Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, will hold its 23rd Conference of the Parties, COP 23, in Bonn, Germany, from 6 to 17 November 2017. This meeting will be the second since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, with negotiations since then focusing on developing the rule book necessary to give full effect to the Paris Agreement. I expect to attend the high level segment of the conference and my Department will lead Ireland's delegation for the full conference. The Paris Agreement sets out a long-term goal to put the world on track to limit global warming to well below 2° Centigrade above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5° Centigrade. Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change through resilience and adaptation, and to make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

Ireland will contribute to meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement via the commitment tabled by the EU on behalf of its Member States in 2015. This commits to a reduction of at least 40% in EU-wide emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, which will be met through reductions of 43% in the EU Emissions Trading System, ETS, and 30% in the non-ETS sector compared with 2005 levels. The specific details of Ireland's contribution, as well as the contributions to be made by other member states, are currently being negotiated at EU level.

The parties to the UNFCCC are committed to finalising, in 2018, the structures through which the Paris Agreement will drive adaptation, mitigation, transparency and capacity-building action. The agreement also provides for a facilitative dialogue, scheduled for 2018, which will assess the adequacy of global efforts to date to meet the agreement's objectives. This will, in turn, lay the foundations for a global stocktake process which will drive, on a five year basis beginning in 2023, continual progress and increased ambition by all parties towards the achievement of the goals of the agreement.

The ambition of Ireland for the forthcoming COP meeting, together with our European Union partners, is to ensure that sufficient progress is made, across the full range of issues, to ensure that COP 24 in 2018 is in a position to formally adopt the key elements of the Paris Agreement rule book.

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This will, among other things, provide that the Global Stocktake process  will be able to commence and operate effectively towards meeting the overall objectives of the agreement.In addition, I expect that this COP will provide additional clarity on how the facilitative dialogue process will operate, as well as on the role of non-State actors in implementing the Paris Agreement through the Global Climate Action Agenda.

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