Midway between the annual COP meetings, negotiations are always taking place in Bonn. There are usually more technical issues discussed between officials, so politicians are not directly involved in these negotiations. Usually these negotiations are not much discussed in the media, but there may be good reason to follow more this time.
This year, there is more at stake than usual, because this year, promises can be made for greater ambition for the Paris agreement. These promises must formally be given during COP24, which takes place in Katowice in Poland in December, but this is here in Bonn the lines should be laid. Among the EU countries, seven countries – Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal – have indicated that they want the EU to strengthen its efforts and promise higher climate targets.
Stocktaking under COP24
At the same time, COP24 will make a so-called stocktaking where the countries will issue a status statement of the ongoing climate measures. But it is in Bonn where the rules for this stocktaking must be fixed. This set of rules is crucial for how transparent the announcements become. There may be countries that are not interested in being too open about their actions, so these negotiations are very important so that the figures presented under COP24 will be as comparable as possible.
Developing countries are important
There is also pressure on negotiations in relation to developing countries. Question is if developing countries have to meet the same demands as the rich countries, or do the rich countries have an obligation to help developing countries technologically so that they can turn to green technologies and skip the fossil stage.
The next two weeks can be important so there is many reasons to be in touch.
