Bonn, Germany, 4 September, 2015

Plans by governments to conclude a new global climate deal in December are under pressure as discussions in Bonn moved along at a snail’s pace, leaving critical issues still to be resolved.

There are just five negotiating days left before Heads of State and Government arrive in Paris to open COP21, the final meeting of the UN climate talks this year. The Paris agreement needs to limit harmful greenhouse gas emissions to keep global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Clearly, there is quite a bit of work still to do to get the fair, ambitious and transformational climate deal the world needs.

Tasneem Essop, WWF’s Head of Delegation to the UN climate negotiations says, “There is consensus that we really, really need to get cracking. Negotiators will have to come to the next session ready to roll up their sleeves and tackle the key issues.

“We have seen a little progress in simplifying some of the options which should make negotiation and compromise on these issues easier at the next session.”

Some important issues that need attention during the next negotiations include:

Pre-2020 actions – There have been new proposals that elaborate what parties expect on this issue and some signs that there may be more flexibility to accommodate ideas on the scope of what can be included in this agreement such as the inclusion of adaptation and a recognition that an process to urgently increase ambition is necessary and should be explored in the next session.

Review and scaling up actions – Though many parties are talking about ways to update commitments and the timeframes for this to happen there is still a lot of divergence and much more work is required on this.

Climate finance – huge differences remain but positions are now presented in a clear and focused way, which will make it easier to move towards agreement;

Forests (REDD+) - currently there are discussions under various working groups (Mitigation, Preambular, Objective, Transparency); no consensus yet on whether or not to include something on this in the new agreement.

Loss and Damage – there was some convergence around two or three options which can form the basis of more focussed negotiation at the next session;

Differentiation – The options for how the agreement could differentiate emission reduction commitments between countries have progressed and this can lay the basis to advance negotiations on this key issue.

“There is no time for delay. We need a text for negotiations in October. Anything less could jeopardise an agreement in Paris”

“We want to see science and equity at the heart of the Paris Agreement. We need emissions to peak before 2020, with all countries doing their fair share. We need certainty on finance, loss and damage reflected in the agreement. Most importantly, we need to see that the agreement will ensure the escalation of ambition so countries’ climate actions match what climate science tells us we need to do,” says Essop.

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