The Path to Paris, Part 1: Bonn Climate Change Conference, March 10-14, 2014

In the first negotiating session of 2014, Parties met in Bonn under the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2-4), tasked with identifying elements for a new, universal climate change agreement in 2015 to come into force by 2020, and identifying actions to increase ambition in the interim.

This meeting was the first opportunity for Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to exchange views on the scope and nature of post-2020 intended nationally-determined contributions (INDCs) to be submitted by all countries by March 31, 2015. It was also the first of many technical workshops on policies, technologies, and cooperation with high mitigation potential that could be introduced in the short term.

Parties provided submissions and statements regarding their views on adaptation; mitigation; INDCs; finance; market mechanisms; transparency; ambition and equity; and technology and capacity-building.

The March 2014 Bonn Climate Conference marks the half-way point in the life of the ADP. With time dwindling before Parties convene in Paris to negotiate a new climate agreement, the period between now and COP-20 in Lima is crucial if a global, legally-binding agreement is to be reached.