The Katowice Climate Package

FEBRUARY 2019

In December 2018, more than 22,000 delegates gathered for the UN climate negotiations in Katowice, Poland. The negotiations were the most important since COP21 in Paris and had the main aim to produce and agree on a ‘rulebook’ that would determine how the Paris Agreement would be implemented.

Over the course of two weeks, tensions were high as the cold winter wind blew through the coal mining city. Plenary sessions, panel events, working groups and informal negotiations discussed the broad range of issues relating to the Paris Agreement, at the heart of which was the latest IPCC Special Report that states the world has only 12 years left to avoid a 1.5°C rise in global warming. Despite the urgency and the devastating projected impacts of global temperature rise, the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait objected to the conference ‘welcoming’ the report.

Negotiations ran more than 30 hours over time but eventually the Katowice Climate Package was reached. With implementation beginning in 2020, the agreement obliges countries to communicate what they are doing to reduce emissions and to meet their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), with clear specifications about what those NDCs should contain. It discusses how the enhanced transparency framework will be operationalised and the process for establishing new targets for climate finance. It also includes how to conduct the Global Stocktake, as well as how to assess progress on the development and transfer of technology.

While the Katowice Climate Package is far from perfect, it does mean that the Paris Agreement is still on track and delegates left Katowice feeling ‘cautiously uplifted’ but are looking towards the crucial year of 2020 when the Paris Agreement ‘will face its first true litmus test.’

This collection is part of my broader portfolio of work documenting COP24 as part of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Reporting Services team, producing the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB). For a more in-depth understanding of COP24, download the ENB Summary and Analysis (quoted above) and see our full coverage at http://enb.iisd.org/climate/cop24/enb/.

VIEW GALLERY

COP24, Katowice, 2018. The Katowice Climate Change Conference begins on a cold winters day in Poland.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, Frank Bainimarama, COP 23 President, and Michał Kurtyka, COP 24 President, arrive in plenary.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Delegates during plenary.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Michał Kurtyka, COP 24 President, gavels the meeting open.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Helmut Hojesky, EU.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Gebru Jember Endalew, Ethiopia, speaking on behalf of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Carolina Díaz Acosta, Colombia, speaking on behalf of the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC).

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Franz Perez, Switzerland, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG).

COP24, Katowice, 2018. SBSTA Chair Paul Watkinson, France; Wanna Tanunchaiwatana, SBSTA Coordinator; SBI Chair Emmanuel Dlamini, eSwatini; Katia Simeonova, SBI Coordinator; APA Co-Chairs Jo Tyndall, New Zealand, and Sarah Baashan, Saudi Arabia; and Sergey Kononov, APA Coordinator.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Delegates flood the hallway as the high-level segment begins. Photo published in Mongabay.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Sir David Attenborough, BBC, delivering the UN ‘People’s Seat’ address comments, “The world’s people have spoken and their message is clear – time is running out. They want you, the decision makers to act now.”

COP24, Katowice, 2018. UN Secretary-General António Guterres applauds Greta Thunberg, Swedish youth climate activist, for her efforts to combat climate change. At only 15 years old, Greta Thunberg is regarded as one of the world’s most influential teenagers. Photo published in Mongabay.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. After the opening plenary, delegates break out into contact groups and informal consultations to discuss every element of the Paris Agreement Work Plan.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. After the opening plenary, delegates break out into contact groups and informal consultations to discuss every element of the Paris Agreement Work Plan

COP24, Katowice, 2018.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. While informal consultations continue, delegates return to plenary to hear an overview of the ntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. The Special IPCC Report demonstrates the severe impact that global warming will have on all life, warning there are only 12 years left to make the changes necessary.

COP24, Katowice, 2018.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Members of civil society demonstrate in the hallway, saying that ‘everything is moving too slowly’.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Members of civil society demonstrate in the hallways, calling for human rights to be included in the Paris Agreement Work Plan.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa speaks with Michał Kurtyka, COP 24 President. Photo published in EurActive.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. As the negotiations continue, a delegate reads the draft negotiating text before an informal consultation.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Areas of concern are marked on the draft negotiating text.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. While delegates continue negotiations inside, Polish police surround the venue as a large civil society demonstration takes place outside, calling on an ambitious outcome for the Katowice Climate Change Conference.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. More than 1,000 demonstrators take to the streets of Katowice to demand political actions that prevent temperatures rising by more than 1.5°C.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Delegates reconvene in plenary to continue negotiations.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Ayman Shasly, Saudi Arabia, raises concerns about ‘welcoming’ the IPCC report and instead suggests it should be ‘noted’. Photo published in Carbon Brief.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Delegates huddle during the SBSTA closing plenary as debate about how to reference the IPCC report continues. Photo published in BBC.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Delegates huddle during the plenary. Photo published in BBC

COP24, Katowice, 2018. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa speaks with Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, European Commission.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Trigg Talley, US, speaks with delegates from South Africa.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. As negotiations become more intense, a press conference is held announcing the reformation of the High Ambition Coalition, aimed at increasing pressure for a positive outcome. Photo published in EurActiveCOP24, Katowice, 2018. UN Secretary-General António Guterres returns to Katowice to lend

COP24, Katowice, 2018. UN Secretary-General António Guterres returns to Katowice to lend support for a successful outcome.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Bilateral meetings are held with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, including Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga, Tuvalu, and ministerial representatives from Maldives, Grenada, and the Marshall Islands.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. On the final day of negotiations, members of civil society sing Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ on the steps of the venue, reminding delegates that there are only 12 years left to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Photo published in BBC.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. In the largest civil society demonstration at COP 24, hundreds of people gather on the steps, asking delegates ‘which side are you on’ and saying that they ‘stand with people, not polluters’. Photo published in BBC.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. UN Security during the demonstration.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. As pressure mounts, negotiations continue behind closed doors.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Delegates revise the redrafted negotiating text.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Michał Kurtyka, COP 24 President, holds a press conference to update delegates about the status of negotiations.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. After going over time by nearly 30 hours, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa arrives for the closing plenary

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Michał Kurtyka, COP 24 President, arrives in plenary.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. In a final push to reach agreement, delegates from the Latin American region huddle.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Delegates from Saudi Arabia.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. Pieter Terpstra, the Netherlands, and Philip Weech, Bahamas, watch as the negotiations continue.

COP24, Katowice, 2018. As the ‘Katowice Climate Package’ is adopted, Michał Kurtyka, COP 24 President, takes a giant leap for climate action. Photo published in Carbon Brief.