Please visit www.iclei.org/bali2007 to access documents and presentations from the Local Government Climate Sessions, the final statements and World Mayors and Local Government Climate Protection Agreement from COP 13, and photos from both activities.

ICLEI is in the process of posting these documents and materials, so please check back regularly.

Saturday, 15 December

On Saturday, delegates remained in negotiations at COP 13, trying to reach consensus on the ‘Bali Roadmap’. 

The main plenary hall was witness to pleas from UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, a return visit from the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and the President of Indonesia, and boos following some remarks made by the US delegation. 

While the final agreement does not contain specific emissions targets and does not include strong commitments for rich countries to provide poorer ones with green technology, the agreement was still hailed as a crucial development.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said that, “Bali has delivered what it needed to do.  That road forward is ambitious, it is transparent, and it is flexible.” 

The agreement includes an agenda for key issues to be negotiated up to 2009.  These are: 

• action for adapting to the negative consequences of climate change, such as droughts and floods;
• ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• ways to widely deploy climate-friendly technologies; and
• financing both adaptation and mitigation measures.

Four major UNFCCC meetings to implement the Bali roadmap are foreseen over the coming year, commencing in March or April 2008. 

ICLEI will closely monitor these negotiations, considering how to link these meetings with the local roadmap to Copenhagen that ICLEI has launched at COP 13.  ICLEI members will be regularly apprised of the progress being made on the local roadmap, and on obtaining signatories to the World Mayors and Local Government Climate Protection Agreement.

Friday, 14 December - the final day of COP 13

Friday, the final day of COP 13.  I stand corrected – officially considered the final day of COP 13, but the global press reports that negotiations didn’t finish until the following evening.

The final day of COP affords observer organizations with an opportunity to formally address the delegates in the main plenary hall.  It is listed officially in the program as ‘Statements by Observer Organizations’ to the Conference of the Parties (COP), and Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP). 

ICLEI was honoured with the opportunity to give two official statements – one on behalf of local and municipal associations, and the other on behalf of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change. 

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City was the first of 13 observer organizations to make a statement; the first following statements by ministers that were not concluded the evening before, and then statements by other UN officials.  The timing ended up being perfect, as Mayor Bloomberg’s presentation flowed right into a press conference arranged for him right across the hall.


 Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg addresses COP 13

Mayor Bloomberg, accompanied by 6 staff including body guards, was the first speaker of the day to receive applause during his remarks.  He made reference to the efforts underway in his own city, New York City, and the recently launched World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement.  He ended his presentation by asking at delegates take two steps in their final negotiations:
“Set out, honestly and fully, the duties that we all share.  We have to set targets, propose realistic plans to achieve them, and hold ourselves accountable to do just that.”
“I ask you to make cities and local governments of the world an integral part of this process.  The authority and the resources needed to address the greatest challenge that humanity has ever created for itself must be shared by the officials most directly confronting those challenges.”


Mayor Bloomberg's personal security detail, keeping an eye on him

Mayor Bloomberg came down off the stage and traveled directly to his press conference.  There were a number of journalists there, eager both to learn more about climate change impacts on cities and the opportunities provided by the newly launched World Mayors and Climate Protection Agreement, but to question Mayor Bloomberg – unfortunately – about his political ambitions.  I was in the plenary enjoying the presentation by Lady Mayor Dieckmann, but was told that Mayor Bloomberg was adept at bringing media attention back to his role at COP 13 representing local governments. 


Final Press Conference
  

Lady Mayor Dieckmann addresses COP13 as Chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change

Lady Mayor Dieckmann was one of the final observer organizations allowed to address the COP, and did so with well-crafted remarks on how cities are changing the world through their actions, and how local governments are necessary for the success of climate change commitments at the national level.  She also made reference to the World Mayors and Local Government Climate Protection Agreement, demonstrating that hundreds of thousands of cities and local governments are united on the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

She ended her presentation stating the following:  “It is quite simple – without cities and local governments, national governments will not be able to reach their targets and meet their commitments.  We the local leaders reach our hands out to you, governments.  Let us join forces to save this planet.”

The high-level statement made by Mayor Bloomberg of New York City can be found here, and the high-level statement made by Lady Mayor Dieckmann of Bonn can be found here.

How THRILLING to see ‘Cities to cut carbon emissions by 60 percent’ as a top article in the following day’s Jakarta Post, a result of the local government presence on the final day of COP 13.    A scan of this article will be available here in the coming days.

As exhibits and office space all had to be dismantled and vacated from the COP premises by 3:00pm that afternoon, ICLEI staff rallied around and packed everything away.  Whilst ICLEI Secretary General Konrad Otto-Zimmermann attended a side event that he was invited to by the European Union, others headed back to their respective hotels to celebrate a successful day.  (It was not until the morning that we heard negotiations did not end well, calling for more meetings the following day that the Secretary General returned to, having been on a visit to East Timor.)


A fond farewell to Ralph the UN Security detail

Thursday, 13 December
While many ICLEI staff remained at the hotel for a CCP global strategy meeting, the ICLEI media team headed back to the UN Conference to send off press releases on the World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement.

Christmas tree in our hotel

My first check-in with the UNFCCC Secretariat provided more details on the high-level segment that coming Friday, and brought some surprising – and very flattering – news.  Former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore had asked the UNFCCC to introduce him before he spoke at his side event tonight.  Not possible due to protocol implications, the Secretariat suggesting Lady Mayor Dieckmann, as host city of the UNFCCC Secretariat, and as Chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change.  Mr. Gore was supposedly in favour of this arrangement, the final decision to be made by the staff of his organization, the Alliance for Climate Protection.

With ICLEI staff coming over to the COP facility after their meeting for bilateral meetings and to attend side events of interest, the Communications team was busily finalizing the high-level statements for Lady Mayor Dieckmann representing the WMCCC, and Mayor Bloomberg representing Local and Municipal Associations, a media advisory and press release for the press conference following the statements, and the two-minute introduction for Mr. Gore.


Bicycles available to delegates to travel between the COP site and the side events location
 
 
In the negotiations, the high-level segment continued, with over 60 ministers and heads of delegations giving their official statement.  Similarly, delegations were dispersed through all of the meeting rooms in closed-door sessions, working hard to develop final text and decisions as COP 13 draws to a close.

The Government of Norway made an astounding announcement – Prime Minister Stoltenberg announced more than $US 500 million annually to support efforts to reduce deforestation in developing countries, and offered to host one of the major meetings in the lead up to COP 15 in Copenhagen. 

The negotatiors and all others began after 6:30pm to make their way over to the Second Plenary hall, where Al Gore’s side event was to be held.  While 4 tickets per delegation and organization were handed out by the UNFCCC for the opening of the high-level segment on Wednesday, the 670 seats in Nunsatara Hall were all open seating.  Lady Mayor Dieckmann, prepped in the event she would be introducing Mr. Gore, was luckily in the room early enough to secure a seat.  (Her speaking role still had to be determined – it had not been possible to contact Mr. Gore’s staff as he was flying to Bali directly from Oslo where he picked up the Nobel Peace Prize.)

Many ICLEI staff were fortunate enough to get in the room, myself included through some ingenious arguments to UN security staff.  Others had to stand around monitors with the other delegates that were unable to enter the room.  Seeing Mr. Gore was a highlight for me, having never seen him live.  Some of his statements:
 
Al Gore presenting at COP 13

On his own country, the U.S.:  “I am going to speak an ‘Inconvenient Truth’.  My own country is principally responsible for obstructing justice here in Bali.”
On taking action:  “You have a choice to make.  You can feel anger and frustration and direct it at the U.S., or you can make a second choice – you can decide to move forward and do all the difficult work that needs to be done, and leave a large open blank space in your document.”
On COP 13 in particular:  “We must leave here with a strong mandate.  We have to summon a sense of urgency here in Bali.”
“We need a mandate here in Bali to go far, together, quickly.  We can’t go back in the past to change things that have gone wrong.  But we do have the capacity to travel into the future, and to imagine which of the futures that lie before us we want it to be.”

The inspiration the delegates needed to conclude the negotiations, and the inspiration for the ICLEI team to finalize preparations for the statements on the following day!

Tighter security today at COP 13; a result of our special guest speakers this morning, to open what is officially called the High-Level Segment. Essentially, after 7 or more days of intense deliberation and discussion, the respective ministers and often heads of state arrive to give official statements.

Given this being the largest COP to date, tickets were issued for the morning plenary to manage the number of people. The tickets did not, however, allow us to enter on the red carpet that had been laid down for the dignitaries!


The ceremony started a bit late, and it appears that the reason why was because the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Kevin Rudd, was officially handing over his country’s signature to the Kyoto Protocol to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. A historic moment for the country of Australia.



The first five presenters were the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri by video, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, and Prime Minister Rudd of Australia.


Secretary General Ki-moon said that the eyes of the world are upon us, and the time for equivocation is over. The science is clear, the impacts are real, and the time to act is now.


Indonesian President Yudhoyono explained that the formula is simple – less emissions and more savings. IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri called for prudence, wisdom, as the future of the planet needs to be taken seriously.


UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said that the heyday of skeptics has been put to rest, and public opinion is at its highest. He questioned why economic security is being considered before environmental security.


And Australia’s new prime minister Kevin Rudd was applauded when he said that Australia now stands ready to assume its responsibilities. In his words – “There is no plan B.”

In the afternoon, ICLEI held a side event to launch the World Mayors and Local Government Climate Protection Agreement.



Through the World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement, mayors and local governments accept the challenge and responsibility to lead and take action to combat the dangerous rate of warming of the planet. The Agreement sets forth six commitments that not only address the challenge of climate change, but also embrace the opportunities.

“Mayors and local governments, if genuinely empowered and resourced, can lead emissions reductions to ensure high global targets are met,” explained Nicky Gavron, Deputy Mayor of London. “ Cities and urban areas are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If governments don’t give us the means to deliver deep cuts we cannot avoid catastrophic impacts from climate change.“


Rocky Anderson, Mayor of Salt Lake City, U.S.A., went on to say that, “We, as mayors and local governments, are committed to leadership and action. We are now calling on all national governments to join the international community in undertaking binding carbon limits to rapidly and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short-term and by at least 60% worldwide below 1990 levels by 2050. ”


The Agreement is a collaborative effort between ICLEI, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), and the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group. The Agreement can be accessed at www.globalclimateagreement.org.


More information will be made available to ICLEI Members through the website and a targeted email campaign that will reach members in January 2008.


The side event was followed by a press conference to launch the event, tricky in that there was only ½ an hour between these two activities and they were held in two different locations – the side event at the Grand Hyatt, and the press conference in the Bali International Convention Centre.


Both the side event and press conference are available as webcasts on the UNFCCC site, at the following urls: here and here.

Local Government Climate Sessions

The second day of the Local Government Climate Sessions began with a breakfast generously hosted by the SustaInfo project. SustaInfo is an online resource of case studies and publications on sustainable development worldwide, selected and validated by experts.

Parallel sessions then began immediately afterward – a Roundtable on Cities and Climate Change, and Local Climate Action in Indonesia.

The Indonesia session, coordinated by the ICLEI Oceania Secretariat, was very honoured to have a welcome address given by the newly elected Minister of Environment, the Honourable Peter Garrett. ICLEI is respected and valued in Australia, with good reason!

The afternoon continued with sessions on Partnerships for Local Action, Climate Adaptation in Local Governance, and the final plenary, Local Climate Strategies.

The Partnerships session was across the courtyard from a major demonstration against the World Bank that was holding a side event in the vicinity. Protestors chanted “World Bank Hands Off’, and had a ‘lie-in’. (Photo here) A bit noisy at times, but it did add a little local colour.

At the final plenary, ICLEI outlined the Local Roadmap from Bali to Copenhagen, and was fortunate to have representatives from both the cities of Poznan (host of COP 14) and Copenhagen (host of COP 15) address the delegates. ICLEI’s long-term climate strategy will incorporate this roadmap, and it will be described to our Members in more detail in the months to come.

A special guest speaker came in to address the delegates at our final plenary – Mr. Stephane Dion, currently the Official Leader of the Opposition Party in Canada, but ICLEI remembers him well when he was very supportive of ICLEI and local government climate action as President of COP 11 that was held in Montreal (Canada) in 2005. He said that he remembered the role ICLEI played in the success of COP 11, and said that the path to get where we need to be goes right through local governments. (Mr. Dion has a dog as a pet back in Canada, whose name is Kyoto for those who didn’t know.)

And again to the future – the City of Edmonton, gracious host for ICLEI’s World Congress 2009, hosted a reception to welcome everyone to Edmonton in 18 months. And just to let you know how effectively and quickly news spreads at COPs, the Canadian Minister of Environment was in attendance, as well as other delegates from non governmental organizations. Maybe it was the promise of free food?
 

COP 13

The UNFCCC and others are marking an important occasion today – the 10^th anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Birthday celebrations – literally – are being held through the afternoon and evening, complete with birthday cake! ICLEI’s mission – to have the presence of the Deputy Mayor of Kyoto City acknowledged at the evening functions. (I’ll confirm that tomorrow.)

The Kyoto Protocol was the first mechanism within the UNFCCC to structure a process and mechanisms to achieve necessary greenhouse gas reductions. This means that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions, the Protocol actually commits them to do so. The Protocol was seen as an important first step towards a truly global emissions reduction regime to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations.

I attended the UNFCCC press conference on the Kyoto Protocol, where the major players in the negotiations in Kyoto were all present. They stressed that the Protocol does not éxpire’in 2012; only the commitment period ends. The Protocol will adapt and renew itself in the next commitment period. And here is a shot at the birthday cake, which had to be pulled in by four staff!

Following the reception, staff met with organizations collaborating on the World Mayors and Local Government Climate Protection Agreement to finalize the text. Negotiations that continued into the late evening hours … At a side event tomorrow the Agreement will be launched, followed by a press conference. Both will be webcast, so I will ensure that those urls are provided to you.

Welcome – Selamat Datang – to the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties, being held on the luxurious island of Bali in Indonesia.

Starting this, the second week of COP 13, local governments have a very strong presence – in fact, local governments represent the second largest delegation! Even more significant in that this is the largest COP to date!

Not only are local governments here representing all regions of the world, similarly here representing ICLEI’s international climate work and supporting our delegates are staff from every regional office except Canada and Africa.



At COP 13, ICLEI is hosting a two-day parallel event for local governments, and also engaging in the official negotiations as a recognized observer. Both of these activities will be reported upon.

Local Government Climate Sessions

Monday then began the two-day parallel event, the Local Government Climate Sessions. Over 250 local government representatives and other interested participants registered to attend, and ICLEI staff also canvassed the COP site to encourage other delegates and media to come to the Sessions.
 
The opening plenary was well attended, chaired by the Chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC), Lady Mayor Dieckmann. Words of welcome also came from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Association of Indonesian Municipalities (AIM), and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

Sessions today were held on the Cities for Climate Protection^tm (CCP) Campaign, Pioneering Local Adaptation, CDM for Local Governments, Local Renewables, and the launch of the Global Alliance for EcoMobility.
 
The Local Renewables Session was actually an official side event of COP 13, and the keynote speaker was the Honourable Heidemarie Wieczonek-Zeul, German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Chair of ICLEI Japan, Professor Hironari Hamanaka, was active in both the Local Government Climate Sessions and the COP 13 side events. Professor Hamanaka chaired the session hosted by ICLEI Japan and the Japanese Ministry of Environment on CDM projects at the local government level, and in his duties on the Board of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), hosted a side event titled ‘Financing and Mainstreaming of Adaptation to Climate Change: Priorities and Prospects”. In his remarks, he explained that climate policy is a major area of research for IGES.

In the evening, local government delegates and other Local Government Climate Sessions participants were graciously invited to dinner at the Governor’s Residence, located outside of the town. A lovely evening.

COP 13

Meanwhile, over at the Convention Centre, delegates of the Subsidiary Bodies completed work today on a range of issues, including the Adaptation Fund, education, training and public awareness, mitigation, carbon capture and storage under the CDM, the IPCC, and the Nairobi Work Programme.
 
For the Adaptation Fund, Parties were able to agree on how the Fund will operate, including its governing body, functions, secretariats, trustee and other institutional arrangements. The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) will serve as the Funds Secretariat, and the World Bank will serve as trustee. Whether local governments in Africa will have access to the Fund is something ICLEI will be investigating.

In the evening, delegates were invited to watch the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC and Al Gore, broadcast live. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin mentions that, ironically, many delegates were unable to attend as they were locked in negotiations on text about the IPCC itself.

For those that simply can’t get enough of these international climate negotiations – UNFCCC addicts – I recommend reading the daily bulletins provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), located at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/COP13. It is the authoritative summary of the deliberations on a daily basis.

Observations and Items of Interest

All of us at ICLEI are saddened that an ICLEI colleague tragically lost his life to cancer whilst enroute to Bali. Al Seskus worked for ICLEI Canada for a number of years, specifically working in ICLEI Energy Services, working directly with local governments on a fee-for-service basis on energy efficiency retrofits. Al was a pleasure to work with, and would have loved to be here in Bali at this international event.

We are all secure in the knowledge that a U.S. battleship is moored just off the Bali International Convention Centre, keeping a watchful eye on all of us.

Monday’s (10 December) Bali Post has a front-page article with the headline “Cities could make commitments on climate”.” The article is about IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri remarking that much is happening (on climate) at the congressional, state and local level. Mr. Pauchari will be attending ICLEI’s side event on Wednesday (12 December),so we welcome the opportunity to educate him on the fact that cities are making commitments on climate, and not only in the U.S. but all over the world.

Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions are mostly due to fossil fuel consumption and activities in land use, land use change and the forestry sector. The country is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, prolonged droughts, intense rain and storms. Its people are particularly vulnerable not only because a large percentage of the population depends on the land and sea for their livelihood, but due to the fact half of the population live in poverty. Indonesia is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, and is eager to promote climate change adaptation and cleaner technology to increase the capacity of its population to face the adverse impacts of climate change.

Bicycles have been provided, free of charge from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment for delegates to travel between the main conference site and the side events location. I’ll include a photo tomorrow; they’re perfect in this weather.

And yes, last but not least, the weather. For those who reside in the northern hemisphere that are entering winter months, it is quite the temperature change. Currently in Bali it is averaging +30 degrees, with very high humidity.