UN climate convention details key achievements

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Nations on November 18 agreed to launch the next steps towards higher climate action ambition before 2020 at the close of the annual United Nations climate conference held in the German city of Bonn.

Frank Bainimarama, president of the conference also known as “COP23” and Prime Minister of Fiji, said COP23 has been a success. “We have done the job we were given to do, which is to advance the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement and prepare for more ambitious action in the Talanoa Dialogue of 2018.”

The Talanoa Dialogue will be held in Poland next yet with the goal of revising upwards national climate action plans needed to put the world on track to meet pre-2020 ambition in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and the long-term goals of the two-year-old Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement’s central goal is keep the global average temperature rise below 2 Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5—the lower limit is deemed crucial for survival by many small islands and vulnerable countries.

Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Climate Change secretariat, said: “The conference has, with the adoption of the Talanoa Dialogue, delivered a launch-pad that can take us to that next stage of higher ambition. It has also advanced the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement so that by 2018 it can truly support sustained international cooperation and national efforts to realize a more secure, prosperous and better world for all.”

Some highlights from the 2017 UN climate conference:

Launch of Ocean Pathway Partnership: The partnership aims to encourage the climate negotiations process to address the relationship between climate change and the ocean.

Launch of InsuRelience Global Partnership: The partnership seeks to bring affordable insurance and other financial protection to millions of vulnerable people around the world.

Launch of the Fiji Clearing House for Risk Transfer: This new online resource will help connect vulnerable countries with the best available information on affordable insurance and solutions.

Finalization of the Gender Action Plan: Parties finalized the first-ever gender action plan, which aims to increase the participation of women in all United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)  processes.

Finalization of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform: This platform will provide direct and comprehensive means to give a greater voice to indigenous people in the climate negotiations.

Historic Breakthrough in Agriculture: Parties reached a historic agreement on agriculture that will help countries develop and implement new strategies for adaptation and mitigation within the sector.

Adaptation Fund: The fund, which supports community resilience projects in developing countries, was replenished with a total of US$93.3 million, exceeding this year’s funding target by $13 million.

Bonn-Fiji Commitment: Local and regional leaders officially pledged to take further, faster action to deliver the Paris Agreement at all levels of government.

Launch of the NDC Regional Hub: The NDC Partnership is establishing a new regional hub to support the implementation of NDCs in the Pacific.

With 197 parties, the UNFCCC has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.

Photo: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio