18 May 2010: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published its second newsletter for 2010, which includes a video address from Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, in which he notes the need for “firmer, fast achievable action across the whole spectrum of climate responses,” emphasizing that negotiations must produce a clear common understanding of what Cancun can deliver.
In the address, de Boer notes the need for implementation architecture in Cancun that can lead to robust action in mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, capacity building and forests. On the legal form of an agreement, he underlines that there is no shared view of what “legally binding” means in practice. De Boer calls for ambition and continued political leadership for long-term success. Highlighting issues to be addressed in Cancun, he lists: greater ambition to cut or limit emissions; the future of the Kyoto Protocol; long term finance; and the role of markets and mechanisms.
The newsletter also focuses on fast start financing and summarizes activities and outputs under mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance. An update is provided on the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP), highlighting new documentation for upcoming June sessions of the Working Groups in Bonn, Germany.
The newsletter also includes a guest article on scaling up institutional investment in climate solutions by Aled Jones, Deputy Director, University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, in which he addresses major market risk. [The Newsletter]