Bonn UNFCCC COP 23 – 6 to 17 November 2017

Dossier

The 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place from 6 to 17 November 2017 at the headquarters of the UNFCCC Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. The conference will be convened under the Presidency of Fiji.

Delegates from the Heinrich Boell Stiftung Offices worldwide and their partners are represented in the COP 23. The Heinrich Boell Stiftung, MENA Beirut office has supported journalists from the region to travel and report on the conference from Bonn. The following web-dossier includes media coverage of the Bonn Climate Change Conference from delegates and journalists in English, French and Arabic.

Articles in English

“We will not drown, we are here to fight”
An assessment of the Fiji Climate Change Conference COP 23 in Bonn
by Don Lehr, Lili Fuhr, Liane Schalatek

The 23rd meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held from 6 to 17 November in Bonn, Germany, under the presidency of the government of Fiji, the first time that a small island nation has served in this role.

This is the second COP since the adoption of the Paris Agreement at COP 21 in 2015 and since the Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016, just three days before the start of COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco.

As of 22 November, 170 Parties have ratified the Agreement. Of the 197 Parties to the Convention, 195 originally signed it. Nicaragua initially argued it was not strong enough but has acknowledged that there is no alternative to the Agreement and ratified it just prior to the start of the COP. Syria, embroiled in a civil war since 2011, signed up on 7 November, leaving the United States as the only country which has rejected it, although it can’t officially withdraw until 4 November 2020, one day after the next U.S. presidential election.

It was expected to be a transitional and technical COP – and it was -- with delegates charged with the complex task of writing the so-called “Paris Rulebook” for all of the elements mandated in the Paris Agreement and Decision text which is scheduled to be adopted next year at COP 24. They also had to complete the design of the 2018 “Facilitative Dialogue,” a test run for the “Global Stocktake” which all countries will conduct every five years starting in 2023 to assess and strengthen their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and global progress toward reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement: to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Fiji brought vision to this technical COP through the Pacific tradition of “talanoa,” derived from “tala” meaning “talking or telling stories,” and “noa” meaning “zero or without concealment.” In the Fijian context, frank expression without concealment, in face-to-face dialogue, can lead to all participants understanding each other’s feelings and experiences.

The main COP decision – to be known as the Fiji Momentum for Implementation – contains three elements: a call for enhanced Pre-2020 Implementation and Ambition, a reiteration of the Paris Agreement Work Programme, and the design of the Facilitative Dialogue, rebranded by Fiji as the Talanoa Dialogue.

Here’s a shortlist of issues where progress (or no progress) was made in Bonn

Peruvian farmer sues German energy giant for contributing to climate change
Saul Luciano Lliuya wants damages from RWE to protect hometown of Huaraz from a swollen glacier lake at risk of overflowing from melting snow and ice A Peruvian farmer won a small but significant legal victory on Monday when a German court said his appeal against energy giant RWE, which he accuses of contributing to climate change that is threatening his Andean home, had merit. After hearing oral arguments from both sides, the higher regional court in the western city of Hamm said Saul Luciano Lliuya’s demand for damages from RWE was “admissible”, paving the way for the case to proceed. 
Read more

The Fiji UN Climate Summit 2017, COP23: what is at stake in Bonn? - Don Lehr, Lili Fuhr, Liane Schalatek - boell.de - 1/11/2017

When Climate Leaders Protect Dirty Investments - Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder , Jörg Haas - boell.de - 8/11/2017

Articles in French

A la COP23, la transition à pas de fourmi- Suzanne Baaklini - L'Orient Le jour -  17/11/2017

Climat: Macron et Merkel soulignent à l’unisson leur détermination à agir - Suzanne Baaklini - L'Orient Le jour -  16/11/2017

Nouvelles initiatives prises à la COP23 - Suzanne Baaklini - L'Orient Le jour - 15/11/2017

Lutte contre le changement climatique : comment sortir du discours vague pour aller à l’essentiel - Suzanne Baaklini - L'Orient Le jour - 15/11/2017

L’urgence de révolutionner les modes de transport - Suzanne Baaklini - L'Orient Le Jour - 14/11/2017

Le « non » catégorique des gouverneurs américainsL'Orient Le Jour - 14/11/2017

COP23 à Bonn : Focus sur les objectifs plus ambitieux des pays - Suzanne Baaklini - L'Orient Le Jour - 13/11/2017

Articles in Arabic

قمة مناخ بون الباردة تفضح اتفاقية باريس الفارغة - Habib Maalouf - Al-Akhbar - 17/11/2017

على الحافة | خطابات في المناخ أم في الهواء؟ - Habib Maalouf - Al-Akhbar - 17/11/2017

قمة بون للمناخ: على وقع التقارير والأعاصير - Habib Maalouf - Al-Akhbar - 10/11/2017

أهم الاجتماعات في المؤتمر - Habib Maalouf - Al-Akhbar - 10/11/2017

على الحافة | غبار مصارعة الثيران - Habib Maalouf - Al-Akhbar - 10/11/2017