Brussels, 30 March 2016/ ACP: A two-day meeting of the ACP Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development ended with a draft action plan for 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific Member States for the period 2016-2020, aimed at strengthening the global response to climate change in the context of sustainable development and the efforts to reduce poverty.

At the event on 22-23 March chaired by the Ambassador of Namibia Dr. Kaire Mbuende, representatives of key institutions underscored the need for action in the wake of COP21’s landmark success, as well as the necessary support for these actions to succeed.

The Action Plan, which will be submitted for approval to the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, focuses on several areas of action, namely: Nationally Determined Contributions to achieve global temperature goals, addressing loss and damage linked to climate change, mitigation and adaptation issues, technology transfer, capacity building, financing and monitoring implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Gearing up for the next United Nations Climate Change Conference COP22 on 7-18 November in Marrakech, Morocco, the Moroccan Ambassador for multilateral negotiations Aziz Mekouar called for ACP countries to ratify the Paris Agreement as soon as possible.

The Agreement will be open for signature by the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between 22 April 2016 and 21 April 2017, with a high level meeting in New York next month for this purpose.  

“This year is about action and implementation and and we want COP22 to be the action COP,” he told the meeting.

UNFCCC Deputy Head Mr. Richard Mckinley stated that the Paris Agreement marks a shift from a “law-making phase” to a “regulatory phase” of implementation and technical negotiations, across all levels of policymaking.

“It is an important psychological shift from ‘can we all agree?’ to ‘how do we make it work?’ … At the international level, technical discussions will begin on crucial issues such as transparency, delivery and reporting of financial flows, and building capacity. At the national level, countries must begin concretizing how the national climate change action plans submitted as part of the Paris Agreement will be accomplished.” 

Climate support

The issue of support and financing was a critical debate to ensure a transformation at the global level.

“Action to address climate change cannot be achieved without the necessary technical and financial resources…  Mobilizing funding from a variety of sources, including public and private, bilateral and multilateral and innovative sources of finance, to support ACP Countries will be critical,” stressed ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick Gomes.

Under the ‘Intra-ACP’ envelope of the 11^th European Development Fund, €475 million is earmarked to address climate change, resilience and environment across ACP countries. This is in addition to support given at regional and national levels.

EU Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete reconfirmed the European Union’s commitment to delivering its share of the developed countries' 100 billion dollar climate finance commitment per year by 2025.

In order to leverage further private investment, the EU will also work with the European Investment Bank and other European institutions to mobilise at least €2 billion for grants that will lead to total investments of up to €50 billion between 2014 and 2020. 35% of EIB lending is expected to go to climate-related projects.

Commissioner Cañete credited the joint announcement by the ACP and EU blocs on their shared climate ambitions with “getting the ball rolling” at COP21, catalysing the ‘High Ambition Coalition’ of countries that drove the momentum towards the Paris Agreement.

Other high level interventions were made by the FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva, World Meteorlogical Organisation (WMO) Petteri Taalas as well as high level officials from UN agencies including UNEP, UNDP and UNIDO. Representatives from financing institutions, research centres, regional organisations and ACP Member States also took part in the meeting.

The Draft Action Plan will be finalised following deliberations at the meeting and submitted to the ACP Committee of Ambassadors. 

(Photos above: Morocco's Amb. Mekouar (right) makes presentation as host of COP22, seated alongside the Chair of the ACP Sub-Committee of Sustianable Development Amb. Kaire Mbuende of Namibia (middle) and the ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick Gomes;

EU Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete delivers the keynote address, next to UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary Richard McKinley;

Below: High level speakers at the special Post-COP21 meeting of the ACP Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development)

Download presentations from the event at capacity4dev.eu

Read full statements by:

ACP Secretary General H.E. Dr. Patrick I. Gomes

EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Mr. Miguel Arias Canete

Ambassador of Morocco for multilateral negotiations COP22 H.E. Mr. Aziz Mekouar

UNFCCC Deputy Exective Secretary Mr. Richard McKinley