The French Presidency of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC and the incoming COP 22 Moroccan Presidency have issued an aide-mémoire summarizing the informal consultations on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and a reflections note on taking the Paris Agreement forward.
The note contains proposals for the organization of work during the 44th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 44) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 44) and the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA 1) as well as during COP 22.
6 May 2016: The French Presidency of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC and the incoming COP 22 Moroccan Presidency have issued an aide-mémoire summarizing the informal consultations on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and a reflections note on taking the Paris Agreement forward. The note contains proposals for the organization of work during the 44th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 44) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 44) and the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA 1) as well as during COP 22.
The aide-mémoire addresses the informal consultations, which took place in Paris, France, from 15-16 April 2016. The consultations took stock of common tasks to be completed after Paris, reflecting on “the road through Bonn, Marrakech and beyond to the entry into force of the Agreement and its full application.” In it, the Presidencies identify a number of issues that could inform the preparations for the Bonn Climate Change Conference relating to: working for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement; ensuring coherent and balanced implementation of the work programme to implement the Paris Agreement as set out in the decision adopting the Paris Agreement (decision 1/CP.21); delivering means of implementation; and pre-2020 action.
Chaired by Ambassadors Laurence Tubiana and Aziz Mekouar of the respective COP presidencies, the meeting brought together chief negotiators from over 50 Parties to the UNFCCC, SBI and SBSTA and representatives from the UNFCCC Secretariat. Tubiana and Mekouar will report on the aide-mémoire at the the Bonn Climate Change Conference, which is convening from 16-26 May 2016 in Bonn, Germany.
The reflections note contains the Presidencies’ views on how to promote the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and on the preparations for the Bonn Climate Change Conference. The Presidencies invite Parties to focus their work on the operationalization of the Paris Agreement as soon as possible by taking forward the work programme “in a comprehensive, coherent and balanced manner.”
The reflections note also includes: a diagram illustrating the allocation of new agenda items in the provisional agendas of the SBI, SBSTA and APA; and an overview of the tasks in tabular format indicating the respective bodies/actors and the timelines as specified in decision 1/CP.21, prepared by the Secretariat.
COP 21 President Ségolène Royal will open the proceedings at the Bonn Climate Change Conference after chairing the COP Bureau meeting on 15 May 2016. [French and Moroccan COP Presidencies’ Aide-Mémoire] [French and Moroccan COP Presidencies’ Reflections Note] [UNFCCC Press Release] [Bonn Climate Change Conference Webpage] [APA 1 Provisional Annotated Agenda] [SBI 44 Provisional Annotated Agenda] [SBSTA 44 Provisional Annotated Agenda] [IISD RS Coverage of the Bonn Climate Change Conference]