United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - Twenty Fourth Conference of Parties

The Twenty Fourth Conference of Parties (COP 24) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) convened in Katowice, Poland from November 28th to December 14th, 2018. COP 24 comprised preparatory meetings and meetings of various Constituted Bodies under the UNFCCC, running simultaneously. These were:

• Preparatory meetings of the Alliance of Small Island States and G77 and China;
• Twenty Fourth Conference of Parties (COP24) to the UNFCCC;
• Fourteenth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP);
• Third part of the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA);
• Forty Ninth Session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 49);
• Forty Ninth Session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 49); 
• Seventh Part of the First Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA 1.7).

COP 24 was attended by over 22,000 participants, including nearly 14,000 government officials, over 7,000 representatives from UN bodies and agencies, intergovernmental organisations, and civil society organisations, and 1,500 members of the media. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was represented by Her Excellency Ambassador Pennelope Beckles, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, Mr. Kishan Kumarsingh, Head, Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit, Ministry of Planning and Development, Ms. Sindy Singh, Climate Change Specialist, Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit, Ministry of Planning and Development.  

COP 24 was primarily focused on finalising the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP), a set of decisions or “rules” meant to operationalise the Paris Agreement. At the end of the Conference, Parties adopted the Katowice Climate Package, which includes decisions on nearly all of the issues mandated as part of the PAWP. These include issues on guidance for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), common timeframes, the impact of the implementation of response measures; guidance for adaptation communication, matters relating to the transparency of finance,  a new collective quantified goal on finance, issues related to the Technology Mechanism, and the technology framework,  procedures, and guidelines for the transparency framework for action and support, the global stocktake and issues related to compliance.

T&T Representatives - From right, Her Excellency Ambassador Pennelope Beckles, 

Mr. Kishan Kumarsingh and Ms. Sindy Singh

Her Excellency Ambassador Pennelope Beckles (right) and Ms. Sindy Singh (left) 

participate at the Gender Responsive Technology Needs Assessment Workshop

Final National Workshop for the Project “Development of Minamata Initial Assessment for the Caribbean

Mercury is a highly toxic chemical, exposure to which can have serious health implications such as neurological and behavioural disorders, impairment of the digestive and immune systems, and in extreme cases death. The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international agreement developed in response to the immensely hazardous characteristics of this chemical. In an effort to facilitate the ratification and early implementation of the Convention, a sub-regional project entitled, “Development of Minamata Initial Assessments (MIA) in the Caribbean” was initiated. Trinidad and Tobago, in conjunction with three (3) other territories of the Caribbean participated in the project to conduct a mercury inventory for each island, and to determine the main mercury sources, legislative gaps and health and environmental impacts. There were also several communications materials developed under the project, and these along with the project’s results were shared over a series of Final National Results Workshops in October, 2018 in North and South Trinidad and in Tobago.

The aim of these Workshops were dissemination of the main aforementioned outputs of the project, inclusive of the communications materials which included vivid infographics as well as both national and regional videos. These were developed on both regional and national scope, to raise awareness and prompt action on the need for holistic mercury management. The format of the Workshops were designed to capture the audiences composed of key stakeholders but predominantly secondary school students, through the use of dramatic performances from the Drama Making a Difference (DMAD) Production Company.

Trinidad and Tobago is not yet a Party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury and thus we were pleased to have been given the opportunity to participate in this Minimata Initial Assessment (MIA) Project, as it afforded a more holistic and quantitative assessment into the status of mercury locally. Moving forward, the results of the study will be analysed and used to assist with the development of the policy directive, as the country develops a more definitive country position on signing the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Concurrently, it will also encourage more focused action on those sectors requiring more attention.

Ms. Keima Gardiner - Waste Management Specialist,  presents at the Workshop

DMAD Company during their performance

Student participants in Tobago

Student participants in North Trinidad

A student raises a question during the South Trinidad Workshop

Student participants in South Trinidad

2018 UN Biodiversity Conference: Investing in Biodiversity for People and Planet

The United Nations’ 14^th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held from 13-29 November, 2018, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, under the theme “Investing in biodiversity for people and planet”.

The Government of Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was represented at the CBD COP-14 by, Ms. Candace Amoroso, Biodiversity Specialist of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit, Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development. Ms. Amoroso formed part of the largest Caribbean contingent at any CBD COP this year, with eleven (11) countries being represented.

The conference concluded with broad international agreement on reversing the global destruction of nature and biodiversity loss, threatening all forms of life on Earth. To combat this crisis, Governments agreed to accelerate action to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, agreed in 2010, from now until 2020. Work to achieve these targets will take place at the global, regional, national and sub-national levels. The meeting also agreed on a comprehensive and participatory process for developing the post-2020 global biodiversity framework anticipated to be agreed upon at the next Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Beijing in 2020. The framework aims to safeguard nature and biodiversity for decades to come.

Ms. Candace Amoroso - Biodiversity Specialist

Mr. David Cooper, CBD Deputy Executive Secretary (first row, fourth from right) 

with delegates from the Caribbean

Communicating with IFPAMTT

Recently, a two-day communication workshop was held among stakeholders involved in the "Improving Forest and Protected Area Management in Trinidad and Tobago" project.  This workshop sought to review the journey in communication adopted by the project while building understanding of the processes involved in development of key communication products.  Read more about the activity at this link.