Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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492. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has submitted a request to make a statement during the high-level segments of COP24; and if not, the reason. [49159/18]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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493. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if all written submissions and preparatory work being done by his Department in advance of the COP24 climate conference will be published. [49160/18]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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494. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the bilateral meetings, notwithstanding that they may not be finalised, that officials from his Department are planning to conduct during the COP24 conference. [49161/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 492 to 494, inclusive, together.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will hold its 24th Conference of the Parties (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland, from 2 to 14 December 2018. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement at COP 21 in 2015, the focus of global negotiations has turned to the design of the rule-book which will enable the full implementation of the Agreement.

Parties to the UNFCCC have committed to concluding this process at COP 24. This meeting will also feature the global assessment of the adequacy of climate ambition to date with the conclusion of the Talanoa Dialogue process initiated by the Fijian Presidency of COP 23.

I intend to deliver Ireland’s National Statement to the COP during the high level segment in the second week of the COP. In relation to the publication of written submissions, Ireland engages in negotiations under the UNFCCC through its membership of the European Union. All Parties to the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, including the EU, regularly make written submissions on a range of topics relevant to ongoing negotiations. Written submissions are published through the UNFCCC written submissions portal at  www4.unfccc.int/sites/submissionsstaging/Pages/Home.aspx.

Ireland’s participation in COP meetings provides an opportunity to hold a variety of bilateral meetings with both participants and observers in attendance. While the schedule of bilateral meetings for COP 24 has not yet been finalised, at previous COPs meetings have taken place with representatives of civil society from Ireland, with EU and third country Ministerial counterparts, with representatives of other UNFCCC negotiating groups, and with representatives of organisations to which Ireland provides financial support for climate action in developing countries, including the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and the NDC Partnership.

Ireland and its EU partners look forward to positive engagement by all Parties to the Agreement to ensure a successful conclusion to negotiations at COP 24 so that the Paris Agreement can become fully operational.