3 August 2016: From 7-18 November 2016, in Marrakesh, Morocco, the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP) will convene for the first time since it adopted the Paris Agreement in December 2015. In addition to the 22nd session of the COP (COP 22), the 12th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12), the 45th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 45) and of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 45), as well as the second part of the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA 1-2) will take place during the Marrakesh Climate Change Conference. The UNFCCC Secretariat has recently released the provisional agendas for all five of these meetings.

The APA, SBSTA and SBI all have various tasks related to preparing for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. The APA is expected to take up issues related to providing further guidance on the features of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and their possible adaptation component and/or other adaptation communication. According to the agenda, it will also consider, inter alia, the modalities, procedures and guidelines for the enhanced transparency framework under the Agreement and the committee to facilitate implementation and promote compliance, as well as the inputs and modalities of the global stocktake outlined in Article 14 of the Agreement.

For its part, the SBSTA is tasked with matters related to the new technology framework under the Paris Agreement, considering how the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will inform the global stocktake, and determining the modalities, work programme and functions under the Paris Agreement of the forum on the impact of the implementation of response measures, as well as modalities for accounting of public financial resources for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. The SBSTA agenda also includes cooperative approaches, non-market approaches and the sustainable development mechanism under the Paris Agreement.

In relation to the Paris Agreement, the SBI is to develop the modalities and procedures for the NDC and adaptation communication registry or registries. It will also consider the scope and modalities for the periodic assessment of the Technology Mechanism in relation to supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement and Paris Committee on Capacity-building.

Other items on the SBSTA’s agenda include: the Nairobi work programme on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change (NWP); issues relating to agriculture; and methodological issues under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. The SBI is also anticipated to take up, among other things: reporting under the Convention; Kyoto Protocol mechanisms; matters relating to the least developed countries (LDCs); national adaptation plans (NAPs); and gender and climate change. The SBSTA and SBI also share a joint item on the impact of the implementation of response measures.

According to the COP’s agenda, it will discuss preparations for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement and the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1). In addition, the COP may work on: matters related to the development and transfer of technology; the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM); capacity building; and matters related to finance.

The CMP is anticipated to take up: capacity building under the Kyoto Protocol; matters relating to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); matters relating to Joint Implementation (JI); matters relating to the Adaptation Fund; and reports from various bodies under the Protocol. Both the COP’s and CMP’s agendas also include a high-level segment. [Marrakesh Climate Change Conference UNFCCC Webpage] [APA 1-2 Provisional Agenda] [SBSTA 45 Provisional Agenda] [SBI 45 Provisional Agenda] [COP 22 Provisional Agenda] [CMP 12 Provisional Agenda]