Published by Fern 13.2.01
www.fern.org
CLIMATE UPDATE VIII
Dear friends a quick update on the latest European development in the
climate debate and a request for sign on to a letter to the CBD secretariat. See
below:
*The
US pull out of May talks
EU countries have accepted a demand by the US to push back the date of
the next formal attempt to finalise the 1997 UN Kyoto climate protocol from May
to July. Swedish environment minister Kjell Larsson communicated the decision n
behalf the EU to chairman Jan Pronk, during informal European climate talks in
Norrköping, Sweden.
A formal decision on when to resume the ill-fated "COP6"
conference will be taken by the UN climate change convention bureau this week.
The EU's decision makes it much more likely that there will be a delay.
Preparatory talks will continue, however, with a "restricted"
session now pencilled in for 20-21 April in New York.
*Second
sign on letter to Executive Secretariat of the CBD
Please sign on to the attached letter which is a response to the
Executive Secretariats note on cooperation between the UNFCCC and the CBD (UNFCCC/SBSTA/6/11),
formally presented at the UNFCCC at the sixth Conference of the Parties (CoP) at
The Hague and in preparation for the SBSTTA meeting of the CBD in March
(12th-16th) which focuses on climate change.
Parties are due to submit their views on the relationship between the CBD
and UNFCCC by March 1st.The Convention on Biological Diversity and the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are both legally binding
multilateral environment agreements. Its Parties are largely identical, the US
being to only major Party to have not ratified the convention.
It imperative then that any activity undertaken under the UNFCCC is
consistent with the provisions of the CBD. This had apparently slipped from the
minds of climate negotiators during the the 6th Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Climate Change in the Hague.
The CBD's Subsiduary Body for Scientific Technical and Technological
Advice (SBSTTA) will provide advice on climate change and forest biodiversity
related issues in March this year.
Fern believes that the SBSTTA of the CBD should undertake a wider
assessment of the inter-linkages between biological diversity and climate, in
particular the potential impact on biological diversity of mitigation measures.
In this respect, biodiversity assessments can ensure the effect of a proposed
activity on biodiversity has been evaluated; the use of indicators can be used
to identify, assess and monitor biodiversity; and the 12 principles and 5 points
of operational guidance of the CBD's Ecosystem Approach must be applied to
UNFCCC decisions. A need to incorporate this approach has already been
recommended by the Parties to the CBD.
Overall, Parties to the UNFCCC should remember that the CBD has endorsed
the Precautionary Approach. The CBD and UNFCCC should ensure that the
precautionary approach is applied for activities under the UNFCCC as well.
*
The European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) update
The ECCP was set up in June 2000 with the aim of identifying and
developing all the necessary elements of an EU strategy to implement the Kyoto
Protocol. Under the ECCP, a number of multi-stakeholder groups were established
(energy supply, energy consumption, transport, industry,
research, the Protocol's three mechanisms - emissions trading, Joint
Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism) with the aim of further
developing policies in these sectors. ECCP documents and working group reports
can be found on http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/eccp.htm
*A
new ECCP Working Group on 'sinks'
Later this year, the steering committee of the European Climate Change
Programme will establish new multi-stakeholder group on sinks. The group will
most likely be made up from a number of self- selected representatives from the
Commission, Parliament and member states, as well as other stakeholders
including the scientific community, industry and NGOs. The output of the ECCP
sinks stakeholder group will be used to advise on policy options for
implementing sink related provisions of the Kyoto Protocol in the EU. DG
research will most likely play a leading role in the management of this group.
This group should give NGOs an opportunity to inform the
Commission, Parliament and other stakeholders of many of the problems
relating to sinks. However, it can be expected that a significant amount of time
will be allocated to resolving unresolved scientific elements of sinks. It is
rumoured that some EU member states are unhappy with the creation of this group.
This could be due to a perceived threat of competition with the
existing ad hoc Council expert group on sinks (which is made up of only
the member states experts and the Commission). Fern will be writing to the
steering committee of the ECCP to highlight the importance of creating this
group, and to ask for clarification of the selection of participants to this
group.
*Sinks
also discussed in ECCP working group 'research'
This group was established in 2000. Over the last 2 meetings (June and
October 2000), the group discussed issues in relation to climate change, the
impact of research on climate policy and future research for policy support. The
next meeting will be in early March when in relation to sinks, the group will
endeavor to put together material, including briefings and fact sheets, for
policy makers on- amongst other things-, an assessment of the impacts of sinks,
support to the ad hoc Council group on sinks and assessing future research
needs. The chairman of this group is Chris Pattermann. He can be contacted at
Chris.Pattermann@cec.eu.int
*Upcoming
Council meetings on climate change
The next Environment Council meeting will be on the 8th March. Climate change is on the agenda with proposed discussions on preparations for a resumed session of COP6 and EU ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Following this the next Council meeting where climate is on the agenda is timetabled for June. The European Council (Member States) expert group on sinks will next meet at the end of February, where the March 1st submission to SBSTTA of the CBD will most likely be on the agenda.