A new 2015 agreement on climate change, that will harness action by all nations, took a further important step forward in Lima following two weeks of negotiations by over 190 countries.
Nations concluded by elaborating the elements of the new agreement, scheduled to be agreed in Paris in late 2015, while also agreeing the ground rules on how all countries can submit contributions to the new agreement during the first quarter of next year.
These Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) will form the foundation for climate action post 2020 when the new agreement is set to come into effect.
During the two week 20th Conference of the Parties, countries also made significant progress in elevating adaptation onto the same level as action to cut and curb emissions.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, the Minister of the Environment of Peru and the COP President , said: “Lima has given new urgency towards fast tracking adaptation and building resilience across the developing world—not least by strengthening the link to finance and the development of national adaptation plans.
“Meanwhile here in Lima, governments have left with a far clearer vision of what the draft Paris agreement will look like as we head into 2015 and the next round of negotiations in Geneva.”
The Lima Climate Conference achieved a range of other important outcomes and decisions and “firsts” in the history of the international climate process.
Pledges were made by both developed and developing countries prior to and during the COP that took the capitalization of the new Green Climate Fund (GCF) past an initial $10 billion target.
Levels of transparency and confidence-building reached new heights as several industrialized countries submitted themselves to questioning about their emissions targets under a new process called a Multilateral Assessment. The Lima Ministerial Declaration on Education and Awareness-raising calls on governments to put climate change into school curricula and climate awareness into national development plans.
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) , said: “Governments arrived in Lima on a wave of positive news and optimism resulting from the climate action announcements of the European Union, China and the United States to the scaling up of pledges for the Green Climate Fund.
“They leave Lima on a fresh wave of positivity towards Paris with a range of key decisions agreed and action-agendas launched, including on how to better scale up and finance adaptation, alongside actions on forests and education.”
Ms Figueres also thanked Ollanta Humala, the President of Peru, along with the government and the people of Peru for hosting the United Nations and some 11,000 delegates from all over the world.
“The negotiations here reached a new level of realism and understanding about what needs to be done now, over the next 12 months and into the years and decades to come if climate change is to be truly and decisively addressed,” said Ms Figueres.
Steps Forward on Adaptation including the Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative
Progress was made in Lima on elevating adaptation onto the same level as the curbing and cutting of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. This will be done through:
Recognition that National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) offer an important way of delivering resilience.
Countries supported the idea of replicating this in Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and Africa.
A work programme was also established under the Committee—it has an array of actions areas, including enhancing the understanding of how loss and damage due to climate change affects particularly vulnerable developing countries and populations including indigenous or minority status ones.
Financing the response to climate change
More Countries Accept the Kyoto Protocol Doha Amendment
The United Nations is encouraging governments to speed up their acceptance of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the international emissions reduction treaty, in order to provide further momentum for global climate action for the years leading up to 2020.
New climate action portal launched as part of Lima Climate Action Agenda
Providing transparency of developed country action
Over two days, 17 developed countries with quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets were assessed by other governments or ‘Parties’ to the Convention.
The Multilateral Assessment showed that the number of success stories and best practices in policy and technology innovation alongside nations decoupling emissions from economic growth is increasing.
Forests and the Lima Information Hub for REDD +
Countries meeting in Lima made progress on providing support to avoid deforestation.
These baselines are likely to increase the possibility of obtaining international funding under initiatives like Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REED+).
In support of this, the COP President announced that an ‘information hub’ will be launched on the UNFCCC web site, spotlighting actions by countries carrying out REDD+ activities.
The aim is to bring greater transparency on both the actions being undertaken, including safeguards for communities and the payments being made.
Providing technology to developing countries
The Lima meeting sent an important signal that the transfer of climate technologies with the assistance of the UN and other international agencies is picking up speed.
The first research project funded under the technology mechanism was announced just prior to the Lima climate conference, involving the monitoring of climate change’s impact on biodiversity in Chile.
Lima Work Programme on Gender
The role of women is key to the response to climate change, and needs to be strengthened.
Education and Awareness-raising
It is aimed at developing education strategies that incorporate the issue of climate change in curricula, while also raising awareness on climate change in the design and implementation of national development and climate change strategies.
Peru and France launch Lima-Paris Action Agenda
Press release; Image: UNFCCC