23 October 2015: Parties to the UNFCCC met for the 11th part of the second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2-11) in Bonn, Germany, to continue negotiations on the agreement of the Paris Climate Change Conference. At the end of the week-long meeting, Parties issued two non-papers, one containing draft agreement text and draft decision text related to the agreement (workstream 1 of ADP’s mandate) and the other containing draft decision text related to pre-2020 ambition (workstream 2).

Convening from 19-23 October 2015, the Bonn Climate Change Conference was the last in a series of meetings under the UNFCCC in preparation for the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21), scheduled to take place in November-December 2015, in Paris, France. In their scenario note (ADP.2015.7.InformalNote), ADP Co-Chairs Ahmed Djoghlaf (Algeria) and Daniel Reifsnyder (US) identified the objective of the session as intensifying the pace of text-based negotiations among Parties, with a view to preparing the draft Paris climate package for presentation at the opening of COP 21.

In preparation for the session, the Co-Chairs prepared, as mandated by ADP 2-10, two non-papers (ADP.2015.8.InformalNote and ADP.2015.9.InformalNote) with draft agreement and decision text under workstream 1, and draft decision text under workstream 2. The non-papers were meant to capture the discussions of ADP 2-10, which took place in August-September 2015, and work at ADP 2-11 began with Parties’ reactions to these non-papers. Parties noted many missing elements and inserted “must-have” text into the non-papers. The revised non-papers with these insertions were re-issued the next day and served as the basis of work for the session.

Negotiators then discussed the articles of the draft agreement and relevant sections of decision text throughout the week, in closed spin-off groups on: preamble and purpose (Article 2)/general (Article 2bis); mitigation (Article 3); adaptation, and loss and damage (Articles 4 and 5); finance (Article 6); technology development and transfer, and capacity building (Articles 7 and 8); transparency (Article 9); compliance (Article 11); and workstream 2. In addition, an open-ended contact group convened daily to take stock of progress and discuss issues not addressed in spin-off groups.

The revised texts resulting from the work of the spin-off groups were compiled and issued as two non-papers on workstream 1, dated 23 October 2015 at 23:30, and workstream 2, dated 23 October 2015 at 15:30. Parties agreed that these documents will serve as the basis of work when the ADP resumes its session in Paris. In addition, Parties decided to request the Secretariat to prepare a technical paper that identifies closely-related paragraphs and duplication within sections, and possible areas for streamlining, noting this should only be an editorial exercise that does not change the content of the text.

The meeting brought together over 2,400 participants, representing governments, observer organizations and the media.

The 12th part of the second session (ADP 2-12) will be held in conjunction with COP 21, taking place on 30 November-11 December 2015 in Paris, France. [IISD RS Coverage of ADP 2-11] [IISD RS Story on ADP 2-10] [IISD RS Story on Opening of ADP 2-11] [Draft agreement and draft decision on workstream 1 of the ADP: Version of 23 October 2015@23:30hrs] [Draft decision on workstream 2 of the ADP: Version of 23 October 2015@15:30hrs] [ADP 2-12 Information]