New climate protection mechanisms under the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The instruments New Market Mechanism (NMM) , Framework for Various Approaches (FVA) and Non-Market Based Approaches (NMA) discussed in the run-up to the climate negotiations in Paris are described as new climate protection mechanisms . These discussions finally culminated in the establishment of the Article 6 cooperation mechanisms as part of the Paris Agreement in 2015 .

The CDM as the basis for the emergence of new mechanisms

The negotiations to establish new mechanisms are to be seen against the background of experiences with the currently existing climate protection mechanisms , above all the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) . The CDM was conceived as a compensation mechanism by offering industrialized countries the opportunity to achieve part of their climate protection obligations under the Kyoto Protocol abroad. With the help of the CDM, industrialized countries can use certificates (Certified Emission Reductions - CERs) from climate protection projects in developing countries and have them count towards their climate target. The CDM therefore does not lead to further emission reductions beyond the targets set in the Kyoto Protocol, but only allows more flexibility in the implementation of these climate protection targets. This basic functionality as well as various weaknesses of the CDM have been heavily criticized.

In numerous signatory states, the new climate protection mechanisms are therefore linked to the expectation that central weaknesses of the CDM can be overcome by establishing new mechanisms. Although the new climate protection mechanisms were anchored under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, the parties to the agreement sometimes have very different positions regarding the design of the mechanisms and the associated political implications.

mandate

The establishment of new climate protection mechanisms originally goes back to the Bali Action Plan (BAP) agreed at the 2007 climate negotiations in Bali. The Bali Roadmap (Bali Roadmap) was the starting point for negotiations on a new comprehensive climate agreement. The BAP pillar for strengthening national and international efforts in climate protection contains the area of ​​Various Approaches, under which discussions on new climate protection mechanisms began.

aims

The corresponding paragraph on Various Approaches of the BAP reads: Possibilities for using the markets to improve cost efficiency and to promote mitigation measures, taking into account the different circumstances of the developed and developing countries. The two central goals that are to be achieved with the establishment of new climate protection mechanisms have already been named: improving cost efficiency (1) and promoting (2) climate protection measures.

The differentiation into NMM, FVA and NMA and the pre-structuring of Article 6

The positions of the signatory states on new climate protection mechanisms differed primarily with regard to the role that the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should play in this context. While the European Union (EU) and others advocated a centralized mechanism in which the UNFCCC would have a licensing function, Japan, the US and other industrialized nations favored a more open, decentralized structure that would allow national systems to be embedded - such as Japan's Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM). and the UNFCCC only assigns a coordinating function. In the course of the negotiations, two different lines of discussion emerged: the question of establishing a global New Market Mechanism (NMM) and the design of a Framework for Various Approaches (FVA).

The negotiations on non-market-based mechanisms represent a further thread of the discussion. The BAP mandate explicitly mentions the use of markets, but does not rule out non-market-based approaches. Against this background, some Latin American states, which are fundamentally against the establishment of market-based mechanisms, introduced the idea of ​​Non Market-Based Approaches (NMA) into the negotiations.

The structure created by these debates is now also reflected in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement . While the discussions about the NMM led to the establishment of the climate protection and sustainability mechanism under Article 6.4 , the FVA idea resulted in the establishment of the "cooperative approaches" under Article 6.2 . The idea of ​​a non-market-based cooperation approach, however, can be found in Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement .

NMM

An important milestone in the negotiations on a new market mechanism was reached in 2011 at the climate conference in Durban . Here the contracting states of the UNFCCC agreed in principle on the establishment of an NMM, which should operate under the leadership and authority of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP) and support industrialized countries in implementing some of their climate protection obligations and goals. The negotiations finally culminated in the establishment of the climate protection and sustainability mechanism under Article 6.4 , which determined the central properties of the mechanism. The exact design of the mechanism, on the other hand, will not be completed until the rules are adopted in Paris.

FVA

The signatory states to the Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed in 2011 at the Durban climate negotiations on a work program on the question of establishing the Framework for Various Approaches. For a long time, there were fundamentally different positions among the contracting states in the negotiations, including on the actual purpose of the FVA and the approaches that should be able to be included in the framework. While some contracting parties, including the EU, Canada and New Zealand, believed that the FVA should be limited to linking national markets, others, such as Japan, advocated a broad framework that linked national and international crediting approaches alongside the NMM Includes emissions trading systems. In addition, a variant of the FVA was discussed, which should include the inclusion of non-market-based approaches.

With the adoption of the "Cooperative Approaches" under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement , the contracting states finally agreed on a basic structure that, in principle, enables a wide variety of approaches. The exact structure will, however, only be determined by the adoption of the Paris regulations.

Non market-based approaches

Non-market-based approaches were introduced into the negotiations on various approaches as an alternative to market-based mechanisms. Bolivia in particular rejects the establishment of new market-based mechanisms and has developed alternative proposals, including the Mechanism for Climate Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRD). The CRD is intended to bring together the various support options under the Framework Convention on Climate Change (financing, technology, capacity building) and enable the implementation of the goals of sustainable development, adaptation to climate change and climate protection in developing countries.

With the adoption of the Paris Agreement, this form of cooperation has also become part of the future climate regime from 2020. How this approach works has yet to be determined by developing a “framework for non-market-based approaches”.

outlook

After the negotiations on NMM, FVA and NMA were extremely slow, the adoption of Article 6 in Paris in 2015 succeeded in integrating these mechanisms into the new climate regime. The design and functioning of these mechanisms are to be determined by the end of 2018 so that they can be used from 2020.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kreibich, Nicolas, Christof Arens and Wolfgang Sterk. 2012. The Clean Development Mechanism - Investing in Environmentally Sound Development. (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety) Berlin.
  2. ^ Castro, Paula, Matthias Duwe, Michel Köhler and Elizabeth Zelljadt. 2012. Market-Based Mechanisms in a Post 2012 Climate Change Regime. (Federal Environment Agency) Dessau-Roßlau.
  3. ↑ UNFCCC. 2008. Report of the Conference of the Parties on Its Thirteenth Session, Held in Bali from 3 to 15 December 2007 - UNFCCC / CP / 2007/6 / Add1. Para 1 (b) (v).
  4. ^ Status of the ratifications
  5. ^ Sterk, Wolfgang, Christof Arens, Nicolas Kreibich, Florian Mersmann and Timon Wehnert. 2012. Sands Are Running Out for Climate Protection. The Doha Climate Conference Once Again Saves the UN Climate Process While Real Climate Action Is Shelved for Later. (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy) Wuppertal.
  6. ↑ UNFCCC. 2012. Decision 2 / CP.17 Outcome of the Work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention. Report of the Conference of the Parties on Its Seventeenth Session, Held in Durban from 28 November to 11 December 2011 Addendum Part Two: Action Taken by the Conference of the Parties at Its Seventeenth Session - FCCC / CP / 2011/9 / Add.1 . Para 83.
  7. ↑ UNFCCC. 2012. Decision 2 / CP.17 Outcome of the Work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention. Report of the Conference of the Parties on Its Seventeenth Session, Held in Durban from 28 November to 11 December 2011 Addendum Part Two: Action Taken by the Conference of the Parties at Its Seventeenth Session - FCCC / CP / 2011/9 / Add.1 . Para 80.
  8. ↑ Sterk, Wolfgang. 2013. Update on Parties' Positions on the Framework for Various Approaches and the New Market-Based Mechanism. (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy) Wuppertal.
  9. ↑ Bolivia. 2014. Framework for Various Approaches and Non-Market-Based Approaches - Submission by the Plurinational State of Bolivia September, 2014.