23 July 2012
UNFCCC Publishes Workshop Report on Increasing the Level of Ambition
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During the in-session workshop on increasing the level of ambition, participants discussed possible complementary activities for increasing the level of ambition, including: enhancing action through IMO and ICAO; reducing or removing fossil-fuel subsidies to level the playing field for clean energy technologies; and enabling new mitigation technologies through cooperation and partnerships.

20 July 2012: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published the report (FCCC/ADP/2012/INF.1) of the in-session workshop on increasing the level of ambition, carried out in accordance with Durban Decision 1/CP.17 (AWG-LCA Outcome). In the Decision, the Conference of the Parties (COP) notes the significant gap between the aggregate effect of Parties’ mitigation pledges in terms of global annual emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2020, and aggregate emission pathways consistent with having a likely chance of holding the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C or 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

The workshop was held on 21 May 2012, during the first negotiating session held in 2012, which took place in Bonn, Germany. It provided participants the opportunity for deepening their understanding of the ambition gap and discuss ways for increasing ambition. Presentations addressed, inter alia, the potential roles of governments, international cooperation and the private sector, as well as the importance of mobilizing resources and support in enhancing ambition. Participants also discussed possible complementary activities for increasing the level of ambition, including: enhancing action through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); reducing or removing fossil-fuel subsidies to level the playing field for clean energy technologies; and enabling new mitigation technologies through cooperation and partnerships.

On options for possible future actions, participants emphasized the need to consider ambition holistically, and suggested four possible ways for raising the ambition, namely: implementing UNFCCC Secretariat and related UN-wide initiatives; assessing complementary initiatives; increasing the level of details in reporting; and sharing information to enhance trust.

The report may be considered by the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), and is relevant to the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA). [Publication: Report of the Workshop on Increasing the Level of Ambition]

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