The COP 18, the UN Climate Change Summit closed on 8 December 2012 in Doha after 2 weeks of discussions principally focused in the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol from January 2013 and the follow up of the search for an agreement that to be adopted in 2015.
The conclusions of Doha talks have mainly ensured the continuity of the process and existing commitments through the “Doha climate Gateway”:
- The Kyoto Protocol will be extended for eight years, to bridge the gap between end of the first phase (2012) and previewed implementation of the 2015 agreement by 2020.
- A work program on compensation of loss and damage has been agreed on and will start immediately to establish institutional arrangement, such as an international mechanism, at COP19.
- The drafting of a new universal climate agreement by 2015 has been set in motion.
Local and regional authorities welcome these agreements to ensure continuous actions to tackle climate change and achieve a global and universal agreement by 2015. Regretfully, the outcomes lack references to local climate action despite the recent formal acknowledgement they have obtain in the Conference on Biodiversity and in Rio+20 outcomes and the very strong statements delivered by countries including US, EU, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia at numerous sessions before and during the Conference.
Subnational authorities have also presented the concrete activities they are undertaking through the release of the new report from carbonn Cities Climate Registry – the world’s largest global database on local climate actions gathering 2,092 local climate change actions in 232 cities from 25 countries worldwide.
The Local governments and municipal authorities’ constituency, represented by thematic networks as ICLEI and nrg4SD and our generalist organization, UCLG, has been actively engaged in the negotiations through meetings with the negotiators, side-events involving State Members and UN partners and statements delivered before the Assembly of Member States. Please click here to read the statement delivered by M. Dantec, French Senator , councillor of Nantes and climate spokesperson for UCLG, in the High Level Segment of the negotiations.