2 March 2010: The eighth informal meeting on ‘Further Actions against Climate Change’ convened in Tokyo, Japan, from 1-2 March 2010, under the chairmanship of Akihiko Furuya (Japan) and Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado (Brazil). The meeting was attended by: representatives of 28 countries; the European Commission; UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer; Janos Pasztor, Director of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team; Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe, Chair of Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the UNFCCC (AWG-LCA); and Harald Dovland, Vice-Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AGW-KP).
Participants addressed the outcomes of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, the expected outcomes of the next Conference of the Parties (COP), and actions under the Copenhagen Accord, which was recognized as containing “political understandings in many areas.” Participants also discussed: ways to make progress on mitigation; monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV); finance; technology; reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD)-plus; and carbon markets. In particular, they discussed: the requirements for, and frequency of submission of, national communications for both Annex I Parties and non-Annex I Parties; fast-start financing; and the establishment of new mechanisms such as the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund, a REDD-plus mechanism, and a Technology Mechanism.
On the upcoming climate negotiations, participants agreed on the need to explore various ways and means to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the discussions under the Ad Hoc Working Groups and COP, noting that informal consultations among parties could complement, and make substantive contribution to the success of, the UN negotiation. They recognized that informal consultations should be inclusive and transparent, and not alternative to the UN process. Participants agreed to hold their ninth meeting in early 2011, in Tokyo, Japan.
Country representatives at the eighth meeting included: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, UK, US, and Yemen. [Co-chairs’ Summary] [List of Participants] [Climate Change Policy & Practice’s post about the UNFCCC Executive Secretary’s Statement]