COP28: How summit negotiations work – 12/03/2023 – Environment

COP28, the UN conference on climate change, has until the 12th to reach a decision on the global assessment of the Paris Agreement, which will evaluate the actions taken by countries so far and outline recommendations for reviewing the goals of each country — a task that will be completed in two years, at COP30, in Belém, under Brazilian command.

After the departure of the heads of state and government, who spoke on Friday (1st) and Saturday (2nd) during the high-level segment of COP28, diplomatic negotiations are once again the center of attention of the president of the conference, Sultan al -Jaber.

His mission is to consult the countries’ positions and present text proposals by Wednesday (6), the date that marks the end of the first week of negotiations.

Traditionally, the second week of the conference is dedicated to issues that, having not been resolved so far, require a more political than technical mandate for negotiation. Command of delegations passes from diplomats to Environment ministers.

Thus, in the Brazilian delegation, the role of chief negotiator will pass from the ambassador and climate secretary of Itamaraty, André Corrêa do Lago, to the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva.

Just like the opening with the heads of state and government, the change of baton in the middle of the COP is marked by a long sequence of speeches by the ministers of each country.

The presence of President Lula and more than a hundred leaders at the beginning of the conference —whose negotiations last two weeks— serves as a political boost, which gives negotiators a mandate to defend their positions in the following days.

The design was signed at COP21, in 2015, in which countries signed the Paris Agreement.

The French studied the political errors that would have led to the bitter result of the Climate COP15, in 2009, in Copenhagen, which failed in the mission to create a new climate agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997.

Under the Danish presidency, COP15 invited the heads of state and government to the last days of the conference, imagining that they would arrive to resolve the last outstanding issues for the agreement and sign it at the end of the event, in a grand gesture for multilateralism .

The presence of the leaders, however, did not reduce the difference in positions between the countries and the COP ended with a general feeling of frustration.

In Paris, the logic was reversed. The French bet that the heads of state and government would open the conference, bringing political momentum, choosing priorities and encouraging negotiators to seek an agreement. They would then leave the work of negotiation in the hands of diplomats and ministers.

The formula worked and became the new tradition in the conference series.

_{Reporter Ana Carolina Amaral traveled at the invitation of Avaaz, Instituto Arapyaú and Internews.}