Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water & Sanitation & Hygiene Nov-Dec 2017 | Page 20
Climate Change
COP23: Climate negotiations agree on way forward
Frank Bainimarama, President of
conference
the
The Paris Agreement remains on track. Talks in Bonn went
12 hours into overtime as participants reached an agreement
on climate finance. But now comes the tough part.
The bar was low for this year’s United Nations climate
summit in Bonn — anything keeping the momentum of
the Paris process going was to be deemed a success. And
after two weeks of steady progress, participants can leave
Bonn pleased with the results.
Delegates did wrestle with a few sticking points late into the
night on the final day of the climate talks. Early morning
Saturday, a compromise was reached: Industrialized nations
conceded to developing countries that the Adaptation Fund
from the Kyoto Protocol would indeed become a part of
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2017
the Paris Agreement - this in exchange for not including
“loss and damage,” or compensation for the worst impacts
of climate change, formally into the accord.
“Tackling climate change also requires support for adaptation
and loss and damage action in poor and particularly
vulnerable countries,” commented Gebru Jember Endalew,
chair of the Least Developed Countries group.
Transparency and reporting, or how to measure the
greenhouse gas emissions of member states to the Paris
Agreement, was also a point of discussion.
“The Bonn climate talks put substance over style,” said Paula
Caballero, global climate director at the World Resources
Institute. “Negotiators made steady progress on important
details of the Paris Agreement, and laid the groundwork for
greater acceleration next year,” she continued, calling the