By Joshua Wiese.
(I am the Project Director of the Global Call for Climate Action's Adopt a Negotiator and Fresh Air projects. Follow me on twitter at JRWiese.)
Monday, April 29
Day 1 of the Bonn Climate Change Conference kicks off
The Doha climate talks opened in the shadow of the shock and devastation of Hurricane Sandy only to be followed by a Category 5 Typhoon, the strongest ever to hit the Philippines' southern island of Mindanao.
The second session of the ADP opened today in Bonn with Christiana Figueres sharing the news with the assembled that we are about to pass 400ppm of carbon dioxidein the atmosphere, a significant and scary benchmark in the measure of how we're changing the atmosphere.
Despite these real life events, it feels at times that the UNFCCC talks happen in a bubble. Will these events push policy makers to make 2013 a game changing year for climate action?
This Bonn session is designed as a series of workshops and roundtables and a golden opportunity for Parties to push outside their historical positions as the focus is on information and ideas sharing, not hard negotiations.
On the 2015 deal, negotiators need to make positive contributions and keep their eye on the elements, milestones and decision points that take us to a successful conclusion in France in 2015.
On pre-2020 ambition the least developed countries stand at the ready to develop their economies in a low carbon way, but they need the technical and financial assistance of the historical emitters to help them get there.
Both Climate Action Network and the EU made interventions today, speaking of the need for an "equity spectrum". Equity, as we noted earlier, is the key to unlocking ambition. So this is a critical discussion in the week ahead.
We will be looking for positive signs from all countries, but observers are keen to see a change in the U.S. tone and positions that have dominated over the past couple of years. This will be the first time the U.S. negotiators have appeared at the UNFCCC since the change in leadership at the U.S. State Department.
Early days in Bonn, too early to make any calls on how the talks will fare.
From our partners
2 Big Issues To Watch At This Week’s Bonn Climate Talks
WRI climate policy expert Jennifer Morgan lays out what she sees as the 2 biggest issues to watch this week.
UN climate process primed for final tilt at global emissions deal
Ed King has an in big piece on RTCC mapping out the underlying dynamics and drivers that will shape this round of negotiations.
Doha deadlock on climate finance can be broken next week
Oxfam is calling on governments to move quickly at this year’s first UN climate change meeting to plug the gaping deficit of funds to help developing countries adapt to climate change and lower their emissions
From our Negotiator Trackers
We have a few photos that give a sense of the atmosphere inside the conference center. Here are a few of our favorites and here's our full collection.
Sebastien Duyck (virtually) sat down with Joshua Wiese in a Google+ Hangout to debrief on the day and dig into expectations for the week. You can watch Monday's video chat < /a> and tune in to Tuesday's conversation live at 7pm CET tomorrow on the Adopt a Negotiator website.
We've also uploaded some of the crucial daily documents for following the talks, including first and foremost, CAN International's ECO newsletter.
From elsewhere on the interwebs
China becoming global climate change leader: study
China is rapidly assuming a global leadership role on climate change alongside the United States, a new study said Monday, but it warned greenhouse gas emissions worldwide continue to rise strongly.
A new opportunity to increase ambition in the UN climate talks
Mattias Söderberg is blogging with cautious optimism on the Climate Change Media Partnership website,
Bonn climate talks kick off with stark warning over dangerous carbon threshold
Business Green is framing the talks in the same light as many of the rest of us - mounting pressure, dubious benchmarks and pressing need for action.
Cool heads needed in Bonn for five-day talks on climate change
The Irish Times asking whether this one week session on the 2015 climate deal's 'scope, structure and design’ can get negotiations back on track?