Over 50 delegates from 14 Pacific island countries joined the first official session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) session in Bonn, this month, where many of the discussions are focusing on how to operationalize the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, adopted in December last year.
To assist Pacific island countries present, SPREP, in partnership with other regional agencies such as the Pacific Islands Development Forum; UNDP Pacific Office, and with remote support from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, to provide on-site support to delegates. This built upon the results of the High Level Support Mechanism workshop that was held in Apia, Samoa, prior to the formal session, and builds upon the coordinated approach that was developed amongst Pacific partners in the lead up to COP 21 in December last year.
For this session, Pacific member countries prioritised the following issues:
- Advancing discussions on preparing for the 2016 Review of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage
- The design of the transparency and compliance mechanisms of the Paris Agreement
- Operationalising Nationally Determined Contributions, which set out countries emissions reductions under the Paris Agreement
Given that this session was still taking place when CCM was being developed this month, a full story on the outcomes of this session will be available in the next edition.
For any questions, please email Diane McFadzien ([email protected]).
* Some of the Pacific Island delegates, present in Bonn, for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change subsidiary bodies meetings. Photo Credt: Dr. Mahendra Kumar, Niue Delegation*