The UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid: opportunities and challenges
Informing the UN climate conference
The 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled to take place in Madrid from 2 to 13 December 2019. Delegates from almost 200 countries will meet to finalise the rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Representatives of civil society point out the urgent need for ambitious climate action and take a critical view of the progress of the negotiations to date.
For many years, the Oeko-Institut has been providing the German and European government delegations attending the climate negotiations with expert advice and support on reporting and transparency, international carbon markets, and international aviation and shipping emissions. The Oeko-Institut team also organises side events to discuss new scientific findings.
The Oeko-Institut has produced the following information in advance of the international climate negotiations:
COP 25 – Status and progress
On behalf of the European Parliament, the Oeko-Institut has analysed the status of the climate negotiations, the positions of the various groups of Parties, and relevant international developments. The Oeko-Institut study, now published, provides an overview of the current challenges for the international climate talks.
International market mechanisms
The negotiations on international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement – in other words, the rules for international emissions trading – are one of the most important agenda items at this year’s climate conference. A particularly contentious issue is how to avoid double counting of mitigation outcomes. In collaboration with scientists from five continents, the Oeko-Institut has summarised the main points at issue in an article in Science magazine, available here:
<link publikationen p-details double-counting-and-the-paris-agreement-rulebook>Article (in English): Double counting and the Paris Agreement rulebook in Science, in collaboration with the Oeko-Institut
The Oeko-Institut’s experts have also reviewed international market mechanisms under the Paris Agreement in various other analytical reports:
<link en publications p-details outside-in-using-international-carbon-markets-for-mitigation-not-covered-by-nationally-determined-c>Article (in English): Outside in? Using international carbon markets for mitigation not covered by nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement in Climate Policy, in collaboration with the Oeko-Institut
Global Stockage
In Paris, Parties decided to regularly take stock of mitigation and adaptation achievements that have been made: Common progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement will be assessed through a “Global Stocktake” process every fice years from 2023 onwards. This mechanism is supposed to catalyse greater ambition for more mitigation, adaptation and support to tackle climate change.
In cooperation with Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Wuppertal Institute and NewClimate Institute, researchers from Öko-Institut have analysed the functions of the Global Stocktake and assessed to what extent the mechanism can be expected to contribute to more mitigation, adaptation and support to tackle climate change:
Catalyzing mitigation ambition under the Paris Agreement: elements for an effective Global Stocktake
Tackling the Challenges of Assessing Collective Progress for an Effective Global Stocktake