COP 21 Climate Change Conference

The Paris Climate Change Conference convened from 29 November to 13 December 2015, in Paris, France. It included the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework  Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th  session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the  Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 11).

Three subsidiary bodies (SBs) also met, the 43rd sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 43) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 43), and the 12th part of the second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2-12).

Trinidad and Tobago participated in this monumental COP. The country was represented by the H.E Ambassador Eden Charles  Charge d' Affaires a.i. Permanent Mission of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations as well as staff of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit (MEAU) of the Ministry of Planning and Development; Mr. Kishan Kumarsingh (Head) and Ms. Jewel Batchasingh (Climate Change Specialist).

H.E. Ambassador Eden Charles delivering the country’s address at COP 21.

L-R: Ms. Batchasingh and Mr. Kumarsingh  participating at COP 21.

Focus in Paris centered on advancing negotiations on the Paris Outcome, including a legally-binding agreement and associated decisions, to fulfill the mandate outlined in Durban, South Africa, at COP 17, for the ADP “to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all   Parties” to be adopted at COP 21.

Parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement on December 12 in Paris, charting a fundamentally new course in the two-decade-old global climate effort. Furthermore, the unprecedented showing of action and support from all levels of society was widely  credited as an important factor in Paris’ success. 
 

>> Information on COP 21 and the resulting Paris Agreement can found on the UNFCCC website.

CARICOM Climate Change Negoitiators Meeting

The CARICOM Negotiators Meeting was organised by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and was held in St. Lucia during the period March 15- 16, 2013.  Ms Jewel Batchasingh, Climate Change/Ozone Specialist of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources represented Trinidad and Tobago at this strategic meeting.

The principal focus of this meeting was to:

•  Analyse the outcomes of Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP18/CMP 8) that occurred in December, 2012 and,

• Define the region’s objectives for the negotiations under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban  Platform and other subsidiary bodies especially in relation to the new institutions established under the Convention during the past two years.

 The Second Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) was carded to meet during the period April 29 – May 03, 2013 and therefore, the meeting sought to formalise the CARICOM climate change negotiating position prior to this second session of the ADP.

Outcomes from the COP18/CMP 8 were discussed by various thematic coordinators. These presentations engendered discussions which allowed for a better understanding of the various issues. A concept note was prepared by Trinidad and Tobago which proposed a way forward for on-going negotiations under the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

UNFCCC holds informal talks in Thailand

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held Informal Talks at Bangkok Thailand during August 26 to September 05, 2012 to support its ongoing cooperative efforts toward climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Mr Kishan Kumarsingh (left) in his capacity as Facilitator, AWG-LCA and

Mr Aysar Tayeb, Chair of the AWG-LCA

The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources representatives, Mr Kishan Kumarsingh and Ms Jewel Batchasingh attended the meeting on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago. This meeting saw the resumption of the following groups to advance decisions on climate change:

• Ad Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA)
• Ad Hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP)

The meeting also served as the forum for the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (AWG-ADP), which is a technical group organised to develop another protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties, which will come into force in 2015.

These talks had some measure of success in all three tracks, with the next key conference being the UNFCCC pre-COP meeting in the Republic of Korea, October 2012. Many developing countries believe that work cannot progress in the AWG-ADP until they are satisfied with the conclusions of the other two AWGs. 

In this context, it is felt that Bangkok met its objectives in illuminating the linkages and trade-offs among the three AWGs. The UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) is carded for Doha in November 2012 and is anticipated to be a difficult meeting as it seeks to end the AWG-LCA, and secure a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

Building capacity on climate change mitigation

The second in its series of training workshops for National Communications, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has recently held a training workshop on mitigation assessment for developing countries, as a follow up to the first workshop on vulnerability and adaptation assessment. 

Wind, sun and biomass are renewable energy sources that can be used to switch away from fossil fuels as a means to mitigate climate change.

Trinidad and Tobago attended the UNFCCC Hands on Training for Latin America and the Caribbean Region on Mitigation Assessment, held in Antigua and Barbuda during July 16-20, 2012. The workshop was organized by the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) on National Communications from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention, and was attended by Ms Jewel Batchasingh, Climate Change/Ozone Specialist, MEAU. 

The CGE exists to provide technical assistance to Non-Annex I Parties (basically, developing countries) to undertake vulnerability and adaptation assessments with a view to improving the accuracy, consistency and transparency of information reported in their national communications (basically, national reports). The meeting sought to examine:

1.            Mitigating Climate Change

2.            Mitigation in the Context of National Communications and Biennial Update Reports

3.            Experiences in Mitigation Assessment and National Communications

4.            Mitigation Options, Issues and Barriers by Sector

5.            Screening Mitigation Options

6.            Mitigation Analysis, Methods and Tools

7.            Reporting Mitigation in National Communications

8.            Building National Arrangements for the Mitigation Assessment

Participation by Trinidad and Tobago at this particular workshop augured well with the current mitigation initiatives being pursued by the country, such as providing an overview of the various technologies and options that might be appropriate for mitigating greenhouse gases, as well as the types of policies and measures that can promote the implementation of those options, including examining energy supply, transportation, buildings, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste management, and cross-cutting mitigation options. It will also supplement our work in the preparation of National Communications to the UNFCCC.

Bonn Climate Change Conference

The international climate change treaty (UNFCCC) held a conference during May 14 - 25, 2012 in Bonn, Germany to discuss key issues on climate change mitigation and adaptation. 

Trinidad and Tobago, as a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), attended the conference with a delegation consisting of Mr Kishan Kumarsingh, Head of the MEAU and Ms Jewel Batchasingh, the MEAU's Climate Change/Ozone Specialist, along with the Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations, New York, Ms Rueanna Haynes.

Bonn's Climate Change Conference comprised five meetings, taking place simultaneously:

1. 36th Session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 36)
2. 36th Session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 36)
3. 17th Session of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 17)
4. 15th Session of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 15)
5. 1st Meeting of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on the Durham Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 1)

Notably, Trinidad and Tobago represented by Mr. Kumarsingh, was nominated as Co-chair of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) for the period June 2013 to December 2014, through the Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC). The first ADP meeting was considered contentious because countries believed that debating antagonistic issues such as election of officers of the ADP and the agenda was not the best start to negotiations of this new group.

Progress was made at Bonn for Trinidad and Tobago in the areas of carbon capture and storage (CCS), registry, measurement, reporting and verification of domestically supported Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), technical experts for International Consultation and Analysis (ICA), Technology Executive Committee (TEC), Climate Technology Climate Network (CTCN), loss and damage and response measures.

Mr Kishan Kumarsingh (left), Head of the MEAU, is to serve as the Co-Chair of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) during 2013-2014.

The ADP is a subsidiary body to the UNFCC Convention, charged with developing a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force, which will be applicable to all Parties under UNFCCC. Its work is expected to be completed in 2015.