Climate Change Negotiations Game January 2015 Instructions and Participants This is an academic exercise based on real circumstances but with modifications by the professor. For purposes of this exercise, students must be familiar with the science of climate change, the basic documents of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, and other sources of information and analysis on climate change. Links or copies of reference materials will be posted in this Facebook page. The objective of this game is for the participants, who are all Parties to the United Nations Framework Agreement, to agree on a Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In this game, the setting is Paris, France, in December 2015 where Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change are meeting to conclude negotiations mandated by the 2011 Durban Climate Change Conference. The Durban Enhanced Platform on Climate Change, adopted last December 2011, launched a negotiating process to culminate in a new agreement on climate change by 2015 and to take effect by 2020. Many expect such an agreement will guide the governments of the world as they respond to the increasing threat of climate change but even after three years of negotiations the Parties are still far apart as they gather in Paris for the final meeting. The game will begin with the opening Plenary session where Parties will deliver opening statements that will state how is climate change going to affect each country, what it wants the world to do about the issue, the kind of agreement the Party wants to achieve in Paris, and what the county is willing to do on climate change. The following issues will have to be addressed by the players (acting out roles as Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change): (1) Principles Should the new agreement (that is to be negotiated) be based on the principles of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, “equity”, and “historical responsibility”? Are there alternatives to these principles such as “human rights”, “based on capacity” and “common interest”? (2) Mitigation: Differentiating Developed and Developing Country Intentional Nationally Determined Contributions Should the Paris Agreement include a global goal to reduce emissions? Should the INDCS of Parties to reduce emissions be legally binding or purely voluntary? Should their be a distinction between the mitigation INDCS of developed country parties and that of developing countries? Should countries like China, India and Brazil be treated the same way as developed countries? (3) Including Adaptation in the Paris Agreement How central should adaptation be in the new climate change agreement being finalized in Paris? Should there be a global goal on adaptation? Will adaptation be limited only to adaptation to the impacts of climate change or will it include adaptation to the economic impacts of response measures? Who will pay for adaptation? Should adaptation programs be compulsory or voluntary? Should the most vulnerable countries – island states for example and least developed countries – be given preferential treatment? (4) Support for developing countries The biggest issue in the climate change negotiations continues to be how to support developing countries in their mitigation and adaptation actions. Who will pay for the mitigation and adaptation actions that are agreed in (2) and (3)? Should developed countries pay the whole bill? Should the big developing countries pay their share too? Should a distinction be made between different types of developed and developing countries in terms of their responsibility? Should financial contributions be based on responsibility for climate change and/or capacity to pay? Should the private sector and markets be a source of funds? Should the World Bank or other be involved in managing climate finance? (5) Compliance and Liability Should the Paris Agreement have provisions on compliance, including the establishment of a loss and damage mechanism? Is it time to now incorporate the liability of countries and companies into the international climate regime? During the Plenary speech which should be not more than 5 minutes each, a Party (preferably only one speaker) must address these five issues and contextualize their positions by citing the impact of climate change on their country. Therefore, all of the participants must know what climate change means for their country and what their current positions on these issues are. Please come in your national costumes if convenient or in business attire. Bring your own Flags (in UNFCCC speak, this means the name of the country/observer that you can put in front of your table). After the plenary speeches, there will be a short reception followed by a first negotiating session. Participating countries: Ateneo ES class – Maldives, Tuvalu, Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Africa Ateneo Law class – France (Chair), United States, European Union, China, India, Bolivia, Brazil, Japan, Saudi Arabia
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 08:22:06 +0000
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