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.

CRS Stakeholder Consultation - November 2015

A Stakeholder Consultation on the Draft Implementation Framework under the Project: Elaboration of a Strategy for the Reduction of Carbon Emissions in Trinidad and Tobago was held on 13th November, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain. 
 

Ms.Nnyeka Prescod, Project Manager for the Implementation Framework under the Project addressing the stakeholders at the CRS Consultation.

The main objectives of the Consultation were to present and refine the activities and timelines necessary to implement the Carbon Reduction Strategy in the three targeted sectors; electrical power generation, transport and industrial to achieve the carbon reduction target of 15% by 2040. Consequently, the main output of the consultation was a revision of timelines initially proposed in the Strategy to reflect achievable planning horizons so as to advance the implementation of the Strategy. 

Participants in working groups at the CRS Consultation.

Some of the major recommendations made by stakeholders included:

• Actions need to be undertaken by full time core unit of persons so as to meet timelines. 
• Funding should be made priority for the sector so as to successfully drive the required actions. 
• Mandate actions through legislation to bind industry to actions outlined in the Strategy. 
• A commitment from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries to drive/champion these actions needs to be made. 
• There needs to be champions on the ground, within each stakeholder organization, to push the Strategy.

Click to hear more about the Carbon Reduction Strategy Project from Mr. Kishan Kumarsingh, Head of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit, Environmental Policy and Planning Division, Ministry of Planning and Development