The UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (COP23) was held in Bonn, Germany and was presided over by Government of Fiji. It concluded with countries putting in place a roadmap for ‘Talanoa Dialogue’, a year-long process to assess countries’ progress on climate actions.
Talanoa Dialogue
Talanoa is a traditional approach used in Fiji and other Pacific islands to engage in an inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue to resolve differences without putting any blame on any one.
As per COP23 decision, it has been structured around three questions to arrive at answers with consensus:
- Where are we?
- Where do we want to go?
- How do we get there?
The dialogue will be conducted in a manner that promotes enhanced ambition. It will help parties to UNFCCC review their actions and discuss way forward in terms of raising ambitions before 2020. It will consider efforts of Parties on mitigation action and financial and technical support, as appropriate, as one of its elements, in the pre-2020 period under 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Obligations under Kyoto Protocol
The COP23 outlined what all the rich nations need to do as far as their pre-2020 actions under Kyoto Protocol are concerned. It was crucial demand of developing countries. The pre-2020 actions refer to existing obligations of small group rich and developed nations to take mitigation actions under Kyoto Protocol. On the other hand, post-2020 actions are meant for all countries as per their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under 2015 Paris Agreement.