BONN, 23 October – Commenting on the close of this week’s climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany, IETA’s Director of International Policy Jeff Swartz says:

“We welcome progress made this week on advancing the text for the Paris agreement, despite divisions over climate finance. Parties managed to focus on the job at hand, and made headway on the negotiating text for Paris.”

“IETA is particularly pleased to see a more robust section on mitigation that clarifies the market provisions.  It now makes clear that countries can cooperate on markets with proper accounting of transfers, and it sets policy to avoid double-counting of emissions reductions. It also creates a sustainable development crediting mechanism. All three of these provisions are similar to what we and 19 other business groups called for at the start of the week in a letter sent to more than 90 governments.  

“There are also several references to ‘international transferrable mitigation outcomes’, which is in line with what IETA has been proposing to governments for more than a year. This new text is a solid basis to work from going in to the Paris talks in five weeks’ time.”

The new text is available on the UNFCCC website.