Indigenous Peoples call on parties to recognize rights, effective participation in REDD

Bonn, 14 August, Germany (Raymond de Chavez) – Indigenous peoples have called on parties in the ongoing Climate Talks to recognize indigenous peoples’ rights and their effective participation in the REDD processes. In the current negotiating text on REDD, Paragraph 109 contains proposed text on indigenous peoples. These include the respect of their full, prior and informed consent in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the full and effective engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities in the design and implementation of REDD-related activities, among others.

Shared Vision group discusses “jigsaw puzzle” and clashes over work in other fora

Bonn, 13 August (Meena Raman) - Developed and developing countries expressed divergent views over what the shared vision must be in addressing climate change at an informal group meeting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn.

At the meeting on 12 August of the informal group on 'shared vision' under the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) to further work under the Bali Action Plan, the G77 and China gave a long elaboration of its views on shared vision. It called for a holistic approach and used the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle and the need for all the pieces to be created and to be put in their proper place for the whole picture to be completed.

Finance group: South calls for scaling up climate funds

Bonn, August 12 (Meena Raman) - Developing countries called for the scaling up of financial resources from developed countries to address climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Africa Group represented by South Africa said that it would not be able to accept any financial commitment which is not at least 1% of the global GDP, amounting to about $400 billion a year for climate finance. Comparing this with the amounts provided by developed countries for their economic stimulus packages, it said that its proposal was reasonable for a global humanitarian crisis such as climate change.

Annex I emission reductions pledges: Low figures, with conditionalities

Bonn, August 11 (Hira Jhamtani) -- The UNFCCC Secretariat issued an informal note on Monday, 10 August 2009 which compiles information relating to possible quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives (QELROs) of some Annex I (developed country) Parties. This note was further updated and re-issued on 11 August.

The compilation is only of the so-called “bottom up” pledges of some Annex I Parties. The Annex I Parties are Australia, Belarus, Canada, the European Community, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Russian Federation, Switzerland and Ukraine.