The 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 19) took place from
11-22 November 2013 in Warsaw, Poland.

OECD actively participated through a series of OECD side events, a publications stand showcasing OECD latest work on climate and by taking part in a number of workshops, seminars and other events throughout the conference.

Spotlight

OECD participation focused on:

• Important issues in national climate policy design and implementation, based on the experience of different countries in establishing credible and consistent policies. It also explored how these countries are addressing the policy reform challenges, and realising the opportunities presented by the transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient economy.  

• Work by the Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG) on post-2020 mitigation commitments, including the possibility of “bounded flexibility" for commitments and analysis of the process for establishing commitments in the 2015 agreement. Recent CCXG work has also focused on climate finance tracking and effectiveness, emissions accounting and developing guidance for national emissions baseline projections.

• Long-term Investors and Green Infrastructure: Moving Past Barriers to Solutions.
  
  
• Development and climate change policy with a focus on adaptation and effective development cooperation, as well as efforts to improve the tracking of climate-related official development finance through the OECD DAC Creditor Reporting System and the use of Rio markers (tracking both adaptation and mitigation).
  
  
• The OECD-led Research Collaborative on Tracking Private Climate Finance. Presentations of on-going research activities under the project and initial results on the mapping of private flows as well as on methods currently in use for measuring mobilisation were discussed. 
  
  

 Don't miss:

• "The Climate Challenge: Achieving Zero Emissions” - Lecture by OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, LSE London, 9 October 2013.
  
  
• Climate and carbon: Aligning prices and policies - This report brings together lessons from analysis on carbon pricing and climate policies.
  
  
• The Climate change eXplorer tool - This data visualisation tool presents over 40 different climate-related data sets for over 100 developed and developing countries, using animated plots for the period 1990-2010.
  
  
• DAC RIO markers on climate-related aid - Since 1998 the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has monitored aid targeting the objectives of the Rio Conventions through its "Creditor Reporting System" using the so-called "Rio markers". The latest comprehensive figures show that: total bilateral climate change-related aid by DAC members increased at a steady pace over the past six years, and reached USD 21.2 billion per year in 2010-11, representing 16% of total official development assistance. See more: Factsheets: OECD DAC statistics on climate-related aid, on aid to climate change adaptation and on aid to climate change mitigation and on-line data, including the project level dataset on Rio markers.
  
  

‌ Climate and carbon: Aligning prices and policies

Effective Carbon Prices

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Long-term investors and green infrastructure

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‌Financing climate change action

Wednesday 13 November, 15h30-17h30
EU Pavilion, Room Brussels, National Stadium, 2nd floor

The Research Collaborative on Tracking Private Climate Finance is an OECD-led network of interested governments, relevant research organisations and international finance institutions that partner, share and combine best available expertise. The main objective of the project is to identify, develop and assess methodological options both for tracking private climate finance and for measuring mobilised private climate finance. The side event featured presentations of on-going research activities under the project and of initial results on methods currently in use for measuring mobilisation. It also allowed attendees to exchange ideas with, and provide inputs to participants in the project.

Friday 15 November
EU Pavilion, Room Brussels, National Stadium, first floor 

This event showcased new work by the OECD/IEA Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG) that explores what mitigation commitments put forward under the 2015 agreement might look like, what guidance or “bounded flexibility” might be agreed for the different dimensions of the commitments proposed, and which “rules of the game” would need to be agreed before draft commitments for the post-2020 period are put forward.    

Chair: Karine Hertzberg, Chair of the CCXG Speakers: -Gregory Briner, OECD (PPT) -Anne-Charlotte Becker, European Commission -Ho-Mu Lee, Korea Energy Economics Institute (PPT) -Erik Haites, Margaree Consultants (PPT) -Other speakers TBC The event consisted of presentations by speakers followed by a Q&A session. Key supporting documents and relevant links: CCXG Paper Establishing and Understanding Post-2020 Climate Change Mitigation Commitments (October 2013) CCXG Paper Exploring Climate Finance Effectiveness (October 2013)                                                                                                                                           The Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG)  The Climate change eXplorer tool Contact: Gregory Briner, OECD

                                                OECD-CPI Consultation on Development and Climate Change

Tuesday 19 November, 11h30-15h00
Polonia Palace Hotel

The OECD and the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) organised two sessions on the nexus between climate change and development. The event was facilitated by Serge Tomasi, Deputy Director, Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD.

Session 1 aimed at boosting transparency and accountability in climate-related development finance and discussing the tracking of international public finance, in particular climate-related official development assistance (ODA) and other official flows (OOF) across bilateral and multilateral institutions. Session 2 aimed at strengthening development co-operation providers’ efforts to help partner countries deliver effective adaptation outcomes.

Session 1 Speakers:
-Barbara Buchner, CPI
-Jan-Willem van de Ven, EBRD
-Jochen Harnisch, KfW
-Stephanie Ockenden, Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD

Session 2 Speakers:
- Batu Uprety, Nepal and LEG representative
-Jane Wilkinson, CPI
-Gottfried von Gemmingen, Germany and Co-chair of OECD Task Team on Climate Change and Development Co-operation

Meeting Summary

More information on this consultation.

Contact: Jan Corfee-Morlot, OECD

                               Credible policies to achieve climate targets cost-effectively and mobilise private finance

Tuesday 19 November, 20h15-21h45 
Room Cracow

The OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has called on governments to adopt a coherent approach to carbon pricing, to ensure that the signals sent by prices and regulations to consumers, producers and investors alike are consistent and facilitate the gradual phase-out of fossil fuel emissions. Collectively we need to completely eliminate fossil fuel emissions to the atmosphere in the second half of the century. To do so, every government needs to review its policy settings and rigorously assess if their overall impact helps or hinders climate action.

This side event explored important issues in national climate policy design and implementation, based on the experience of different countries in establishing credible and consistent policies. It also explored how these countries are addressing the policy reform challenges, and realising the opportunities presented by the transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient economy, aiming to share experience across developed and developing countries.

Participants
-Simon Upton, Director, Environment Directorate, OECD
-Serge Tomasi, Deputy Director, Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD
-René Castro Salazar, Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications, Costa Rica
-Kwang-Yeol Yoo, Director-General, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea
-Kaare Barslev, Head of Department and Principal Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
-Rodrigo Suárez Castaño, Director of the Climate Change Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, Colombia
-David Concar, Head of the Climate Change & Energy Department,  Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK
-Anthony Hobley, President, Climate Markets and Investment Association (CMIA), and Global Head, Sustainability & Climate Change, Norton Rose Fulbright

Thursday 21 November, 18h30-20h00
Room Wroclaw, National Stadium
Conveners: The Netherlands, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
Co-conveners: Colombia, Sweden, Vietnam, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), Conservation International (CI), the French Water Partnership, the Global Water Partnership (GWP), OECD, and UNECE

This side event provided an informal platform to explore how increased coherence on adaptation can be achieved and how co-operation between parties and stakeholders can be strengthened to support enhanced action on adaptation at all levels. The event explored how the implementation of the UNFCCC Adaptation Framework can support action on the ground and how expertise from practitioners and other non-party actors can contribute to and support the UNFCCC processes. A number of case studies highlighting adaptation for freshwater resources illustrated how global policies and mechanisms could support processes on regional, national and local levels.

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Speakers Chair: Karin Lexén (SIWI) Welcome and Introduction: Wilma J. Mansveld, State Secretary of Infrastructure and the Environment, The Netherlands Introductory presenters: Shyla Raghav (CI), Kathleen Dominique (OECD), Thinley Namgyel, Bhutan Case study presenters: Pablo Vieira, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia, Than Thuc, Director General, Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment, Viet Nam Panellists: Rodrigo Suárez, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia, Christoph Feldkötter, GIZ, Germany, Shereen D’Souza, State Department USA, Kyekyeku Yaw Oppong-Boardi, Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana. Programme Event summary  Website: www.oecd.org/env/resources/waterandclimatechange.htm Contact: Kathleen Dominique, OECD

Sunday 17 November

11:00-12:00: World Climate Summit, The Road to Paris 2015, Plenary II – Sustainable Innovation through Public Private Partnerships, Marriott Hotel.        
OECD speaker: Anthony Cox   
                                                                                                                     ‌                                 
15:30-16:30: World Climate Summit, Clean Energy and Trade: An ICTSD-G2A2 Policy Dialogue (organised by ICTSD), Marriott Hotel.
OECD speaker: Dale Andrew

18:30-20:00: Potential of Low-Carbon Transport to Deliver Equitable Sustainable Development Benefits (side event organised by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), the Transport Research Foundation, Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), Bridging the Gap (BtG), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and International Transport Forum (ITF-OECD), Room Torun.
OECD speaker: Aimée Aguilar Jaber 

Monday 18 November

15:00-16:30: Energy Pricing - Fossil fuel subsidies – Panel on “major recent reports on energy price reform from international organizations and their practical use for policy makers”, (organised by IMF, OECD and WB), Side-event room 4.
OECD speaker: Kurt Van Dender (CTP/TPS)

18:00-20:00: Public Finance Institutions and the Low-Carbon Energy Transition: Domestic investment and private sector “crowding-in” from institutions from OECD countries (organised by CDC Climat Research and OECD), EU Pavilion.
OECD speaker: Rob Youngman 

20:15-21:45: Achieving ambition: Pre-2020 policies and technologies for the energy sector (side event organised by the IEA), Room Wroclaw.
IEA participation: Philippe Benoit, Takahashi Hattori, Christina Hood

Tuesday 19 November

11:30-13:00: High-level roundtable on Market approaches for enhanced climate action (organised by UNFCCC).
OECD speaker: Simon Upton

18:30-20:00: Reaping Emissions Reduction from Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: Learning from Success Stories (side event organised by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & IISD), Room Gdansk.
OECD moderator: Simon Upton

The latest OECD analyses on climate change was showcased at our stand located on Level 1, Zone A1, stand number 21. It was an opportunity to meet OECD staff and find out more about our work on climate.

OECD work on climate

• Financing climate change action
  Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG)
• Tracking private climate finance
• Water and climate change
• Adaptation to climate change
• Carbon Markets
• Climate change and development
• Rio Marker Climate Finance Statistics

• COP19 Warsaw (host country website)
• OECD at prior UNFCCC conferences
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Official site)
• International Energy Agency (IEA)