Paris talks: Laurent Fabius gives countries time to resolve outstanding issues
Paris European Union Laurent Fabius Paris talks environment talks
Urmi Goswami
A second iteration of draft text of the Paris Outcome was released late night on Thursday, following which the French chair held night long discussions in the South Africa indaba format where ministers discussed the draft text of the Paris Outcome.
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The Economic Times
Synopsis

A second iteration of draft text of the Paris Outcome was released late night on Thursday, following which the French chair held night long discussions in the South Africa indaba format where ministers discussed the draft text of the Paris Outcome.

PARIS: After a night of consultations French Foreign Minister and chair of the current round of UN-sponsored climate talks Laurent Fabius gave countries time till Saturday morning to resolve outstanding issues and agree on a final text by mid-day Saturday.

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A second iteration of draft text of the Paris Outcome was released late night on Thursday, following which the French chair held night long discussions in the South Africa indaba format where ministers discussed the draft text of the Paris Outcome. Much of the discussions in this open format were reiterations by countries of their stated positions.

The text under consideration doesn’t cross the red lines or non-negotiable positions of countries. What it does make it very clear what these non-negotiables issues are, making it clear where the political negotiations are required, and where the trade-offs can be. This clarity and balance in the text is the outcome of discussions in bilateral meetings between countries and grouping such as India, China, Brazil, South Africa, United States, the small island states as well as the constant direction setting by France.

In making the non-negotiable issues for all countries explicit in the text, the French made it amply clear that each country will need to give up on its stated non-negotiatiable position in one issue if they want something more in another.

“It’s clear that the real negotiations have finally begun. There has been significant progress on many issues with carefully balanced text. But key provisions are still in play. In the coming hours, negotiators need to work constructively and find common ground to ensure that the text progresses along an ambitious and balanced path,” said Jennifer Morgan, Director, Climate Program, World Resources Institute.

The major issues that need political resolution are the transparency mechanism (that is, a system for countries report, monitor, and verify the implementation of their climate action plans and profile of greenhouse gas emissions); the manner in which the proposed Paris agreement expresses the principle of common and differentiated responsibilities of the Convention; addressing the issue of loss and damage, and special treatment for small island states, least developing countries and Africa.

The transparency mechanism and the issue of differentiating between the obligations and responsibilities of developed and developing countries have to be addressed together. India and China have maintained that developed and developing countries should have separate systems for monitoring and reporting of climate actions because developing countries do not have same capacities to undertake stringent reporting, and that the Paris Agreement must operationalize and implement the differential obligations of developed and developing countries. The United States and European Union have maintained that all countries must have the same reporting requirements for their climate actions, with flexibilities for developing countries that require it. Both the US and EU have argued against clear cut differentiation between developed and developing countries. They prefer a more dynamic or evolving system of differentiating between countries.

The other set of competing issues is that of loss and damage or situations that are beyond people’s ability to adapt to and ensuring special treatment for small island states and Africa. The small island states and least developed countries of Africa have pushed for the inclusion of loss and damage as separate from addressing the need to adapt to climate change. This demand stems from rising sea levels that threaten future existence of many of these islands, or change in rainfall patterns that have resulted in long droughts and loss of livelihoods. The United States has been particularly concerned that the loss and damage narrative opens up the possibility of liability and compensation. Instead the US along with the European Union support the idea of a special status for small islands and Africa, this would mean dedicated financial allocations, which are included in the agreement.

These are the two sets of interlinked issues, which the ministers will need to resolve in the course of Friday, if countries want to deliver on the impactful agreement that the heads of state and government committed to at the start of Paris talks.

On the other hands, if countries continue to restate their negotiations as they did in the night-long indaba consultations, there is every likelihood that the well balanced draft will be diluted, resulting in an agreement with little impact.

All through the fortnight, France has ensured that negotiations were country-driven and transparent. In the same tradition, France left the choice between a deal the world can live with and an unambitious and bottomed out agreement to the countries.

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