Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to share a short update with you on the 13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue (PCD) which took place from July 17th - 19th. The PCD is an annual opportunity hosted by Germany and the UNFCCC COP Presidency, for ministers from different countries to discuss UNFCCC issues at both a political and technical level. Heads of UNFCCC country delegations also attend and bring in the technical knowledge of the issues.

Overarching information

• This year's PCD comes after the Danish Climate Ministerial (12 -13 May), the Ministerial on Climate Action (30 - 31 May) and the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (17 June). All of which focused on how to implement existing climate ambition measures (mitigation, adaptation, finance and loss and damage).
• However, at the PCD, whilst all countries agreed that tackling climate change is urgent, they lacked the urgency to act or agree on any robust measures and outcomes.
• A range of issues were discussed. Climate finance was discussed as a part of issue goals e.g. adaptation finance, loss and damage finance etc
• The Energy, food and inflation crises contextualised most of the statements made, and the ensuing discussions that took place
• The PCD had a mixture of plenaries and breakout sessions. There were four breakout sessions. The relevant climate finance sessions include adaptation finance, loss and damage (L&D) finance, mitigation finance, and implementing the global energy transition.
• Importantly, the Egyptian COP27 Presidency highlighted that gender is relevant in all climate action areas and should not be forgotten
• The main climate finance point from developing countries across the two days was on how to scale-up climate finance from billions to trillions
• 40 countries took part this year; including the main emitting countries, the EU and some EU Member States, G20 countries and the heads of developing country groupings attended. Four UNFCCC constituencies were invited, including the Environmental NGO constituency (ENGO).

Dates announced during the PCD

• September 18th: Climate & Development Ministerial in New York
• September: Heads of country Delegations (HoD) to the UNFCCC meeting in September to hash out the agenda for COP27, amongst other things.
• October 3rd - 5th: Pre-COP in the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Updated Eurodad policy calendar on climate finance here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tKVnZMTPLZfqRC-0RiZYSFZDhKFZ_e-6CZajpeJtii8/edit#gid=48842329

Key points on climate finance:

Finance to address loss and damage:

• Loss & Damage (L&D) gained more momentum amongst richer nations, including on finance to address L&D
• No acceptance on a Loss and Damage Finance Facility (LDFF) or other kinds of new financing instruments for LD finance. Developing countries are in support of creating an LDFF and would like it to sit under the UNFCCC system. Whereas developed countries that are open to an LDFF or similar such instrument would like it to sit outside of the UNFCCC system.
• The UK continues to argue there is already finance for averting (mitigation) and minimising (adaptation) L&D that can be used to prevent more L&D from occurring; therefore, UK says there's no real need for finance to address L&D or a LDFF, since the UK is prioritising prevention.
• USA wants more information on where an LDFF would sit and also suggested that if it was called something other than L&D this might be more palatable, politically in the USA.
• Italy and France are not very open to the idea of finance to address L&D, but other EU Member States are.
• There was also more acceptance amongst richer nations to accept finance to address loss and damage being a formal negotiating agenda item at COP27, particularly from the EU and EU Member States. Currently, finance to address L&D will be included as an agenda item at COP27 but only under general matters on climate finance. So the depth of discussions on L&D may not be as rich and detailed. Significantly, the COP27 agenda still needs to be approved during the opening COP27 sessions so things aren't final yet.
• There was general consensus that a gap analysis on finance to address L&D is needed, but it's not clear if/ how this will be followed up on.

Adaptation finance:

• Key themes that emerged during the discussions on adaptation finance were on increasing access to adaptation finance for developing countries, and types of instruments used to provide adaptation finance e.g. grants or loans.
• Developing countries called for grants to be prioritised for adaptation finance
• Least Developed Countries group (LDC) raised the idea of a separate Roadmap and Tracking of Adaptation Finance system as an outcome that should be agreed at COP27

Mitigation finance

• There was a suggestion for the G20 to define what ineffective fossil fuel subsidies means ahead of COP27, since it was the G20 that first made this commitment in 2009 and it's hard to advance something that hasn't been adequately defined.
• G20 2009 Communique: http://www.g20.utoronto.ca/2009/2009communique0925.html#energy

Other

• Of note, John Kerry (U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate) missed the adaptation and L&D sessions on Day 1. So there was no  representation from him during these key discussions on Day 1.

Given that the PCD took place in Berlin during a week of heatwaves across Europe, it's very concerning that countries could not agree stronger implementation measures to support countries in the Global South who have been experiencing climate impacts for much longer. Whilst the movement in discussions around loss and damage is encouraging, it's crucial to ensure that these discussions focus on the national priorities of developing countries. There are a few more opportunities ahead of COP27 to effect the change that's needed. After the summer break in the Global North, Eurodad will organise a call to discuss this and other relevant issues. A Doodle for that call will be shared in Q3 of 2022.

Useful resources:

• Egyptian COP27 Presidency goals and vision: https://cop27.eg/en/Cop27-Goals#finance
• Draft COP27 Presidency programme:  https://cop27.eg/en/Conference#presidency-programme
• Chatham House analysis of the Egyptian COP27 President priorities: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/07/cop27-navigating-difficult-road-sharm-el-sheikh
• National attribution of historical climate damages -Study Shows Economic Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2022/07/study-shows-economic-impacts-greenhouse-gas-emissions
• A fair share of climate finance? An appraisal of past performance, future pledges and prospective contributors: https://odi.org/en/publications/a-fair-share-of-climate-finance-an-appraisal-of-past-performance-future-pledges-and-prospective-contributors/
• UK COP26 Presidency priorities for 2022: https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/priorities/

Eurodad resources:

• Skilling up on UNFCCC COP processes: https://www.eurodad.org/skilling_up_on_unfccc_cop_processes
• Q & A: The future global climate finance goal (aka NCQG) - what is it, why is it important and what does it entail?: https://www.eurodad.org/q_and_a_the_future_global_climate_finance_goal

Best regards,

Leia

 

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Leia Achampong Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer - Climate Finance