23 November 2013: Negotiations during the Warsaw Climate Change Conference focused on the implementation of agreements reached at previous meetings, including pursuing the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP). Parties considered the issue of sustainable development in a number of agenda items.

The Conference, which took place from 11-23 November 2013, in Poland, included the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 9).

In discussions on the ADP and adaptation, Indonesia, China and the Republic of Korea stressed the link between adaptation and sustainable development. In the decision on the ADP adopted at the conclusion of the meeting, the ADP requests the Secretariat to, inter alia, enhance the visibility on the UNFCCC website of actions with high mitigation potential, including actions of public and private entities with adaptation and sustainable development co-benefits.

The decision on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), inter alia, urges the CDM Executive Board to expedite evaluating the use of the voluntary sustainable development tool and to report on its findings to the CMP; and requests the Executive Board to develop guiding tools to assist designated national authorities in monitoring the sustainable development benefits in its territory of CDM activities. The CDM sustainable development tool aims to assist in the declaration of sustainable benefits and impacts of a CDM project or programme of activities that can be used for small, large, forest or non-forest activities.

A Workshop on Urbanization and the Role of Governments in Facilitating Climate Action in Cities, held on 14 November, discussed: policies promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in transport and buildings; the financing gap in infrastructure needs of developing countries; and the role of non-state actors in the ADP process. [IISD RS Meeting Coverage]