31 July 2015: During an informal ministerial meeting held in preparation for the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC, ministers discussed characteristics of the anticipated Paris agreement, differentiation and ambition, according to an aide-mémoire released by the Peruvian COP 20 Presidency and incoming French COP 21 Presidency. In addition, Parties discussed next steps in the lead-up to COP 21.

While Parties did seek to clarify positions, the meeting was not a negotiation and did not result in an agreed conclusion, according to the document. Summarizing the main points of the discussion on general characteristics, the aide-mémoire of the presidencies point to “considerable common ground” on areas such as the universality of the agreement, highlighting the concept of nationally-determined contributions as a “game-changer” that enables universal participation.

On differentiation, areas of common understanding listed in the document include that, inter alia: in practice differentiation will be applied differently depending on the element of the agreement (i.e. transparency, mitigation, adaptation, support); and the new agreement should be non-punitive, and incentivize progression and ambition. The presidencies note that further discussion on how to operationalize differentiation for each element of the agreement will be necessary.

Discussion points related to ambition on which participants largely concurred include: raising ambition concerns both pre-2020 and post-2020 action; Parties should not have to negotiate a new agreement every five or ten years; and a dynamic agreement could allow for periodic rounds of contributions, with no backtracking on ambition. The document also notes areas for more discussion, such as the potential for adaptation goal(s), operational aspects of adaptation, and constructive solutions for loss and damage.

Forty-six Parties, including 31 at the ministerial level, took part in the meeting, which was held on 20-21 July 2015, in Paris, France. It followed two consultations held for lead negotiators on 20-22 March 2015, in Lima, Peru, and on 6-8 May 2015, in Paris, France. Ministers will report back from the meeting to their negotiators, and the two presidencies will recap the discussions at the next meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) to be held 31 August – 4 September 2015. A second informal ministerial meeting will be held in Paris, France, on 6-7 September 2015. [Aide-Mémoire] [IISD RS Story on Informal Ministerial Consultations]