Capacity development for climate change negotiations

The opening of the workshop featured representatives of ESCWA, league of Arab States, UNEP/ROWA, and UNESCO/Cairo Office as well as the Secretary General of OAPEC.

Discussions kicked off on the outcomes of the 58th session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB 58) in relation to loss and damage, finance, response measures, global stocktake and adaptation. There were also discussions around the IPCC 6th assessment report.

The rest of the first day was dedicated to the agenda item on impacts of implementation of response measures. Updates on the work programme of the Forum on Impact of Implementation of Response Measures and the Katowice Committee of Experts (KCI) were presented as well as latest related negotiations, including just transition guidance, economic diversification, and response measures for adaptation. Case studies of three developing countries were also presented by experts on development and application of tool kit for assessment of impacts of implementation of selected response measures (global and national).

Day 2 started with an extensive session on energy priorities and mitigation actions in the Arab region. OAPEC presented a paper on priorities of climate actions for the Arab oil exporting countries in the context of related agenda items such as Article 6, response measures. ESCWA and UNEP/ROWA presented an overview on application on circular carbon economy framework in the region. ESCWA also highlighted that it will support the region’s efforts by establishing a Centre for Advancing Emissions Reduction to be hosted by Saudi Arabia.

The next session covered negotiations updates related to Article 6.2, 6.4 and 6.8 under the Paris Agreement with explanation of the different mechanisms and conditions. This was followed by updates on the 5 strategic workstreams of Warsaw International Mechanism on loss and damage (L&D), Santiago network and the new fund for L&D. ESCWA presented its related technical work on disaster risk reduction and climate impacts assessments with focus on sand and dust storms and sea-level rise.

On Day 3, negotiations updates were presented on agenda items related to adaptation and global stocktake (GST) highlighting the status of progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and the GST process.

A presentation by UNESCO/Cairo Office focused on adaptation in the water sector in Arab NDCs. Also, UNICEF provided an overview on child focused policy recommendations to inform climate negotiations. 

The last presentation addressed priorities of COP 28 Presidency with focus on the energy theme.  The rest of the discussions revolved around expectations and preparedness for COP 28. Participants expressed their views on priority negotiations issues as well as capacity building needs and technical support in specific areas. It was agreed that more focused thematic training workshops need to be conducted post COP 28.