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