COP-15, Day 6
Saturday, COP-15 Day 6, was a very busy day as BCSE participated in a BINGO meeting with the IPCC co-chairs, sponsored two very successful side events, and a submitted a formal intervention. I had the honor of participating in the second BCSE Side Event as a panelist. I don’t have pictures of the event yet–but I will post them as they become available.
BINGO IPCC Briefing
Chairman Rajendra Pachauri and the IPCC Working Group Co-Chairs of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) briefed the BINGO on its Fifth Assessment Report activities. IPCC Assessment Reports are comprehensive assessments about climate change that are prepared every 5 to 7 years. Governments and organizations are now being asked nominate experts and reviewers for the three Working Group’s contributions to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) and Chairman Pachauri extended an invitation to the BINGO for its members to participate in this process.
What is a Side Event?
Side events were originally established by the UN Secretariat as a forum for observer organizations to highlight diverse climate change issues in a different environment than the negotiation process itself–usually in the form of presentations and panels. The successful development of COP side events over the years cumulated in a record number of applications for COP-15–more than 560 side event applications were made for the initial 135 slots. I have the honor of speaking at two Side Events at COP-15. The first one was December 12, the second one will be on December 17.
The first BCSE side event “Leading U.S. Businesses: Innovating the Path for U.S. and Global Climate Action“ was co-hosted with BiCEP Coalition of CERES, and attended by approximately 60 people. Panelists included Sempra Energy, Johnson Controls, Nike and the North Face. The panel discussion was facilitated by Beth Daley of the Boston Globe. Panelists focused on the need for certainty for investment that would be provided through a strong international agreement with clear targets, while also sharing ongoing efforts at home to improve corporate efficiency, adapt to climate change and its impact on supply chains (ex. water), and provide energy and downstream products that help the transition to a low-carbon society.
The second BCSE event, “Driving Low-Carbon Investment” was co-hosted with the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute. I participated in this Side Event as a panelist on behalf of BCSE. The event received great interest, with standing-room only. The panel discussion examined the role of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) not only in mitigation commitments by countries and project development under existing market mechanisms – but also how MRV impacts the decision making and actions taken by private sector corporations. MRV is also key to building market certainty and an enabling infrastructure that will support a transformational level of low-carbon private sector investment.
ICSE SBSTA Intervention
Interventions are basically formal statements from a NGO to a formal negotiating body. BCSE is a member of the International Council for Sustainable Energy (ICSE). The ICSE intervention was delivered to the Subsidiary Bodies for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) delegates on Saturday afternoon which focused on support for clear mid-term targets by developed countries and national actions by major emitting developing countries as a sign of success in Copenhagen. Clay Nesler of Johnson Controls (a fellow BCSE member) delivered the statement and specifically spoke to SBSTA about the need for technology transfer and financing outcomes in Copenhagen to:
- Involve the private sector in the design, governance and implementation of new initiatives
- Support intellectual propert rights
- Focus on leveraging private capital; and
- Emphasize capacity building and creating enabling environments to support sustainable markets for clean energy products and services
The day concluded with the annual BCSE delegate dinner. The dinner was fun and interesting as it was a traditional Danish Christmas dinner at a sustainable restaurant–my first opportunity to eat “off site” all week.
It has been a long and busy week–concluding in a 17 hour day yesterday. Fortunately, Sunday is a day off from the process, with everything going back into full swing Monday. That said, I have no doubt that many delegates were working hard today anyway as there is much to be done before the Ministers and Heads of State arrive.
In conclusion, it is interesting to see how much of this process can be followed via the web. Visit http://unccc.int/2860.php or the official COP-15 U.S. website at http://cop15.state.gov/ to see how. You can watch proceedings live, read the actual documents, view pictures and watch video.
If you have any questions, please send me an e-mail at kutt@conserviscorp.com.
