Lima Climate summit smooths the way for a comprehensive climate agreement

The decision adopted at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima (COP 20) has laid the foundations for the negotiations on the new global climate regime to be agreed in Paris in one year's time. "This smooths the way for the first agreement which involves all countries in the efforts to combat climate change," said Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks. "COP 20 in Lima has tapped into all possibilities for ambitious and global climate action." The final document was adopted in the early hours of Sunday morning, thanks also to the dedication and efforts of Peruvian environment minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal. It contains elements of a draft negotiating text for an agreement to be adopted in Paris at the end of 2015 and enter into force in 2020. The decision envisages a complete draft by the end of May 2015. For the first time, the new agreement will be applicable to all Parties. Only around 40 countries are still parties to the current agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, and these account for less than 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Major emitters such as the United States, China, Canada, Japan and Russia do not fall under the Kyoto Protocol. The COP 20 decision in Lima invites all Parties to present their own intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs). Those ready to do so should indicate within the first quarter of 2015 the extent to which they can reduce their emissions. Targets should be transparent, comparable and verifiable. In addition, Parties may provide voluntary information on measures for adapting to climate change. Federal Environment Minister Hendricks: "All countries must now do their homework and present their INDCs, in order to ensure that Paris is a success. The firewall between developed and developing countries is no longer appropriate at this time. Climate action can only succeed if all countries undertake it together. It will take patience and effort to overcome the stumbling blocks. But Lima has set the wheels in motion. Developing countries such as Peru, Columbia and Indonesia have pledged financing to the Green Climate Fund. Now there must be intended nationally determined contributions from all Parties." Right to the end, the issue of how to differentiate the climate commitments of the Parties remained contentious. At present the Kyoto Protocol only distinguishes between developing and developed countries. However, the EU and many other developed countries have advocated that in future the level of commitment should be based more on the individual economic capabilities of each state. The question of the legal form of the new agreement remained unresolved in Lima. COP 20 made good progress on climate finance. Over 10 billion dollars have now been pledged to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), thus creating the financial base the GCF needs to support developing countries in climate action and adaptation measures. Germany was the first donor country to the GCF, pledging 750 million euros in the summer. Furthermore, during COP 20, Germany pledged another 50 million euros to another UN fund supporting adaptation to climate change. This contribution was highly praised in Lima and generated trust that developing countries would actually receive the promised funding. The German government's Climate Action Programme, adopted in parallel to COP 20, was also warmly acknowledged. Hendricks: "It is no surprise that key aspects of the new agreement will not be resolved before Paris. We still have a very bumpy road ahead of us. But in Lima there was also a palpable willingness of many states to approach the negotiations in a constructive way. We want to build on this and give this decisive phase of the negotiations further momentum with the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in May 2015."