European Capacity Building Initiative
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The 2014 ecbi Bonn Seminar took place at the Altes Rathaus in Bonn, Germany, on the afternoon of 9 June. The Seminar was attended by over 45 negotiators and representatives from developing countries and Europe, including the two Chairs of the Ad-Hoc Group on the Durban Platform (ADP), the key negotiating body for the future climate agreement.
The 2014 ecbi Bonn Seminar took place at the Altes Rathaus in Bonn, Germany, on the afternoon of 9 June. The Seminar was attended by over 45 negotiators and representatives from developing countries and Europe, including the two Chairs of the Ad-Hoc Group on the Durban Platform (ADP), the key negotiating body for the future climate agreement. Discussions were held on: financial support for climate change; whether or not the post-2015 climate agreement should differentiate expected engagement of countries by using ex-ante country lists (Annexes); and how to ensure a just outcome, both with respect to equity (intragenerational justice) and ambition (intergenerational justice). Bo Kjellén, Co-Chair of the ecbi Advisory Committee, opened the meeting and chaired the sessions. The proceedings began with the reading of a message from the Lord Mayor of Bonn, Jürgen Nimptsch, who praised the ecbi for “opening doors for trust and understanding in the global climate debate by advancing an exchange between … North and South”
June 2014
The Berlin Mandate, adopted during the early hours of 7 April 1995, marked the end of the first Conference of Parties (COP 1) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Berlin, Germany.1 The Mandate was one of the most important decisions of the COP, paving the way for the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol.2 As Chief Negotiator for Sweden, I participated actively in high-level informal consultations before the Berlin COP. During the COP, I chaired a high-level working group on the Berlin Mandate, which was established at the very beginning of the conference and worked all through, with meetings practically every day. My reflections in this paper seek to provide an insider’s view of the Berlin Mandate process, and draw lessons for the ongoing negotiations for a post-2020 climate regime.
Process and Substance
May 2014
In a recent Concept Note,1 Benito Müller put forward the idea of a Southern Solidarity Fund (SSF) to receive voluntary contributions from developing countries for South-South climate change cooperation. It is meant to be established by the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC or Convention) with a developing country Board, and to be operated by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), as an operating entity of the FCCC financial mechanism. As such, it is meant to give developing countries ‘the opportunity to provide support to their peers for climate change activities’2 which ‘should be able to avail itself of the best available delivery systems, such as is hoped will be established under the Green Climate Fund, in particular through Enhanced Direct Access, where operational decision-making is devolved to recipient countries.’
Legal Options and Challenges
May 2014
QELROs in Paris: How to create room for legally binding (mitigation) obligations in the 2015 climate agreement
An OCP/ecbi Legal Note
May 2014
Capacity Building is not only ‘Training’: Lessons learned on the provision of advice as ‘capacity building’ for climate change negotiators
OCP/ecbi Discussion Note
May 2014
ecbi Annual Report 2013/14
FY 2013-2014 marked the penultimate year of the current Phase III of the ecbi, a time for taking stock in order to plan for the future. A Sida funded independent evaluation of the activities between 2011 and 2013 found that the ecbi has achieved its overall outcomes. The ecbi was found to fulfil a need not met by other initiatives and to have become an established presence in the climate change negotiation field − set apart by its participatory, impartial, developing country-led approach, which...
May 2014
Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Indonesian government during the recent Green Climate Fund Board meeting in Bali, Mr. Bambang Brodjonegoro, the Vice Minister of Finance, stated: ‘During this Board Meeting in Bali, Indonesia announces its pledge to contribute to the Fund. Indonesia also stands ready if all countries are required to contribute for the capital base of the Fund. I am hoping this contribution can support the Fund’s activities in helping developing countries to prepare and finance emissions reduction and adaptation programs, including capacity building programs under the South-South Cooperation that replicate the success stories of climate change programmes in other countries. I do hope other more capable countries can consider making pledges, or adding to their pledges, or making an indication of their pledges during this Bali meeting.’ The significance of this announcement should not be underestimated. It signals the readiness of a major developing country to provide...
Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Indonesian government during the recent Green Climate Fund Board meeting in Bali, Mr. Bambang Brodjonegoro, the Vice Minister of Finance, stated: ‘During this Board Meeting in Bali, Indonesia announces its pledge to contribute to the Fund. Indonesia also stands ready if all countries are required to contribute for the capital base of the Fund. I am hoping this contribution can support the Fund’s activities in helping developing countries to prepare and finance emissions reduction and adaptation programs, including capacity building programs under the South-South Cooperation that replicate the success stories of climate change programmes in other countries. I do hope other more capable countries can consider making pledges, or adding to their pledges, or making an indication of their pledges during this Bali meeting.’ The significance of this announcement should not be underestimated. It signals the readiness of a major developing country to provide voluntary support for South-South Cooperation on climate change through the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
A GCF Operated Southern Solidarity Fund
April 2014
