From 6 to 17 of November 2017, nearly thirty thousand representatives from governments, international organisations, businesses, NGOs and universities came together in Bonn for the 23rd conference of parties (COP23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The IPCC Working Group III, that assesses the options for reducing the rate at which climate change is taking place (climate change mitigation), attended and participated in a number of meetings and events throughout the conference.
Joint UNFCCC – IPCC Working Group on Thursday 9 November
IPCC Working Group III Co-Chair Jim Skea and IPCC Bureau, Secretariat and Technical Support Unit members attended a joint meeting with the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) of the UNFCCC. The joint Working Group was established in 1995 to facilitate cooperation between the IPCC and UNFCCC.
The broad agenda of the meeting included:
• Updates on progress on the IPCC Special Reports and 6th Assessment Report.
• A discussion on how the upcoming IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C will feed into the Facilitative Dialogue that will take place at COP24 in 2018.
• A general discussion on a possible alignment of the IPCC cycle with the Global Stocktake.
CitiesIPCC side event on Saturday 11 November
In partnership with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, UN-Habitat and other partners, the IPCC is co-organising the CitiesIPCC conference in Edmonton, Canada on 5-7 March 2018. The conference will bring together urban researchers, policy-makers and practitioners working on climate change and cities to stimulate research on effective and efficient urban responses to climate change.
On behalf of all CitiesIPCC partners, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and UN-Habitat organised a side event at COP23 bringing together representatives from scientific bodies, local, regional and national governments and urban and climate change practitioners to promote and discuss science-based climate action for cities. Youba Sokona, Vice-Chair of the IPCC, made opening remarks.
Major Economies Business Forum (BizMEF) Dialogue on Sunday 12 November
Working Group III took part in the BizMEF dialogue at COP23. The event brought together representatives from governments, the UNFCCC, the IPCC and business and industry sectors, to discuss business and non-state actor engagement in the UNFCCC and climate change mitigation.
Marion Ferrat, from the Working Group III Technical Support Unit, spoke on a panel session entitled “Facilitative Dialogue and Global Stocktakes: Perspectives on Non-State Actor Input and Engagement”. Marion presented information on the Current IPCC Assessment Cycle and opportunities for Business involvement. The event included talks by Fiji Ambassador Deo Saran, Australia Ambassador for the Environment Patrick Suckling, Business Europe, the Japan Business Federation Keidanren and BizMEF. All presentations are available on the BizMEF website.
Supporting the work of the IPCC COP23 side event on Wednesday 15 Nov.
The IPCC hosted a COP23 side event on 15 November to discuss its role and activities, its work programme and its relevance to policy and decision making in the context of the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
IPCC Vice-Chairs Thelma Krug and Youba Sokona spoke about the work done so far in the sixth assessment cycle, including opportunities as expert reviewers, and how Governments can support the activities of the IPCC.
Marion Ferrat, Communications Manager in the Working Group III Technical Support Unit, spoke about the IPCC’s work on communications , and why the IPCC is placing an emphasis on effective communications between scientists, policymakers and other stakeholders this cycle.
The entire event can be watched here.
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