Bonn "Can Do" Cancun Climate Change Agreement

Bonn "Can Do" Cancun Climate Change Agreement

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Bonn, Germany, 6-17 June

Background
The UNFCCC climate talks being held in Bonn will start in earnest on the full implementation of the Agreements reached in Cancun by all Parties to the Climate Change Convention. A first attempt at this in Bangkok in April was delayed by politically charged discussions. Once implemented, the institutions and the procedures established by the Agreements in Cancun will form a solid basis for a future global and legally binding agreement to address existing and prevent future climate change.

IUCN is promoting nature-based solutions to climate change, through REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) and through recognising the role nature can play in increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability of people in the face of climate change. The subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC, the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), will meet in parallel to the talks and will cover the ongoing business under the Convention.

Key Issues
• Making the Green Climate Change Fund (GCF), established at Cancun, fully operational is one of the most pressing issues for Parties to settle as soon as possible. "Only when developing countries see that their developed country partners act on what they have promised will trust in the UNFCCC process be restored," says IUCN's Senior Climate Policy Advisor Claire Parker. "The GCF needs to receive the funds and be in a position to disburse them as soon as possible."
• The pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions made so far are insufficient. "The pledges to cut emissions, anchored in the Cancun Agreements, are not enough to secure the 2ºC limit on the increase in the global average temperature agreed by all Parties at Cancun," says IUCN's Climate Change Coordinator, Ninni Ikkala. "Developed countries, and emerging economies among developing countries, need to increase their ambition and reduce emissions before the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere reach a level that will make keeping to the 2ºC limit impossible."
• Forests are central to efforts to deal with global climate change. "With every month of global inaction to reduce emissions, forests take on an increasingly significant role," says Stewart Maginnis, IUCN's Director of Environment and Development. "REDD+ is one of the few options available now to help avoid dangerous climate change."
• Adaptation actions need to be supported and implemented urgently "There is an urgent need to support developing countries already facing the impacts of climate change," says Ninni Ikkala, IUCN's Climate Change Coordinator. "The Adaptation Committee and Adaptation Framework agreed upon in Cancun should be established and funds channelled immediately to deliver adaptation actions."

Events
• Integrating Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the adaptation response - tools, methodologies and experiences on the ground - 10h30-12h00, Sat 11th June. Room: Gustav Streseman Institut, Langer Grabenweg 68 (5min. walk from Maritim)
• Women and Climate Finance, Co-organized by Global Gender and Climate Alliance, 20h00-21h30, Mon, 13th June. Room: TRAM (Ministry of Transport)

Materials for the media: Please visit http://www.iucn.org/unfccc/events/ for related information.

Spokespeople: Ninni Ikkala, IUCN's Climate Change Coordinator, Claire Parker, Senior Climate Change Policy Advisor.

About IUCN: IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
www.iucn.org.
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