After series of meetings amid arguments for two days, the 19th session of the Conference of Parties in the Polish capital on Saturday agreed on several key decisions including a pledge by developed nations to raise $100bn for the newly-formed Green Climate Fund (GCF) by 2020.
The draft decisions were adopted by the ministerial meeting on the 12th day of the conference in the evening. The conference under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) began on November 11 at the Warsaw National Stadium was supposed to end on Friday. It was attended by over 10,000 delegates, observers and journalists.
Earlier on Thursday, over 800 UN observer NGOs quit the conference while the Group 77 and China staged a three-hour walk out the previous day for “slow or no progress” in the negotiations.
The structure and functions of the GCF were finalised on Friday. But there had been no money in the fund. The pledged money would support projects and other activities in developing nations to adapt with the adverse impact of climate change and promote renewable energy.
After 2020, the developed countries are pledge-bound to release $100bn every year.
Meanwhile, the developing nations compromised on international mechanism on loss and damage. At the last moment, they apparently bowed to the objections of the rich countries, mainly the US and those under the European Union, to agree that it would be under the Adaptation Fund. Institutional arrangements and functions of the mechanism were agreed on Friday.
However, all countries under the convention had agreed in Doha conference last year about the formulation of the mechanism as a separate issue as adaptation measures cannot cover the loss from extreme weather events like cyclones, droughts and irregular rain – triggered by global warming and the changing weather patterns.
Until Friday, developed countries pledged $100m in the Adaptation Fund, which is almost empty now, to fuel stalled projects. From now, this amount would be shared among projects under the loss and damage mechanism, with special vision.
On Saturday, the COP19 failed to finalise a legally-binding climate agreement on emission cut because of the reluctance by some developed countries. Rather it was agreed that all countries would come up with their “contribution” not “commitment” on emission cut plans in the first quarter of 2015 – voluntarily – and there would not be any review, monitoring and verification.
The countries would be asked to sign a legally-binding agreement during 2015 Paris summit. Before that, it is hoped that the developed nations at the meeting with UN chief Ban Ki-moon in September next year would announce their emission-cut plans. The meeting is also likely to see specific plans on their contribution in the $100bn-fund.
On Friday, countries pledged for $280m in the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 49 partner countries.
