right” while recognizing the urgency of the matter.
Developing countries observed that developed countries’ proposals seemed to contradict the sense of urgency they proclaimed, noting that discussions have been ongoing for more than a decade and calling for a political decision to create a fund for loss and damage.
Informal consultations will continue on Saturday, 12 November.
CMP
Report of the Adaptation Fund Board: In informal consultations, co-facilitated by Diann Black-Layne (Antigua and Barbuda) and Eva Schreuder (Netherlands), parties diverged on whether to welcome and name parties that had made pledges, regardless of whether they had signed contribution agreements, or welcome all announced pledges but note those still outstanding. Calling this an accountability issue, a developing country group, supported by others, preferred either the latter option or, as an alternative, simply omitting the names of parties with announced but outstanding pledges. They also exchanged views on whether to specify a preference for pledges to the Fund to be “multi-annual” and an invitation for voluntary contributions from non-party stakeholders. On text relating to opportunities for streamlining processes, a developed country proposed adding “project approval” to the scope. A developing country group opposed, noting accreditation and project approval processes are very different and including the latter would be inappropriate. The co-facilitators will circulate revised text.
SBI
Fourth Review of the Adaptation Fund: In informal consultations, Co-Facilitators Black-Layne and Schreuder described changes to the draft text compared to the previous iteration, including: adding, in a preambular paragraph, a reference to the importance of share of proceeds; and noting that the previous resource mobilization strategy is the first to refer to funding by subnational governments, the private sector, and charitable foundations.
Parties strongly diverged on the level of participation accorded to countries that are parties to the Paris Agreement but not the Kyoto Protocol in the decision-making discussions on this agenda item. The Secretariat’s legal advisor confirmed several developing country groups’ and countries’ interpretation that non-parties cannot participate in decision making and therefore cannot make interventions on CMP decision text to be forwarded to the SBI plenary unless the interventions are channeled through parties.
Parties also debated whether to: include references to Decision 1/CMA.3 paragraph 18, on doubling developed countries’ provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing countries; and note “with deep concern” the continued issues related to the sustainability, adequacy, and predictability of financial contributions to the Fund. On the upcoming fifth review of the Fund, after lengthy exchanges, parties agreed to request the SBI to report back to “its governing bodies” at COP 31 (2026) without specifying which bodies these are.
Other outstanding points could not be addressed and the co-facilitators noted they will forward the draft text incorporating agreed amendments to the SBI Chair.
Matters Relating to the Clean Development Mechanism Registry: In informal consultations, co-facilitated by Kate Hancock (Australia) and Sonam Tashi (Bhutan), parties reviewed co-facilitators’ draft text on this item, issued on Wednesday, 9 November.
In addition to editorial suggestions, comments focused on two paragraphs. On a paragraph clarifying that only certified emission reductions (CERs) held in permanent holding accounts may be transferred to the Article 6.4 mechanism registry, one developing country group viewed that CERs from pending accounts should also be eligible. Parties agreed to delete this paragraph.
On a sub-paragraph on transfer requests requiring approval from the host party of the CER-generating activity, parties discussed whether host parties should “approve” or “inform,” which entity should play this role, and whether they should also approve the CERs’ use. Hancock proposed additional language to clarify the approving authority and CERs’ use toward nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
Noting a lack of consensus on this sub-paragraph, the co-facilitators informed parties they will prepare a new text iteration to reflect consensus on other paragraphs and consult the SBI Chair on the way forward.
Reporting and Review Pursuant to Article 13 of the Paris Agreement: Provision of financial and technical support to developing countries for reporting and capacity-building: In informal consultations, co-facilitated by Tian Wang (China) and Helen Plume (New Zealand), parties considered draft conclusions, engaging in textual negotiations on a number of paragraphs.
A developing country group called for the SBI to urge the GEF to at least double the resources it provides for biennial transparency reports and provide no less than USD 1 million per country. Several developed countries pointed to lengthy negotiations on the GEF’s eight replenishment and noted the matter should be taken up in the negotiations on guidance to the GEF.
Several developed countries cautioned against preempting the outcome of the continued consideration of challenges that developing countries face in implementing the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) at SBI 58 and opposed references to a long-term workplan. Parties converged on specifying this be done with a view to facilitating the development of sustainable institutional capacity of developing countries, particularly least developed countries and small island developing states, to meet their obligations under Paris Agreement Article 13 (on transparency).
Other amendments related to noting capacity gaps in establishing and enhancing reporting systems, and noting existing support provided through multilateral and bilateral channels.
The co-facilitators said they will forward the draft text incorporating agreed amendments to the SBI Chair.
SBSTA
Guidance on Cooperative Approaches Referred to in Article 6.2: Co-Facilitators Kuki Soejachmoen (Indonesia) and Peer Stiansen (Norway) introduced new draft text containing draft procedural SBSTA conclusions and a bracketed draft CMA decision containing guidance on the Article 6.2 cooperative approaches. Many parties noted they had not had the opportunity to consider the text and suggested holding informal informals on the draft CMA decision to try and achieve further convergence.
Discussions continued in informal informals.
For more Information, please, download the Document here below:
The Climate Chance Summit Africa 2023 will bring together on the 23rd, 24th and 2th of October 2023 at the Palais des Congrès in Yaounde 1,500 African actors from the "climate community": high-level personalities, experts, actors in the field, representatives of local governments, businesses and organised civil society.
Celebrations for World Environment Day 2023 kicked off in host-country Cote d’Ivoire, as millions of people prepare for similar activities across the world. Venues across the capital city, Abidjan – from its historic lagoon to its first modern art museum - shone the spotlight on this year’s theme #Beat Plastic Pollution.
Congo Basin Carbon brings together information on various research and education projects in the Yangambi and Luki MAB Reserves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through this website we hope to strengthen research networks and improve project visibility, specifically for carbon research. Tropical rainforests such as the forests of the Congo Basin comprise nearly half of the world’s vegetation carbon. Intact tropical forests represent a carbon sink at a level that is higher than other vegetation types. The issues of carbon stocks, sinks and sources in tropical forests are therefore a central topic in international policy debates on climate changes.
At last year’s United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), 141 leaders committed to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation by 2030. Forests, particularly tropical ones, are known to play a crucial role in removing carbon from the atmosphere, partially offsetting the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. This is a highly valuable service to the global climate, meaning the world should be willing to pay to ensure it happens. In this policy note, we look at just how valuable that service is, and put that in the context of aid efforts to protect forests.
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The world is getting a better understanding of just how important forests are in the global fight against climate change. New research, published in Nature Climate Change and available on Global Forest Watch, found that the world’s forests sequestered about twice as much carbon dioxide as they emitted between 2001 and 2019. In other words, forests provide a “carbon sink” that absorbs a net 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 per year, 1.5 times more carbon than the United States emits annually.
This brief describes the first efforts to integrate agroforestry with charcoal production in the Yangambi tropical forest landscape. Activities resulted in both increased food crop production and reforestation, as well as the establishment of producer-led local associations and greater collaboration between communities and local authorities.
The GEF Secretariat prepared this document to summarize the GEF’s potential role in a financial mechanism for the internationally legally binding instrument under negotiation 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 (BBNJ). The document is prepared to help inform deliberations. It also includes questions and answers to key issues raised thus far by countries. GEF’s role as Convention Financial Mechanism: The GEF serves as a/the financial mechanism for five Conventions, namely the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Minamata Convention on Mercury, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Chemicals, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
On May 8, 2023, in the BOUN'S Hotel conference, in Yaoundé, a workshop was held to launch the process of drawing up the Cameroon Country Investment Plan (CIP) on the nexus of transboundary transhumance, protected areas, peace and security, and development. Please download the final communiqué of the workshop...
Geneva and Yaoundé, 26 May 2023. The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Land Planning of Cameroon (MINEPAT) and CAFI are launching two Calls for Expressions of Interest today to all relevant implementing organisations concerned, representing a maximum of 60 million US$.
WWF is supporting the Government of Cameroon in her effort to restore more than 12 million hectares of degraded landscapes in the country. In 2017, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife committed, on behalf of the Government of Cameroon, to restore 12,062,768 ha of degraded landscapes under AFR100 and the Bonn Challenge by 2030. Of these, 80% are in the three northern regions of Adamaoua, North and Far North; with the remainder in the high plateau, Centre region, vast forest and coastal areas (Mangroves).
As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting transparent and accountable governance of climate and environmental funds, we are pleased to invite you to two upcoming online sessions. These sessions will offer valuable insights, strategies, and best practices for combating corruption, and reinforce our collective efforts to create a more sustainable future. We hope you will join us for these important discussions.
International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated each year on 22 May, is an opportunity to not only acknowledge the crucial role healthy biodiversity plays in the survival of the planet but also to assess the nature crisis. With the theme ‘From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity,’ this year’s Day follows the historic adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 196 nations at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022.
Bukavu, May 10, 2023 – The Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB) is deeply saddened to announce the death of its ecoguard Alain Lukinga, born in Kakongya on June 12, 1989, who sacrificed his life for the protection of the PNKB in an armed clash in Cibumbiro between the villages of Kajeje and Lukananda in the Mudaka groupement, in Kabare territory in South Kivu.
From April 19 to 20, 2023 a workshop for the development of a national investment plan for Nigeria on transhumance and related topics was held in Abuja, NIGERIA. This workshop, funded by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany, aimed to...
The SWM Programme is the first international initiative to tackle the wild meat challenge by addressing both wildlife conservation and food security. It is an initiative from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD).
In a bid to boost indigenous people and local communities’ (IPLC) engagement in wildlife protection around Lobéké National Park in Southeast Cameroon, Lobéké Management has signed social pacts with 34 Bantu and Baka communities in the Park. Thirty-four social pacts were signed between the communities and the Lobeke Management in December 2022, with each pact corresponding to a community project worth FCFA 300,000.
This report highlights the impacts of direct as well as indirect deforestation through mining. It presents for the first time ever the deforestation embodied in the consumption of products and showcases the extensive deforestation potential that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) can have on forest ecosystems.
A new toll road in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province is under construction to improve access to the interior of Borneo, including to the nation’s new capital city, Nusantara. Construction of the road, however, poses immediate environmental risks, as the route cuts through a forested area with high conservation value that connects the Sungai Wain protected forest, coastal mangroves, and Balikpapan Bay. Prior to road construction, the integrated forest and coastal ecosystem supported populations of orangutans, sun bears, proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins. Conservationists say the construction of this toll road belies the Indonesian government’s claims that the development of the new capital will be green and sustainable.
The tobacco industry causes a fifth of Zimbabwe’s forest loss. What is being done to minimise this? At the beginning of this century, the Zimbabwean government embarked on an audacious land reform programme, ostensibly to correct the injustices suffered by local people when the land was colonised. The controversial programme saw an estimated 170,000 black Zimbabwean families – mostly small-scale farmers – taking over agricultural production from about 3,000 white-owned farms.
SAN MARTÍN, Peru (AP) — The Cordillera Azul National Park on the eastern flank of the Peruvian Andes takes in a sweep of Amazon rainforest, mountains and waterfalls in a territory about the size of Connecticut, so precious that tens of millions of dollars in carbon credits have been sold in a program that supporters said would protect its trees.
To fight climate change and biodiversity loss, the new law obliges companies to ensure products sold in the EU have not led to deforestation and forest degradation. While no country or commodity will be banned, companies will only be allowed to sell products in the EU if the supplier of the product has issued a so-called “due diligence” statement confirming that the product does not come from deforested land or has led to forest degradation, including of irreplaceable primary forests, after 31 December 2020.
A number of reports have found that an Indonesian government program to establish large-scale agricultural plantations across the country has led to deforestation. More than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of forests, including carbon-rich peatlands, have been cleared in Central Kalimantan province for the so-called food estate program, according to a spatial analysis by the NGO Pantau Gambut. Last year, the NGO Kaoem Telapak detected 100 hectares (250 acres) of deforestation in food estate areas in North Sumatra. Villagers whose lands have been included in the program have also reported an increase in the severity of floods since their forests were cleared to make way for the food estates.
Press release 3 May 2023 | The German government will make two billion euros available for the Green Climate Fund (GCF). German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the commitment at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin today. This makes Germany the first major donor to announce its contribution for the upcoming pledging conference for the Green Climate Fund. The conference will take place in Bonn on 5 October and will be chaired by Development Minister Svenja Schulze. The Green Climate Fund is one of the largest climate action funds of the world. The creation of the fund was an important objective of the developing countries, which have an equal say in how funds are spent on climate mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries.
With GEF and LDCF support, Nespresso, IUCN, and TechnoServe are working together to promote more sustainable and resilient coffee farming practices in South Kivu. Antoinette Shabanyere’s 1,800-tree coffee farm in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is at the forefront of efforts by local communities to adapt to climate change.
The Second Consultation Meeting (CM-2) for GCF’s second replenishment (GCF-2) was held on 27-28 April. Hosted by GCF and moderated by Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the replenishment facilitator, the two-day virtual meeting convened over 100 current and prospective contributors where they received updates on GCF and discussed matters related to the replenishment process.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Suze Percy-Filippini is impressed with the progress made by the department of Forestry in the implementation of the Forest Farm Facility –FFF Program in the Choma District of Southern Province.
This case study forms part of a series of six case studies on mobilizing internal finance within Forest and Farm Producer Organization (FFPOs) prepared by forest and farm FFPOs for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). It describes the Jwa Ngwaane Community Cooperative Credit Union, established by the Kassena Nankana Baobab Cooperative Union (KANBAOCU) through the mobilization of 96 Village Savings and Loans Associations.
The African Regional Exchange, a three-day workshop co-organized with CIFOR-ICRAF, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute and the Kenya Forest Service, brought together farmers, bankers, governments, and development partners from across Africa to discuss ways to ensure smallholder farmers have access to the finance they need to improve and scale up sustainable forest and farm management practices.
This agrobiodiversity case study (No.6) from Zambia is the sixth of six case studies prepared by forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). It describes the actions of the Choma District Tree Nursery and Growers Association (CDTNA). CDTNA represents 111 members, either individual nursery growers or collective enterprises that furnish diverse tree seedlings for forest and agroforestry restoration projects across Southern Zambia.
Oyéoussi Charles Balogoun is the Africa Representative of the NGO Panel under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Civil Society Panel (CSO Panel) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) represents nearly 500 organisations accredited to the Convention. Charles Balogoun is also the Global President and Chairman of the Board of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Afrique Espérance. He answers ENVIRONNEMENTALES’s questions on the state of desertification in Africa.
A common vision of sustainable finance is being developed in Central Africa. The project is at the heart of an international forum scheduled for 8 and 9 May 2023 in Douala, Cameroon, under the theme « Trajectories towards sustainable finance ». An initiative of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN).
Delegates to the Sixth Meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development emphasized the need for forward-looking, high-impact initiatives involving all relevant actors, to enable the structural transformations Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) needs to “resume and sustain the path to 2030.”
Kenya loses 2–2.4 percent of its gross domestic product annually due to the effects of climate change, such as drought and floods according to according to a 2018 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics study. Droughts alone cost the country 8 percent of GDP every five years. Arid and semi-arid rangelands (ASALs) occupy over 80 percent of Kenya’s landscape, and are home to about 36 percent of the total human population, and seventy per cent of the nation’s livestock and 90% of wildlife. Livestock's contributions account for 80 percent of household incomes in arid lands, and 65 percent in semi-arid lands.
Sitting at the forefront of the climate crisis, forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) have a vital role in supporting smallholder resilience and attaining climate change and biodiversity goals. Together, their members have a transformative potential to achieve sustainable development and respond to climate change at scale.