CAN Daily meeting.
A political discussion/forum is needed to gear up pre-2020 financing. Bunkers may have a useful outcome. Mitigation, a new text in KP which summary of existing positions. Possible article on Poland – How appropriate is having COP19 in Warsaw? AAUs still being discussed.
Note: Faizal Parish from GEC attended the CAN Daily Meeting & opened an invitation to meet with the new GEF chief.

Side events attended:
a. Advancing Human Rights in the Climate Framework: Where are we now and where are we going?; organised by CIEL, University of Lapland.
Presentations by representatives from
i) Kiribati: Passionate call to recognise that Kiribati contributes minimal CO2 emissions, but is most vulnerable to Climate Change.
ii) Tuvalu: Land + People = Life; breaking this link will result in death; Forced migration, relocation & displacement creates Climate Change Refugees, not a term Tuvaluans accept. Culture cannot survive and identity will be lost.
iii) Kenya: Complex interaction between men, women & the forest. REDD+ and Rights possible risks: Conversion of natural forests to plantations, low biodiversity, loss of ecological knowledge and traditional and rural livelihoods, social exclusion – corruption & governance, discounting multiple functions of the forest. Safeguards and Human Rights – full & effective participation.
iv) Gujarat, India: Gujarat is state with 3rd largest number of CDM projects. Politicians mix business concerns which lead to Human Rights violations. Claims that CDM has infringed on rights of citizens in India, projects considered as ‘Holy Cows’ -
> Gujarat Flourochemicals Limited – CDM has doubled the company profit, leading to investment to build a new teflon factory.
> Solar Park – tree cutting, animal husbandry cost increase
> Wind Power – loss of grazing and agricultural land
Recommendation for Mandatory EIA & social based audit.
v) University of Lapland:
> 2004 – UNHCHR received petition on Human Rights & Climate Change
> 2009 – Human Rights impacts related to Climate Change
> 2010 – Cancun, recognition of Climate Change impacts on Human Rights
> 2011 – The UNFCCC must play a role to promote Human Rights; The Durban Platform
Yellow tag delegates have a limited voice in the UNFCCC process. CBO participation in other UN/Multilateral negotiations; loss & damage programme.
Comment from a member of audience: Alaska, weather has become unpredictable and the environment has become unpredictable, to the point that knowledgeable sea captains with handed down knowledge have died on the ice.

b. Transition to Low Carbon Economics in the ERBD countries of operation; organised by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD).
> Main-streaming Climate Finance throughout the Bank. Increase Bank’s participation in SEI (Sustainable Energy Investment) through use of banking, technical & policy expertise. Financing has mainly gone to Central Europe and the Baltic States, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Russia, Turkey.
> Project in Republic of Kazakhstan: 16.7 million population, average temp in north (-19C) and south (-15C). Barriers for development & modernization of district heating & efficient heat supply – lack of legislative rules, lack of sources of investment & financial mechanisms, insufficient consumer awareness for district heating energy efficiency. USD 50 million (USD30 m from EBRD) Project to be completed in 2015.
> Project in Ukraine: RE solutions under Ukraine Sustainable Energy Lending Facility. Energy intensity is 3x higher than EU, heavily reliant on imported energy. EU 100 million (EBRD 50m; CTF 20m; project sponsor 30m) – implementation 2009-2013, signed to date EU 30m, CO2 savings of 40,400 tCO2e. Coordination between government & project developers. Strategic environmental review – wind, mini-hydro & solar; public meeting & capacity building. Ukraine Sustainable Energy Lending Facility (USELF). Wind farm using Feed-in-Tariff.
>GEF cooperation with EBRD, work quickly on speed of business, replicate and copycat successful tools, experiment with risk management tools.

c. Adaptation Fund at a critical juncture: Achievements and challenges with dwindling resources; organised by Global Environmental Fund.
News: UNFCCC Secretariat has purchased 6,000 tonnes of CERs in Oct with Adaptation Fund. An agreement has been signed with UN Foundation for online donations to the Adaptation Fund in Nov.
25 projects approved for Adaptation – local stakeholders participation is utmost important
> Sven Harmeling (Germanwatch) – Adaptation Fund NGO network. More than 45 subscribed members and 8 partners: Senegal, Benin, South Africa, Jamaica, Kenya, Cambodia, Tanzania, Honduras; 7 case studies – Senegal, Benin, South Africa, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Jamaica & Honduras. 4 are highlighted:

i) Emmanuel Seck (Senegal): Adaptation to coastal erosion in vulnerable areas

ii) Isaac Ferrera (Honduras): Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources in Honduras: Increased Systemic Resilience and Reduced Vulnerability of the Urban Poor

iii) Bettina Koelle (South Africa): National Implementation Entity – South Afican National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), consultative process, partnership, investments should be coordinated & programmatic, CBOs to access funds directly, national & sub-national enabling framework.

iv) Krystel Dossou (Benin): OFEDI concept note in January 2012, now ready to submit full project on adaptation of eco-system and socio-economic in a lagoon. Protection of the lagoon shores, rehabilitation of the infrastructure; Fight against pollution; Fight seasonal floods; Main-stream Climate Change adaptation strategies in the legal text regulating fishery; sensitization and training of the local communities.

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Wanun and I managed to have a breakfast meeting to keep each other up to speed on issues we were following and possible issues for CANSEA in 2013. Capacity building within CANSEA is top of the agenda. We also agreed that SDGs will the ‘hot’ issue post-Doha till 2015, and we will do consultations within CANSEA whether CANSEA national nodes (and member organisations) would wish to pursue the SDG process within CAN.

I arrived at the QNCC just before 9am intent on attending the G77 + China morning briefing, but was not allowed in as it was for Parties only. While I was sitting in the foyer, I took in sight of the the many informal consultations and discussions done between NGOs and Parties outside of the official ‘informal consultations’. I met with Mr Philip M. Gwage from Uganda who related how he knew the late ‘Chairman’ Chow Kok Kee from Malaysia. Another person I spoke with was Mr Franck Jesus (his surname is a conversation piece by itself), Senior Climate Change Specialist with GEF. I’ll definitely follow-up with both gentlemen post-Doha.

Side Events attended:

a. USDA Agriculture & US National Climate Assessment; organised by US Center
Watch the talk here.

b. NASA looking back and looking down;; organised by US Center
To see Eric Sokolowskys’ animations.

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CAN Daily meeting.
Polish AAUs are still being talked about. A newspaper report by a Chinese journalist has caused concern among both the Chinese and International NGOs and also with the Chinese Party delegation. Unofficial statement by Russian Vice-Premier about not signing on to CP2 of KP.

CAN initial meeting on Sustainable Development Goals post-2015 (& collaboration with Beyond 2015).
High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on Post-2015 development agenda was created by UNSG
CAN is to deliver its report to the UNSG by May 13 2013.
> There was a strong feeling that CAN should engage in the SDG process.
> May be an inherit capacity already in existing CAN Finance group.
> Prepare and present a strategy to Regional Nodes, to get engagement at regional levels.
Note: 7 persons attended the meeting, CANSEA was the only Southern node represented.

a. SBI-37 – IC on National Adaptation Plans.
> Meeting began 30 minutes late. Co-chair is jumping around paragraphs which is rather confusing.
> Co-chair suggested removing brackets to para 5; US objection, brackets to remain; Norway supported US view, as decision already made in other body; Bhutan wants to keep para 5; Co-chair suggested to park para 5, move on to para 6; EU interjected that decisions already made in other body, to combine para 5 & 6 with pre-amble generic reference to earlier decision, Australia supported EU.
> Co-chair put forward Para 1, option 1 & 2; Bhutan suggested using option 1 – 1 (a) is very important. LDCs went into a huddle before the meeting could continue.

Left the SBI-37 IC to attend end part of ADP track which was being followed closely by the Malaysian delegation.

b. ADP Roundtable on Workstream 2.
Dr Gary is representing Malaysian interest, assisted by Tan Ching Tiong. Happily surprised that Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand are seated almost next to each other.
> Indian representative gave a very well thought out intervention that no conditionality should be attached to Annex-I pledges as targets are already covered under KP, mitigation actions by developing countries are dependent on economic capability & social conditions. Sectoral approach may impede achievement of national targets of developing countries. Political sensitivities eg. for agriculture where questions of livelihood are brought into question.

Side event attended:
a. The tourism sector response to climate change: mitigation and adaptation initiatives and strategies; organised by World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
> Luigi Cabrini (World Tourism Organization, UNWTO) – Energy consumption can be reduced by 44% come 2050; CO2 emissions will reduce by 52% in relation to BAU. For ‘best practice’ hotels, cost of energy have been reduced from 6% to 2.5%
> Peter Dogse (UNESCO) – 962 World Heritage Sites in 157 State Parties, 610 Biosphere Reserves in 117 countries, 90 Global Geoparks. Climate Friendly Tourism Initiatives in UNESCO Sites include:
i) Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve (Mexico) – verified community REDD+ projects & ecotourism;
ii) The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site (Australia) – tourism climate change action strategy, green reef tour operators
iii) Sao Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve (Brazil) – green job training for young people; ecotourism guides
iv) Geopark Shetland (Shetland Island, UK) – annual Shetland Nature Festival; public awareness
v) El Hierro Biosphere Reserve (Canary Islands, Spain) – wind farm & hydro-station renewable energy, electric cars
Science & Research partner – Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (Beijing, China)
Private sector partners – Deutsche Bahn railway, Star Alliance for airlines, Airbus, Chic Group (China)
NGO partner – Cousteau Divers, using social media
International Framework is RENFORUS – Renewable Energy Futures for UNESCO Sites
> Jane Hupe (International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO) – Aviation 2% global human-made CO2 emissions, 2.8 billion passenger, 2.2 trillioan USD, 56.6 million jobs + 34.5 million jobs in tourism sector, 35% of world trade, 3.5% of global GDP supported. Emissions reduction measures for domestic aviation is not covered by ICAO. 51% of international tourists travel by air. ICAO policy on CC – in 2010 became the first UN agency to lead a sector in the establishment of a globally harmonised agreement for addressing its CO2 emissions –
i) Global Aspiration Goals – 2% annual fuel efficiency improvement, stabilising at 202 levels
ii) Basket of Mitigation Measures: Technological, Operatonal, Market-based Measures & Sustainable Alternative Fuels for Aviation.
iii) States’ Action Plans allowing States to identify measure on CO2 emissions reduction activities & ICAO to monitor progress in achieving the global aspirational goals and address assistance needs of States.
7 Regional Workshops organised. 300 projects on Sustainable Alternative Fuels, Biofuels.
> Edmund Hughes (International Maritime Organisation, IMO) – Information on the cruise industry. 170 member states based in London. 16 million cruise passengers. Maritime activities handle 90% of world trade by volume, 3% of global GHG emissions. Sustainable Development Goals for maritime industry. 2003 IMO Policies and Practices Related to Reduction of GHG emissions from ships – Technical, Operational & Market related. Energy Efficiency Design Index applies to ships built after 2011. Using on shore power supply when ships berth at port.
> Dr Murray C. Simpson (CARIBSAVE, INTASAVE, University of Oxford) – CARIBSAVE Climate Change Risk Atlas, inter-sectoral relationship: Communities, Private & Public Sectors, adaptive capacity analysis to development low risk solutions, Phase I covered 15 countries – livelihoods, gender, poverty, development, etc. National Stakeholder participation workshops/meetings/interviews and new data. Now into Phase II, III & IV. Range of projects developed in wake of CARIBSAVE.

I posed the question whether there is an international temperature standard for hotels, to which Mr Luigi Cabrini gave a quick ‘No’. However, he clarified that temperature control has become a point of interest for larger international hotel chains.

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I have decided to follow the Informal Consultation for this morning to get a better understanding of how such ‘informal’ meetings are conducted.

a. SBI-37 – IC on National Communications from parties not included in Annex-I to the convention.
Dr Gary is representing Malaysia’s interest. Dr Gary also made interventions as did Saudi Arabia, EU & Brazil.

b. SBI-37 – IC on the report to the adaptation committee.
Tan Ching Tiong is representing Malaysian interest. Discussion focused on SBSTA 37 item 4 & SBI item 8.

c. AWG-LCA 15-2 – IC by the Chair on items 3-5 (focus on adaptation) (agenda item 3(c))
> Mexico – must avoid duplication of work by the 7 Sessions which are on going
Colombia – the text must come from the Parties, asks clarification on Chair’s overviews which include new proposals
> Ghana – aligns with G77 & China + Bangladesh. On behalf of African group, not much has been done at national or regional levels
> USA – intent to look & see if any new items for agreement -> move forward to implementation. LCA has reshaped landscape of work since Bali, fundamental elevating of Adaptation. Regional institutional not agreed as yet, and not agreed with this. Not an authorising body.
> Saudi Arabia – need to diversify economy to respond to CC and need for resilience. Has requested for a space for discussion is necessary, proposes a work programme for economic diversification.
> Norway – Cancun Adaptation Framework. Capture issues on how national institutions can be strengthened. Access what is needed at country level. Synergy & coherence to be done by Adaptation Committee.
> Bolivia – refers to intervention by Argentina on behalf of G77, helps reassure that the LCA work concluding will be taken further down the road. Supports comments by Saudi Arabia regarding economic diversity. Loss & damage – issue needs to be addressed as LCA closes. G77 & China has proposals. National institutional arrangements – developing countries do not know where to find resources to strengthen. National Adaptation plans by developing countries is currently ad-hoc, what is the structure for process to continue.
> China – associate with Argentina, welcome overview text based on Parties submission. Clear mandate to come up with an agreed outcome in Doha. Adaptation has very limited resources – we must enhance the function of the Adaptation committee.
> Japan – Cancun Adaptation Framework, lots of work done in Cancun & Durban.
> EU – must avoid duplication of discussion, recognise that the work is moving forward in other parts of the convention.
> Kenya – Associate with Argentina & Ghana. Adaptation is an important work. Not to duplicate, but to give clarification to the work being done by Adaptation. Work programme is proposed.
> South Africa – associates with Argentina, Ghana & Pakistan (for LDC). Must give clarity on the work that needs to be packaged – eg. MRV – must be in the closing text.
> Australia – Loss & Damage activities within SBI. Workplan of Adaptation Committee is very extensive and covers most requests and proposals made by Parties.

Observation:
ASEAN Party negotiators are scattered around the meeting room during these informal meetings. For instance, in the AWG-LCA IC there were only 40 countries represented, but Vietnam and Thailand are separated by Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, China and Oman. Indonesia is on the opposite side of the room. I did not find any Malaysian Party representative for this meeting. On the other hand, Japan sits in a line with Australia and USA with Small Island States like Palau, Cook Islands, have European-looking Party representatives.

I was not allowed to enter the meeting room for SBSTA-37 – IC on on general guidelines for domestic measurement, reporting and verification of domestically supported nationally appropriate mitigation actions by developing country Parties, as the meeting was open to Parties and Observer States only, meaning NGO observers are barred from attending.

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I’ve discovered that the US Center Doha 2012 has good FREE coffee.

CAN Daily meeting
AAUs and HFC are identified as issues of contention between Parties. Other ‘dirty phrases’ becoming more apparent during these negotiations are ‘Mitigation Pledges’ and ‘Increased Ambition’. Meanwhile, the youth from developed countries assisted in a buddy system to have a silent ‘protest’ with posters to highlight plight of youth from developing countries.

I attended the following side events:
a. Strengthening Institutional Capacities for Climate Change Research and Training: Lessons-Learned; organised by Environment et Developpement du Tiers-Monde (ENDA-TM).
Points of Interest: The possibility of mal-adaption due to usage of data acquired from wrongly chosen Climate Change Information tools; there are many tools available, so we have to be clear as to which tool is used for what conditions

b. Engaging Communities in Sustainable Landscapes with Enhanced Adaptation and Lower Emissions; organised by Rainforest Alliance (RA) Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC)
Points of Interest: Case study of adaptation to ecological change in a lake in Northern Mali – multi-level engagement (country, district and local); Community Forestry Adaptation Roadmaps in Asia-2020 – leverage on social capital & knowledge to reduce disaster risks; Ghana case study – trial and error observation method for height of trees seen from satellite photos; REDD+ Community Carbon Pools Programme; RECOFTV/REDD-net Experiences Linking Adaptation and Mitigation Case Studies in Asia – Eco-system based management approaches, local knowledge, land tenure reform, market access & value addition.

c. Understanding Climate Change and the Redistribution of Heat, Winds, Water, and Worries; organised by US Center with primary sponsors University of Colorado, Boulder & US Department of State.
Points of interest: The change in the average temperature is only a part indicator of Global Warming. It is the change in the temperature extremes (coldest & hottest) that will determine the extend of extreme weather events due to Climate Change. The redistribution of energy in the form of heat, wind and water are indicators of the effects and influence of GHGs in the atmosphere. Within countries, the urban landscape is heating up much faster than rural areas.

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Wanun and team arrived at the hotel around midnight. We managed to catch-up during breakfast.

I am attending a side event on adaptation.
Brazilian indigenous peoples present elements for a indigenous plan to adapt to Climate Change; organised by Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM).
Political challenges in Brazil include proposed amendments to the Constitution to allow exploitation of indigenous lands for mining and agriculture. Ordinance 303 opens the possibility of indigenous lands recognised by law being appropriated for infrastructure development. The Government of Brazil is not engaging the indigenous peoples and their communities. But these communities are rather well organised, leaders being selected via elections. Their area of great concern and interest is ‘Indigenous REDD+’. The indigenous people are ’stewards of the forest’ – the forest is more than just a carbon sink, it is a living system of which humans is just one of the stakeholders.

Update submitted by Mr ANTHONY TAN
Centre for Environment, Technology & Development, Malaysia (CETDEM)
www.cetdem.org.my

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CAN Daily Meeting.
Held as usual between 2-3pm, attended by about 100 people.

CAN Capacity Building
Capacity builidng arranged by Raju between 3-4pm for about 40 CAN members new to COP.

The Fossil of the Day
This event took place just after 6pm at the NGO Exhibition Hall – today, the EU and Turkey both received the infamous and dubious award of being blockers to the negotiations.

As for the negotiations in the AWG-KP, the 2nd commitment period will probably see AAUs (hot air) as a contentious issue in the coming days, especially as the higher level government negotiations begin next week.

I attended 3 side events this evening:
a. Mediation and Climate Change: Applications both Locally and Globally; organised by Mediators Beyond Borders (MBB)
b. Climate Change and education – making the future work for you; organised by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
c. End of the age of coal: why it will happen sooner than people think; organised by GREENPEACE

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Update submitted by Mr ANTHONY TAN
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The SBSTA 37 is into its 2nd day, meeting resumed at 10:10am. The Malaysian Party delegates at SBI this morning are Dr Gary Theseira (NRE) & Dr Leong Yow Peng (UNITEN). Agenda items 8-21 are being presented. A number of developing countries are responding & delivering their submissions & statements for each agenda item.

UNFCCC Executive Director Ms Christiana Figueres just spoke at SBI, stating that most meetings will be concentrated in Bonn from 2013.

Matters related to balanced representation by gender and also by Annex-I/non-Annex-I is being discussed.

During the SBI meeting, a Youth NGO representative read out the following joint-Intervention from CAN, CJN!, and YOUNGO.

“Thank you Chair, my name is David and I will be 60 years old in in 2050. I am speaking on behalf of YOUNGO, CAN International and Climate Justice Now!

Your task this week is a challenging one. The SBI is expected to complete its entire business this session by Saturday. We stand ready to assist you in this task. Science is telling us that full and sustained implementation of the Convention’s fundamental objective is slipping further and further from our grasp. This has disastrous implications for humanity and for its future, our future.

Hurricane Sandy’s impacts in Haiti, Cuba, and the United States have reminded us that loss and damage is a reality. It’s happening now. Current low mitigation ambition is breaching the ultimate objective of the Convention. Opportunities for avoiding loss and damage are being wasted because of insufficient funding. We need to start thinking beyond adaptation. Based on the decision from Durban, we expect you to set up a comprehensive mechanism to address compensation and rehabilitation issues. Further, we expect you to develop the next phase of the work programme to detail the modalities of the mechanism. Almost 100 vulnerable developing countries have outlined the needs and potential elements of an international mechanism. Doha must not end without clear progress on addressing loss and damage.

On technology, for the Technology Mechanism to be considered “fully operational” at COP18 there must be a committed source of interim and long term funding for the Technology Executive Committee, the Climate Technology Centre and its Advisory Board. The architecture of the Technology Mechanism must also be highly responsive to developing Party clients in order to promote transparency and ensure equitable access to adaptation and mitigation technologies. Finally there must be robust engagement with stakeholders and civil society.

On Capacity Building, Parties should concentrate their work on paragraph 6 of 13/CP-17. By agreeing on an intensive 2 year work programme that creates an enhanced structure for effective capacity building in developing countries, by the end of 2014, the ground lost on capacity building could be regained here in Doha.

We hold you accountable for these outcomes. Thank you.”

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Update submitted by Mr ANTHONY TAN
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The Doha 2012 negotiations have begun.

The UNFCCC COP18:Doha Opening Ceremony began today a speech by the outgoing COP17 President Maite Nkoana-Mashabane from South Afica, followed by Opening Remarks by UNFCCC Executive Director Ms Christiana Figueres. H.E. Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah from Qatar was elected COP18 President by acclamation.

Ms Figueres stated (perhaps jokingly) that she expects COP18 to end on Friday 7th Dec as scheduled. Her statement was received with laughter and chuckles from all present in the hall. Based on the experience of the past COPs, it is very likely that negotiations will drag on till the morning of Monday 8th Dec.

The CAN Daily Meeting was held at 2-3pm. I raised a concern with CAN Executive Director Mr Wael Hmaidan regarding the confidentiality of our daily meetings as the room allocated has only walls without a proper ceiling. As the days go by, more and more confidential information will be shared by CAN members – the room design may impede such confidential sharings due to sound being carried beyond the 4 walls.

The SBSTA 37 and SBI 37 opened in the evening. I met with members of the Malaysian Party delegation including Dr Lian, Dr Gary and Dr Leong.

Later that evening, the COP18 Reception was held at the Doha Exhibition Centre, which is hosting the Qatar Sustainability Expo. During the visit to the booths, I was informed that Saudi Arabia plans to have energy mix of 20% renewable energy (solar), 10% nuclear and balance from fossil fuels by 2050.

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Update submitted by Mr ANTHONY TAN
Centre for Environment, Technology & Development, Malaysia (CETDEM)
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The Registration of Delegates was open this morning. It took barely 2 minutes to get my ID done – with my Bali photograph extracted from the computer system.

I attended the CAN Strategy Meeting in the early afternoon, followed by the first official CAN gathering which was attended by 100+ members.

Get updated on what is happening in COP18 through the PaperSmart Portal

Update submitted by Mr ANTHONY TAN
Centre for Environment, Technology & Development, Malaysia (CETDEM)
www.cetdem.org.my

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