Legal Response International » Integration of Loss and Damage into the Global Stocktake

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How can commitments under Art.8 para.3 (to enhance… and… support) be monitored and assessed through the global stocktake? What additional rules/procedures/decisions relating to the global stocktake may facilitate parties’ efforts under Art.8 and/or strengthen the WIM?

Advice:

1. How can commitments to enhance understanding, action and support (art 8 para 3) be monitored and assessed through the Global Stocktake?

Article 8.3 of the Paris Agreement provides that “Parties should enhance understanding, action and support”. This does not give rise to an individual or collective legal obligation on individual Parties to enhance understanding, action and support. However, it does establish a recommendation or expectation on Parties collectively, that could form part of the global stocktake under Article 14.

One means would be to consider how cooperation has been enhanced across each of the areas listed in Article 8.4 (e.g. identification progress made since the last Global Stocktake, initiatives implemented or established and financial flows). This could take place either in a single workstream, or items allocated to the workstream assessing progress towards the relevant long-term goal or goals.

Additionally, if Parties were to voluntarily include information in their national reports under Article 13.8, this information would likely be included in any compilation or synthesis reports prepared during the global stocktake.

The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM) could also play a role in the global stocktake, either as a body responsible for synthesising or compiling information on loss and damage submitted through various sources of input or could act as a source of input itself and provide either its annual reports as inputs or prepare a special report ahead of the global stocktake.

2. What additional rules/procedures/decisions relating to the Global Stocktake may facilitate parties’ efforts under Art. 8 and/or strengthen the WIM?

Ensuring the role of the WIM through:

identification as a source of input to the global stocktake (in a non-exhaustive list of potential sources), or
the modalities of the global stocktake. Identifying the WIM as having a direct role in the governance arrangements of the global stocktake (e.g. to compile or synthesise inputs relevant to implementation of Article 8).

Ensuring a political or high-level component of the global stocktake where key messages on future climate impacts and potential loss and damage can be communicated will be key to facilitate efforts under Article 8.

Emphasis on the mandate of the global stocktake to enhance international cooperation for climate action, and the connection to “cooperation” under Article 8.3 and 8.4 could be useful to strengthen Parties’ efforts under Article 8 over time.

Lastly, outputs from the global stocktake could highlight the need to enhance action or support in certain areas which may be of relevance to the WIM and could be taken up in future work programmes of the WIM.