Governments met for climate talks in the German city of Bonn from 8 - 18 June 2017,aiming to make progress on the detailed rules for implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement. This ‘Paris rulebook’ is due to be completed by the end of 2018. Negotiations were slow across the board, and so to speed up progress before COP23 in November,parties agreed to submit their views in writing on all agenda items, and to hold pre-sessional roundtables before the next meeting.
In the market and non-market mechanisms negotiations, observers were excluded from the meetings after Venezuela raised concerns over conflicts of interest and the presence of corporate actors. This is in direct contradiction of statements from the EU and others about the importance of transparency. The final conclusions call for parties to submit their views in September and to organise a roundtable in early November that will be closed to observers. Many countries, including the EU, stressed the importance of environmental integrity and avoiding double counting. This was one of the key issues that Fern flagged last year when the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) set up the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). While disagreement over the details of market mechanisms prevailed, several governments expressed concern that market mechanisms must result in net emission reductions and must not be allowed to undermine indigenous rights and equitable benefit sharing.
The fourth voluntary meeting on the coordination of support for REDD+ also took place on the climate talks sidelines. The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) caused some concern when it referred to plans to purchase REDD+ credits from CORSIAdespite the absence of a decision on whether CORSIA will include forest carbon credits.
The Paris Agreement established a platform for local communities and indigenous peoples to respond to climate change. Participants in the platform’s multi-stakeholder dialogue met in Bonn to hear about the step-by-step approach that should be taken to strengthen the capacity of indigenous peoples to engage in the negotiations.