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.

Lima limate Change Conference

The Lima Climate Change Conference convened from 1-14 December 2014, in Lima, Peru. It included the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 10).

Three subsidiary bodies (SBs) also met: the 41st sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 41) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 41), and the seventh part of the second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2-7).

Trinidad and Tobago was among the parties to participate at the COP20/CMP10. The country delegation comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs  including the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Winston Dookeran (Head of delegation), Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, (Director, Multilateral Relations Division) , Ms. Rueanna Haynes (Second Secretary, Permanent Representative to the UN, New York), and Ms. Joanna Ross (International Relations Officer).  Mr. Kishan Kumarsingh, Head of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources served as the co-chair of the ADP along with Artur Runge-Metzger of the European Union for  the ADP 2 - 7.

 

Mr. Kumarsingh, co-chair Of ADP following amendments to draft text

The negotiations were centred on the advancement of the work of the ADP towards a new climate agreement at COP 21 in Paris in 2015 as well as the elaboration of the information, and process required for submission of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs).

Extensive negotiations resulted in a draft decision entitled the “Lima Call for Climate Action” sets in motion the negotiations in the coming year towards a 2015 agreement, the process for submitting and reviewing INDCs, and enhancing the pre-2020 ambition. Parties also adopted 19 decisions, 17 under the COP and two under the CMP that, inter alia: operationalized the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage; established the Lima work programme on gender; and adopted the Lima Declaration on Education and Awareness Raising.

The Lima Climate Change Conference was able to lay the groundwork for COP-21 Paris 2015, by capturing progress made in elaborating the elements of a draft negotiating text for the 2015 agreement and adopting a decision on INDCs, including their scope, upfront information, and steps to be taken by the Secretariat after their submission.

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).