4 February 2014: The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) has released an informal note containing the reflections of the Co-Chairs on progress made during the third part of the second session and on its work in 2014 (ADP.2014.1.InformalNote). The note addresses the 2015 agreement, preparation of national contributions, pre-2010 ambition and high-level engagement.

In the note, ADP Co-Chairs Kishan Kumarsingh (Trinidad and Tobago) and Artur Runge-Metzger (EU) welcome progress made by parties at the 19th session of the Conference of the parties (COP 19) in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2013, and encourage parties to maintain “this positive spirit” and “intensify and deepen” their exchange in order to reach an agreement. Noting that the ADP has less than two years to finalize its work, the Co-Chairs indicate that in their view, in 2014 the ADP needs to: continue to elaborate all the elements of the 2015 agreement in concrete terms; clarify information guidance on national contributions as early as possible, preferably be the end of the first half of 2014; and unlock significant opportunities for raising pre-2020 ambition. They also note the need to decide whether additional negotiating time in the second half of 2014 will be required.

On the 2015 agreement, the Co-Chairs stress the importance of dedicated work on the content of the agreement in textual form, adding that the starting point is that the agreement will be applicable to all parties, under the Convention, and guided by its objective and principles. On the intended nationally determined contributions, they underline that parties will have to: decide how they will be presented, received, considered and captured in the 2015 agreement; explore which aspects would need to be binding and how they would be made binding; and address the aggregate and long-term perspective in view of the upper limit of acceptable warming of 2°C.

Other elements of the 2015 agreement highlighted by the Co-Chairs include: how to strengthen national adaptation plans (NAPs) and enhance the link between global and national efforts; clarification of the framework needed to facilitate, enable, catalyze and support the needed transition to a low-emission, climate-resilient development path; ways to mobilize and scale up climate finance, and barriers to this mobilization; market and non-market approaches; transparency, including measurement, reporting and verification (MRV); and placement of each element of the agreed outcome in the agreement itself for in subsequent decisions.

On pre-2020 ambition, the Co-Chairs state that opportunities to raise the level of ambition have been identified, underscoring the need to realize them. They add that the technical expert meetings in 2014 will need to focus on: seizing opportunities; addressing barriers to implementation; and turning the mitigation potential into reality.

On high-level engagement, the Co-Chairs indicate that they will continue to coordinate with the current and incoming presidencies in the preparations for the two in-session ministerial dialogues that will be held in June 2014 and at COP 20. [Publication: ADP Informal Note] [ADP March Session Webpage]