Jennifer M. Klein, Esq.
Associate Director & Fellow
International negotiators descended on the Pentagonito for Day 2 of COP20 this morning. After yesterday’s opening ceremony and initial events, people seem determined to start working in earnest towards a draft agreement.
The day began with a plenary meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP). The mandate of the ADP is to develop a protocol, another legal instrument, or an agreed outcome with legal force to be adopted next year at COP21. ADP Co-chair Kishan Kumarsingh opened the plenary with a strong reminder to the parties to engage in productive discussions; specifically, he emphasized that parties should avoid making general statements and merely restating their positions. Instead, they should clearly and concisely provide specific suggestions.
A theme that has been repeated in various plenary meetings and side events is the need to reach net zero emissions by the end of this century, as recommended in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report. Dr. Pachauri emphasized this goal during yesterday’s opening ceremony, and it has been echoed by various nations and NGOs throughout today’s events.
This carbon-neutral world benchmark was repeated again at a notable side event hosted by the World Resources Institute. WRI released a new report (ACT 2015) containing ideas on how to craft the strongest and most effective international climate agreement possible. In addition to calling for a complete phase out of greenhouse gas emissions as early as possible, ACT 2015 emphasizes the need to reduce the vulnerability of communities facing climate impacts.
