On 8 November 2017, over 450 delegates, including from 48 Parties, took part in the first ever 'Open Dialogue' between UNFCCC Parties and admitted observer constituencies organised by the Fijian Presidency at COP23 in Bonn. The Dialogue was opened by COP23 President, Frank Bainimarama and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa; and chaired by COP23 Climate Ambassador Deo Saran. It was divided into two sessions.

The first session, facilitated by Prof. Jean-Pascal van Ypersele from the Université Catholique de Louvain, discussed greater collaboration between Parties and non-Party stakeholders in enhancing and implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The session was guided by the following questions:

1. How are Parties and non-Party stakeholders collaborating with each other on enhancing and implementing NDCs?
2. How can NDCs be improved?
3. How best can non-Party stakeholders actively contribute and feed into the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue both directly and indirectly?

Session 2, facilitated by Prof. Benito Müller, University of Oxford, focused on enhancing access to, and participation in, UNFCCC negotiations and sessions by admitted observer organisations, with the focus on the following guiding questions:

1. Given that time management in Plenaries and Contact Groups is challenging, what are innovative ways to increase intervention opportunities?
2. Following the conclusions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, what should the next steps be throughout 2018 for Parties to make greater use of inputs by non-Party stakeholders in workshops and technical meetings, as well as through submissions?
3. What are good practices from other UN processes? How can they be applied in the UNFCCC?

A summary report of the Open Dialogue by the UNFCCC Secretariat will be developed in collaboration with admitted observer representatives, and posted on relevant websites.

COP23 Presidency's Report