EU seeks progress on text of 2015 climate agreement at Geneva talks

United Nations talks to advance work on a new global climate agreement due to be finalised in Paris this December resume on 8 February in Geneva, Switzerland.

The European Union will be working to ensure that the week-long meeting of the so-called Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) delivers a streamlined text as a basis for further negotiation at the Bonn session in June. The EU expects countries to keep to the agreed timetable and come forward with ambitious proposed emissions reductions targets, known as intended nationally determined contributions, or INDCs, by the end of the first quarter of 2015. The European Union is finalising its contribution for submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by the end of March.

While the main focus of the Geneva session will be on reducing and refining the draft negotiating text agreed at the Lima climate conference in December 2014, the meeting will also seek to advance work on climate action before 2020.

The European Commission will shortly come out with a Communication outlining its vision and expectations for the Paris Agreement – a vision for a robust, dynamic and balanced agreement that will cater for ambitious participation by all partners. This Communication will be complemented by a climate diplomacy action plan, developed jointly with the European External Action Service, with the view to scaling up diplomatic outreach on climate change.