Countries Prepare How to Check Paris Progress in 2018

Preparations for an important formal discussion next year between countries – known as the “facilitative dialogue” – on progress to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement were advanced at a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on September 7-8.

The detailed results can be seen in this meeting note from the Presidencies.

Preliminary thinking announced at the meeting by country heads of climate change delegations and the incoming and outgoing UN Climate Change Conference Presidencies Morocco and Fiji would structure the dialogue around three key questions: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?

The presidencies will continue to engage with countries on preparations before reporting on this to the next COP23climate change conference in Bonn, Germany, in November

In Paris, in 2015, countries agreed to hold the dialogue which, among other objectives, will be focused on solutions to meet the Paris Agreement goals and will look to encourage rising ambition of country’s national climate plans (NDCs).

The in-coming Fiji Presidency is keen for countries to engage in the spirit of Talanoa, a Fijian term that refers to a mutually beneficial building of relationships and sharing of ideas. This underpins the objective of the dialogue where countries aim to gather information and resolve problems with each other, in an atmosphere of transparency and inclusiveness.

The dialogue will consist of two phases:

• The Preparatory phase will start at the UN sessional climate change meeting period in May, 2018, and will end at the beginning of COP24, at the end of the year. However, it is expected that Parties will start work earlier through national and regional discussions.
• The Political phase will take place at COP24 and is intended to attract high-level political attention and focus on the objectives of the dialogue, in particular, how to achieve more in the next NDCs from countries.

To help transparency and inclusiveness in the process, the UN Climate Change secretariat will be creating an online platform before May to gather all inputs to the dialogue.

Photo credit: COP22 Presidency (Facebook)