COP30: Differences on 4 agenda items not North-South divide, says EU negotiator

Jacob Werksman, EU’s lead climate negotiator was referring to four matters that island nations, developed and developing countries pushed to be adopted in the formal COP30 agenda but they could not be adopted and instead are being considered under Brazilian Presidency consultations

New Delhi: Parties have extremely disparate views on the four agenda items and issues that are not part of the official COP30 agenda but are now part of Presidency consultations. But, these are not North-South divisions, Jacob Werksman, EU’s lead climate negotiator said on Wednesday.

Police officers stand guard near the entrance of the venue hosting the UN Climate Change Conference, a day after Indigenous protesters stormed the entrance and clashed with guards while demanding climate action and protection for the Amazon forest, in Belem, Brazil, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)

These include the status of the Paris Agreement’s lower limit — the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal, Article 9.1 — which mandates that developed countries provide financial resources to assist developing countries, biannual transparency reports on what climate action has been taken and the contentious issue of unilateral trade measures.

He was referring to four matters that island nations, developed and developing countries pushed to be adopted in the formal COP30 agenda but they could not be adopted and instead are being considered under Brazilian Presidency consultations.

“There is no question this is an incredibly important COP for the Paris Agreement primarily because it is the COP by which the parties needed to have delivered their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), their mitigation targets that will give the world the confidence that we are in fact on a pathway to avoiding dangerous climate change,” Werksman said.

Werksman added that what was challenging about this COP is that there was no particular agenda item provided by the mandated agendas for this meeting in order to capture that outcome, to recognise the progress that’s being made, and to indicate how we would address what many expected would be a significant gap between those NDCs as aggregated and the pathway that we need to be on in order to avoid a 1.5 degrees Celsius global average temperature rise. “So that was a challenge at the outset of the COP.”

HT reported on Wednesday that these four issues that may not be part of the official UN Climate Meeting (COP30) Summit agenda, certain themes may linger on for the next two weeks, and eventually find themselves in the cover decision from Brazil’s Belem.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has proposed that we would discuss and take a decision on the NDC synthesis report and plot a way forward, Werksman said while adding that EU proposed an agenda item on the biennial transparency reports, or the BTRs, which indicate the progress that’s being made by parties in the pre-2030 period. “And together we thought these would make a very important snapshot of an indication of the pathways that we’re on now, but also pathways that are planned for the future. Those two agenda items were presented, as many of you know, by parties in time to be included on the supplementary agenda, and then they became part of the discussion as to how we got an agenda adopted. You’ll know that we reached a deal on this, and the Brazilian presidency decided to take what they saw as the foremost,” referring to four agenda items in total.

The two proposals by developing countries including India are Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement which mandates that developed countries provide financial resources to assist developing countries and another on unilateral trade measures.

The EU negotiator said he is open to discuss the agenda items proposed by developing countries as well.

“It’s been challenging, obviously, with those four items and issues related to them on the table. There are some very strong differences of views among parties. I would have to say very clearly that these are not north-south divisions,” Werksman said while adding that “There are many, for example, developing countries that are very concerned to see that there is a response to the ambition gap that was tabled by AOSIS and supported by many developing countries. And the EU, as a developed country, is prepared to talk about issues related to all four of these agenda item proposals. And as a result of that, the fact that it isn’t purely a North-South divide, I do think that the conversations that we’ve been having over the past couple of days are beginning to build some bridges.”

He however said it is still early days at COP30 and ministers will arrive only next week when they will also contribute to addressing these matters. “These may be addressed in the cover text,” Werksman said.

India made it clear that unilateral trade measures can restrict multilateralism and that finance will be the key issue for climate action in the developing world. It also emphatically said the developed world should leave the remaining carbon space in favour of developing countries, invest significantly more in negative emission technologies and fulfil their obligations under the UN Climate Convention.

On Tuesday, India made two interventions, one on behalf of the Like Minded Developing Countries and another on behalf of BASIC bloc which includes Brazil, South Africa, India and China.