Brussels, 19 February 2013 SUMMARY NOTE DELEGATION TO THE 18TH SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE DOHA, QATAR, 3 - 8 DECEMBER 2012 I. COMPOSITION OF THE DELEGATION The European Parliament was authorised to send fifteen Members to attend, as participants within the European Union Delegation, the High Level Segment of the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 18) and the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 8), held in Doha, Qatar, from 3 to 8 December 2012. The participants were: Mr Matthias GROOTE (Chairman of the EP-delegation), Mr Karl-Heinz FLORENZ (Vice-Chairman of the EP-Delegation), Ms Maria Da Graça CARVALHO, Ms Elisabetta GARDINI, Ms Jolanta HIBNER and Ms Romana JORDAN for the EPP Group; Mr Kriton ARSENIS, Mr Dan JØRGENSEN, Ms Marita ULVSKOG for the S&D Group; Ms Corinne LEPAGE for the ALDE Group, Ms Satu HASSI for the Greens/EFA Group; Mr Konrad SZYMANSKI for the ECR Group; Ms Sabine WILS for the GUE/NGL Group; Mr Oreste ROSSI for the EFD Group and Mr Nicholas GRIFFIN as a non-attached Member. The following Members participated in the work of the delegation as associated members: Ms Sandrine BELIER (Greens/EFA) and Mr Bas EICKHOUT (Greens/EFA). Members were accompanied by Ms Isobel FINDLAY and Mr Jozef DUCH from the Environment (ENVI) Committee secretariat, Mr Rinse van ARUM from the secretariat of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and Mr Baptiste CHATAIN and Ms Amelia NEACSU from the Directorate-General for Communication. Group agents accompanying Members were Ms Amarylli GERSONY (EPP), Ms Eleni DIMITRAKOUDI (S&D), Mr Roger CHADWICK (ALDE), Ms Terhi LEHTONEN, Ms Delphine CHALENCON and Mr Claudio CUTARELLI (Greens/EFA), Mr Roberto LOPRIORE (GUE/NGL) and Mr Sergio GARUZZO (EFD). - 1 - II. ACTIVITIES OF THE EP MEMBERS IN THE DELEGATION (See full programme in enclosed Annex I) 1. Preparation In the constituent meeting of the delegation on 9 October 2012, Mr GROOTE was elected Chairman and Mr FLORENZ Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament delegation to Doha. At the second Delegation meeting of 6 November Members agreed on the topics of the working groups and the side event. On 20 November the delegation had a meeting with EP President Martin SCHULZ and Commissioner HEDEGAARD. In its plenary session on 22 November 2012 the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the climate change conference in Doha by 485 votes in favour, 109 against and 45 abstentions: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2012- 0452&language=EN&ring=B7-2012-0496 2. Briefings on the negotiations in Doha In order to ensure that the European Parliament delegation was well informed, several briefings were organised both during and prior to the Conference: Briefings by the Council of the European Union In the continued absence of authorisation for Members to attend the daily EU co-ordination meetings, the Cyprus Presidency was asked to brief the European Parliament delegation immediately after the meetings to ensure that the delegation had access to the most up-to-date information on progress in the negotiations. The Cyprus Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Mr ALETRARIS met this request by briefing the delegation in the morning of 5 and 6 December and in the afternoon of 7 December on the progress in the negotiations. Briefings by the European Commission In the afternoon of 3 and 4 December the European Parliament delegation was briefed by Mr RUNGE-METZGER, Director of International and Climate Strategy, DG Climate Action. Ms HEDEGAARD, Commissioner for Climate Action gave the briefing on the evening of 5 and 6 December where she provided the delegation with her assessment of the latest developments. Briefing by the Öko-Institut Before travelling to Doha the delegation received a briefing report by the Öko-Institut, which was commissioned by Policy Department A of DG Internal Policies, following a request by the Environment (ENVI) Committee. The report provides an overview of the development of the negotiations within the UNFCCC since COP17 in Durban and explains the positions of the main Parties and negotiation groups. In the afternoon of 4 December, Ms HEROLD and Mr CAMES from the Öko-Institut briefed the delegation on the latest developments in the first week of the negotiations. 3. Bilateral meetings In the morning of 4 December the delegation held a meeting with Parliamentarians from Brazil in which inter alia climate diplomacy and issues surrounding sustainability and biofuels were discussed. In the afternoon the delegation met the representatives of NGOs (including the Climate Action Network (CAN)-Europe, Oxfam and Carbon Market Watch) on developments - 2 - in the negotiations in the first week and their priorities for the second week. The delegation also held a bilateral meeting with Parliamentarians from Mexico to discuss the implementation of climate change legislation in Mexico and best practice and future developments in EU climate policy. On Wednesday 5 December the Chair and Vice-Chair of EP Delegation met with Mr Saqr AL- MERAIKHI, Chair of the Services and Public Utilities Committee of the Qatari Shura Council, and Mr Fahad bin Mubarak AL-KHAYAREEN, Secretary General of the Shura Council. They discussed the position of Qatar in relation to the climate negotiations and its climate policy. Members also met Mr Adam KULACH, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the EU to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and discussed the role of Qatar as the President of COP 18 and more widely on the political and economic situation in the country. On Thursday, 6 December, the delegation met with Chinese Minister XIE Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and leader of the Chinese delegation to the COP. Topics discussed included the historic responsibility of developed countries, Chinese achievements in combating CO2-emissions, nuclear energy in China after the accident in Fukushima, the Chinese position in the COP-negotiations, ETS in the aviation sector etc. Mr XIE was open to meet the Chair or the Committee in Brussels, in order to hold further discussions on a worldwide ETS in the field of aviation. Later the same day, the EP Delegation held a meeting with Parliamentarians from Bangladesh on issues related to the suffering of the population from climate change (flooding, drought, increased heat, thunderstorms) and on measures necessary to adapt to the already clear effects from climate change. The delegation from Bangladesh made it clear that the country will need help to finance measures to adapt to climate change. On Friday, 7 December the delegation met with representatives of the YOUthinkgreen Movement. YOUthinkgreen is a youth environmental movement based in a number of countries around the world, which trains young people to become Climate Ambassadors. The delegation also had a meeting with Mr Ryutaro YATSU, vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs from Japan. Key subjects in the discussion were the security of energy supply in Japan after the accident in the Fukushima reactors leading to lower electricity production, the intention of Japan to introduce a carbon tax and the climate finance to be made available for other countries. The delegation also met with Irish Environment Minister Mr Phil HOGAN to hear about the ongoing negotiations from the representative of the one of the Member State governments participating in the negotiations and to discuss the priorities of the forthcoming Irish Presidency of the EU. The meeting was followed by a further discussion with representatives of the NGOs on the development of the negotiations in the final stages. 4. Side Event This year the European Parliament also organised its own side event. The event, entitled "The road to 2°C: best practice to limit warming", took place on Wednesday 5 December. The event focussed on concrete measures to meet the objective of holding global warming below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels as well as on the best practice which the EU and others can - 3 - offer to bridge the emissions gap. The programme included the following presentations, after which discussions with the audience took place: The road to 2°C: best practice to limit warming Opening and introductory remarks by the Chairman, Mr Matthias GROOTE (MEP, Chairman of the EP delegation) Keynote address: Mr Achim STEINER, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Mr Artur RUNGE-METZGER, Director of International and Climate Strategy, DG Climate Action, European Commission Mr William HARE, Scientist in Earth System Analysis Department, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), CEO of Climate Analytics Mr Edward CAMERON, Director of the International Climate Initiative, World Resources Institute (WRI) Mr Kersten-Karl BARTH, Sustainability Director, Siemens 5. Working Groups As in previous years it was decided to organise the delegation's activities around a programme common to the whole delegation and specific programmes for working groups according to the following themes: Working Group 1 on LULUCF and REDD+, co-chaired by Mr ARSENIS and Ms LEPAGE Working Group 2 on Emissions Trading and EU ETS, co-chaired by Ms GARDINI and Ms HASSI Working Group 3 on Climate-friendly technologies, co-chaired by Ms JORDAN and Ms ULVSKOG Working Group 1 Working Group 1 had its first meeting on Wednesday 5 December, with Mr Andrew MITCHELL, the Director of the Global Canopy Programme. The discussion focused on REDD+ and the developments in the negotiations, and the need for environmental and social safeguards in its implementation. On Thursday 6 December the members of the Working Group met Mr.