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Climate Action
News article16 October 2015Directorate-General for Climate Action

UN talks in Bonn focus on draft text for new global climate deal

Countries gathering next week at UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany, will seek to make progress on the draft text of the new global climate agreement due to be adopted in Paris in December. This is the last official negotiating session before the...

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Countries gathering next week at UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany, will seek to make progress on the draft text of the new global climate agreement due to be adopted in Paris in December. This is the last official negotiating session before the Paris summit.

The five-day session from 19–23 October will be crucial for improving the draft negotiating text released last week by the co-Chairs of the negotiations. While the new text is concise and readable, the Commission considers substantial work is needed to make it clear and balanced.

Recent meetings such as the INDC Forum hosted by the European Commission and the Government of Morocco, which focused on countries' intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) to the new agreement, demonstrate governments' strong commitment to tackle climate change. To date, 151 Parties, representing around 90% of global emissions, have put forward their intended contributions in preparation for the Paris deal.

The climate action plans outlined in these contributions represent an unprecedented effort to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, their aggregate effect falls short of what is needed to put the world on the most cost-effective pathway to the internationally agreed objective of keeping global temperature rise below 2°C.

The EU is calling for the Paris agreement to deliver a framework that ensures countries keep up and step up their efforts to help keep the world on track to avoiding dangerous climate change. This requires a long-term goal to guide the collective effort, a process for taking stock of the progress made and raising ambition, and robust transparency and accountability rules.

In addition to emissions reduction, the Paris outcome will also need to address other essential elements, including adaptation to the impacts of climate change and the mobilisation of financing for climate action. The recent report by the OECD and the Climate Policy Initiative shows that, while challenges remain, support for climate action in developing countries is making good progress towards the USD 100 billion per year goal by 2020, with public and private climate finance mobilised by developed countries reaching approximately USD 62 billion in 2014.

The 21st conference of the Parties (COP 21) of the UN climate convention will take place from 30 November to 11 December in Paris.

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Details

Publication date
16 October 2015
Author
Directorate-General for Climate Action