Two Year's Preparations for a Post-Kyoto Agreement Culminate in a "Series of Thematic Decisions"

Submitted by Grant Boyle

On December 15, the working group for Long Term Cooperative Action under the UNFCCC presented its work to date at Copenhagen, which it initiated in Bali in 2007, as a series of "thematic decisions"

The Chair of the Group reportedly proposed, and Parties agreed, to adopt the package as "unfinished business". The summary decision says that the package of decisions does not "prejudice" the possible legal nature of the agreed outcome of the Group's work to be ultimately adopted by the UNFCCC.

The fact that there is no grand treaty to sign makes it difficult, it appears, for delegates to know whether or not their efforts have been successful going into the final, high level segment of the conference. But when one considers the scope of the task at hand: getting everyone to agree on a plan to essentially de-carbonize the global economy over the next 40-50 years after only having begun to realize in the last 15 that climate change is a problem at all - this looks like a good start. There will likely be a legally binding agreement made in 2010 perhaps in Bonn or Mexico and there will likely be a new, greater proliferation of regional approaches and agreements (G-20 in Torontoin June?) to supplement whatever base agreement is established under the UNFCCC.

The current list of thematic decisions to be reviewed by the COP Plenary are as follows:

• Enhanced action on adaptation
• Enhanced action on the provision of financial resources and investment
• Enhanced action on technology development and transfer
• Enhanced action on capacity-building

-Nationally appropriate mitigation actions by developing country Parties: mechanism to record nationally appropriate mitigation actions and facilitate provision and recording of support

-Policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries

-Enhanced national/international action on mitigation of climate change: economic and social consequences of response measures

-Various approaches, including opportunities for using markets, to enhance the cost/effectiveness of, and to promote, mitigation action

-Cooperative sectoral approaches and sector-specific actions in agriculture