15 September 2014: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released a summary report (FCCC/SBI/2014/15) on the second Dialogue on Article 6 of the Convention, held during the 40th session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 40), on 5, 8 and 11 June 2014, in Bonn, Germany. The Dialogue, attended by over 120 representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (IGOs and NGOs), the private sector and the media, focused on good practices and lessons learned on public participation, awareness and access to information, and international cooperation on such matters.

The report contains: information on the mandate of the Dialogue; possible action by SBI; proceedings of the event; a summary of presentations and discussions; and a note on next steps. It explains that, as decided by the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 18), enhanced work on Article 6 of the Convention would take the form of an annual in-session dialogue, which would alternate in its focus between two focal areas: education and training; and public awareness, participation and access to information, with international cooperation as a cross-cutting theme.

The themes of the three sessions of the Dialogue were: public participation in climate change policy decision-making and action; raising public awareness of climate change and mobilizing climate action; and public access to information on climate change. Each session included presentations by parties, IGOs and NGOs, an expert panel discussion, and an in-depth dialogue with all participants. Public participation via social media was enabled via Twitter, with more than 100 tweets received under the hashtag #Art6Dialogue.

On possible action by SBI, the report notes that the Body may consider the information in the report with a view to determining appropriate actions arising from it. The report will be submitted to SBI 41 for its consideration. [Publication: Summary Report on the 2nd Dialogue on Article 6 of the Convention] [UNFCCC Article 6 Website]