Cop 20: I'm Off to the Pub

Well actually probably the gym followed by what is now a worrying amount of housework before possibly a post-dinner snooze in front of the TV.

However the point I'm trying to make is that it turns out I haven't completely memorised the Warsaw mechanism. So even working flat out I won't be able to produce an opinion on paragraphs 24 through 36 of the December 8th draft on Adaptation, Loss & Damage and Finance until around 5 minutes before the scheduled end of the summit which won't be particularly helpful to anyone. I do though hope to be able to produce that possibly by the end of the week but certainly by the end of the month. So barring any major emergency I'm planning to keep a low profile for the rest of the day.

That said last night a draft decision for the summit was circulated. This won't prejudice the negotiating text and is really just an agreement to continue with the negotiations. Therefore I'm not concerned about it in anything like the same way I'm concerned about the text itself. However here are my quick thoughts;

Paragraph 7: Here Option 1 isn't really strong enough while Option 2 states that actions must go beyond those already undertaken. This is of course true but at this stage I think a lot of nations would be more comfortable with a commitment not to backslide rather then a commitment to increase. Option 3 allows for INDC's to include adaptation, technology and finance measures alongside mitigation which is important for capacity building. Therefore in this paragraph I support Option 3.

Paragraph 9:  Here Option 1 is again nowhere near strong enough because at this point we haven't even agreed on a common base year and time frame. For a final agreement I would say that Option 2 is sufficient but as this is merely a negotiating document I would say that more information needs to be submitted to aid with capacity building and shaping the final agreement. Therefore in this paragraph I support Option 3 although its 9 line opening sentence needs to be simplified, possibly by a list in the annex.

Paragraph 11: Here the differences in how nations draw up their INDC's is going to pay a key role in shaping the final agreement. As such there needs to be the maximum amount of support possible to facilitate those discussions. Therefore in this paragraph I support Option 3.

Paragraph 13: Again here and understanding of how implementation will occur and be measured will play a key role in shaping the agreement meaning that the maximum amount of support needs to be provided. Therefore in this paragraph I again support Option 3.