The second Petersberg Dialogue on climate change was held in Berlin on July 3-4, 2011, to evolve political consensus on key deliverables for success at Durban and the outcomes of the Cancun climate conference. The conference was organized by the Government of Germany and the Government of South Africa, which will be hosting the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban this year.
In the first political-level discussion on climate change after the Cancun negotiations, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment and Forests, participated in the Petersberg Dialogue, and had several bilateral meetings with Ministers and representatives from the United States, China, the United Kingdom, European Commission, Sweden and South Africa.
Underlining the five key issues that need to be addressed before Durban, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said, “In order to generate forward momentum for progress at Durban, we need to ensure actual disbursement of fast start finance that was promised at Cancun; preserve the structure of the Kyoto Protocol and its second commitment period; work on content before deciding legal form; agree on the modalities of the Review (of a global goal) based on the process of monitoring reporting and verification; and resolve pending issues from Cancun such as equity, IPRs and trade.”
Issues of operationalizing the Cancun Agreements, and finance occupied a large part of the discussions. Ministers and Delegates agreed that there needed to be a step-by-step approach to deliverables promised at Cancun – especially the Green Climate Fund (GCF), technology mechanism and the adaptation committee, as also on transnational in the post-2012 period. On finance, discussions focused on the importance of a structure and modalities for the GCF emerging from Durban, as well as the sources of funds being enumerated.
P.S. In a Cabinet reshuffle on July 13, 2011, Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan has replaced Mr. Jairam Ramesh as the new Minister for Environment and Forests.
Source: Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India.
