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Paris Negotiating Text Set for Further Refinement
The first round of climate negotiations this year, held in February in Geneva, ended successfully as governments agreed on a negotiating text for the 2015 Paris agreement. Welcoming this achievement, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres said "The text was constructed in full transparency. This means that although it has become longer, countries are now fully aware of each other's positions."  The next step is for negotiators to narrow down options and reach consensus on the content. The focus is now on the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June, where formal work and negotiations on the text will continue.

      

Bonn Climate Change Conference June 2015

 

Technical Expert Meetings: Bridging Emissions Gap
At the June sessions, the series of technical expert meetings (TEMs) begun in 2014 will continue, assisting Parties in identifying policy options, practices and technologies with high mitigation potential. The two topics in June are renewable energy supply and energy efficiency in urban environments. An updated technical paper compiles information on thematic areas with high mitigation potential examined at the TEMs held in June and October 2014. It contains the main text and four thematic addenda, with information on unlocking potential to raise pre-2020 mitigation ambition in land use, urban environments, carbon capture, use and storage and non-CO2 GHG emissions.

In conjunction with the technical expert meetings, the secretariat organizes a Climate Action Fair to showcase examples of (1) pre-2020 action related to the technical expert meeting topics and (2) actions by non-state actors to address climate change. Full details on the TEMs available here.

Quizzing Developed Countries on Mitigation Ambition through Multilateral Assessment 

Also at the June sessions, 24 developed country Parties will be assessed on their commitments for 2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of the second Multilateral Assessment (MA). The first MA under the new international assessment and review (IAR) process for 17 developed countries took place at COP 20 in Lima, Peru in December 2014.

The MA provides an open platform for all 196 Parties to the UNFCCC to discuss progress made by developed countries towards achieving their quantified emission reduction targets. To view the compiled questions received by each Party under assessment, please go to the UNFCCC's individual Party page. Full details of the MA process, including explanatory graphs, are here.   

 

 Report of Experts Dialogue on 2013-2015 Review   

The report involving a dialogue with experts has been released on the 2013-2015 Review under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was ordered by governments to review the adequacy of their agreed goal to keep the global average temperature from rising beyond 2?C above pre-industrial levels and of the overall progress made towards this goal. The report is the result of a face-to-face dialogue between over 70 experts and Parties to the UNFCCC. More  

 

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) Taking Shape
Contributions from governments on the actions they intend to take as part of a new international climate agreement to be struck in Paris in December 2015 are now coming in. To date, 38 parties to the UNFCCC have formally submitted their pledges, otherwise known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres is encouraging countries to come forward with their INDCs as soon as possible, thereby underlining their commitment towards a successful outcome in Paris. Countries have agreed that there will be no back-tracking in these national climate plans, meaning that the level of ambition to reduce emissions will increase over time. All information, such as documentation on preparing INDCs, as well as on sources of support for INDC preparation, is available here. All INDCs submitted by countries are available on the UNFCCC website here.

Delivering Developing Country Climate Plans 
The agreement by governments to prepare and communicate their national climate plans as
part of a new climate change agreement has also placed attention on how developing countries with less capacity can best handle this task. Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) can help support developing countries in planning sustainable futures that fit their own national objectives. Read more

The NAMA Facility has now launched its Third Call for NAMA Support Project Outlines, inviting national governments and qualified Delivery Organizations to make their submissions by 15 July 2015. The NAMA Facility, a joint programme run by a group of developed country ministries, is designed to fund these Support Projects, which mobilize capital to assist governments in implementing their NAMAS. More NAMA news here. View interactive world map showing quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets for all developed countries and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions by developing countries by 2020.

Bold Climate Action Commitments by Companies and Investors Showcased 
 
On 21 May, the UN, the governments of France and Peru and major business NGOs presented new data that clearly demonstrates how leading companies and investors are acting on climate change. Presented during Climate Week Paris at the Business and Climate Summit, this new information adds crucial momentum to global efforts to reach an effective universal climate change agreement in Paris in December of this year. The data is available on a new online interface on the NAZCA climate action portal, which showcases climate commitments by businesses, cities and regions - and now investors. Actions captured in the Nazca portal range from reducing greenhouse gas emissions through improved energy efficiency to the installation of photovoltaic, geothermal and other renewable energy systems and action to proof economies, businesses and investments against severe climate impacts.
Momentum for Change 2015 Call for Applications Now Closed
The three-month call for applications for the 2015 Momentum for Change Awards closed at the end of April, with a record number of submissions this year - more than 450. Our Advisory Panel now faces the difficult task of selecting the most transformative examples of climate action from hundreds of outstanding applications.

 

Up next on Momentum's calendar is a special event for all participants at the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June. Three previous Lighthouse Activity winners, Solar Power Company Group, Redavia and SmartSense will travel to Bonn to showcase their renewable energy solutions. Solar Power Company Group is the largest solar power generation company in Thailand. The company unlocked private financing to construct 36 solar photovoltaic farms in northeast Thailand, accounting for 250 MW of installed capacity so far. Redavia leases cost-effective and clean solar farms without up-front capital investment or long-term obligations. The farms in turn reduce consumption of diesel fuel by generators, improve access to electricity, and reduce emissions and power costs in communities around the world. SmartSense is an information and communications technology solution that is helping industrial and commercial energy consumers in India and Malaysia monitor and optimize their use of energy.
Follow Momentum for Change on Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news.

The MfC renewable energy event takes place on 4 June from 18:30 to 20:00 at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, Germany and is open to all registered conference participants.

Africa Carbon Forum - Opportunity in Action
This year's Forum, held from 13-15 April in Marrakesh, featured a high-level ministerial segment hosted by the Government of Morocco, where African governments discussed their planned contributions to an international climate change agreement in Paris in December. Ministers acknowledged the wealth of experience gained over the last ten years in implementing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and stressed the important role that market mechanisms can play in raising the level of ambition as well as climate finance. Ministers encouraged countries to further enhance the domestic component of their intended contributions through the use of effective market-based mechanisms. Read the conclusions by the Ministers. Read UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary Richard Kinley's address to the ministerial dialogue.
 
 Back in Bonn, the CDM Executive Board held its latest meeting from 25 to 28 May, at which the Board identified areas across the spectrum to simplify requirements for clean development projects in developing countries, leading to greater cost-effectiveness. Read more. On 4 May, the UNFCCC secretariat's John Kilani gave a keynote address to Parliamentarians in Berlin, in which he underlined the crucial role of markets in leveraging the funding necessary for development and a carbon-neutral future.
Coming Up
Launch of Largest Global Citizen Consultation on Climate and Energy
On June 6, beginning at dawn in the Pacific Islands and ending at dusk in the West Coast of the United States, citizens around the world will take part in the largest ever public consultation on climate change and energy. This unique World Wide Views Day is in support of an ambitious new, universal climate change agreement that the nations of the world will conclude under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in December. Read more

Major Paris Climate Science Conference in July
From 7-10 July, UNESCO in Paris will host the scientific conference " Our common future under climate change". Building on the findings of the latest science from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the conference will present updated knowledge and address key climate change issues in the broader context of global change. Read more

Send Us Your Climate Song for Paris!
Are you an amateur or professional singer, and do you care deeply about climate change? Then be part of the global movement in support of a meaningful new universal climate change agreement to be concluded in Paris in December. Send us your climate songs to newsroom@unfccc.int so we can spread the word in the run-up to the meeting. More

Did You Know...?
The UNFCCC Newsroom is Now Also in French
The secretariat launched a French language version of its front page Newsroom on the UNFCCC website earlier this year to complement the existing English and Spanish versions. The Newsroom offers news on the intergovernmental climate process, along with reports of how governments, people, companies and cities across the world are contributing towards the groundswell of action ahead of this year's UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, which is to result in a successful new global climate change agreement. The 3 Newsroom language versions can be found at www.unfccc.int.  All language versions have Twitter accounts: @CCNUCC (French) / @CMNUCC (Spanish) / @UNFCCC (English)

You Can Follow Solar Impulse Live Around the World
Solar Impulse, the only airplane of perpetual endurance able to fly day and night on solar power without a drop of fuel, is now on its flight around the world. Anyone can be part of the adventure and follow the flight live. In this first Round-The-World Solar Flight, pilots Bertrand Piccard, Andr? Borschberg and their team have set themselves the challenge to demonstrate how pioneering spirit, innovation and clean technologies can change the world.

The UN is Moving Toward Climate Neutrality 

The sixth edition of the report Moving Towards a Climate Neutral UN, released in March, details continued efforts to reduce emissions within the organization, as evidenced by case studies on the Greening the Blue website. In September 2014 UN Secretary-General set a new challenge for the organizations of the UN System - to achieve climate neutrality by 2020. Read more