The Eighth Conference of the Parties
(COP-8) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and the Seventeenth Sessions of the COP�s Subsidiary Body for
Implementation (SBI) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological
Advice (SBSTA) open today at the Vigyan Bhawan Conference Centre in New
Delhi, India. Around 3,000 participants are expected to attend. This is
the first COP since November 2001, when delegates completed three years of
negotiations on the operational details of the Kyoto Protocol and agreed
the Marrakesh Accords.
Among other things, Parties will
take up: national communications from Annex I and non-Annex I Parties, and
their guidelines, and the new mandate and terms of reference of the
Consultative Group of Experts on non-Annex I National Communications (CGE);
the financial mechanism; capacity-building; implementation of UNFCCC
Article 4.8 and 4.9 (adverse effects); the Third Assessment Report (TAR)
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); "good practices"
in policies and measures (P&Ms); research and systematic observation (RSO);
cooperation with relevant international organizations; UNFCCC Article 6
(education, training and public awareness); development and transfer of
technology; and issues relating to hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons.
Parties will also address
methodological issues, including: guidelines under Protocol Articles 5
(methodological issues), 7 (communication of information) and 8 (review of
information); guidelines on reporting and review of Annex I greenhouse gas
inventories; activities implemented jointly (AIJ); land use, land-use
change and forestry (LULUCF); and scientific and methodological assessment
of contributions to climate change.
Other issues to be discussed
include: cleaner or less greenhouse gas-emitting energy; the
implementation of Protocol Article 2.3 (adverse effects of P&Ms); special
circumstances of Croatia under UNFCCC Article 4.6 (flexibility for
countries with economies in transition); the Croatian proposal on forest
management activities under Protocol Article 3.4 (additional activities);
a Canadian proposal on modalities for the accounting of assigned amounts
under Protocol Article 7.4 (registries) in relation to cleaner energy
exports; the request from a group of countries of Central Asia and the
Caucasus, Albania and the Republic of Moldova (CACAM) for the
clarification of the term "developing countries" in the context of UNFCCC
decisions; review of the adequacy of commitments under the UNFCCC; and a
series of administrative and organizational matters.
Earth
Negotiations Bulletin:
ENB Summary of
UNFCCC COP-7 in PDF (