Petersberg Climate Dialogue VI Conclusions

Co-chairs conclusions
Berlin, 19th May 2015

On 17-19 May 2015, about 35 Ministers and their representatives, the Co-chairs of the
ADP, as well as the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, and high-level representatives of
the UN Secretary General met in Berlin at the invitation of the governments of France
and Germany. In an informal setting Ministers discussed how to accelerate progress
towards an ambitious agreement at COP21 in Paris and how to enhance climate action in
their respective countries. Chancellor Merkel underlined in her speech her commitment
to contribute to the success of Paris, inter alia by striving for a strong signal from the G7
and doubling by 2020 the German contribution to climate finance as compared with
2014. President Hollande called on Ministers: Let us mobilize, lets act, it is urgent. This
is also in our interest, because climate change is not only a threat, but also a source of
substantial opportunity to invent a different model of development.
The main messages from the ministerial discussions are summarized below in a nonexhaustive manner.
Designing an ambitious and balanced Paris outcome

Many Ministers underlined that for the Paris conference to be a success, it would need to
provide a clear sense of direction that the world is embarking on a journey towards
climate resilient sustainable development with a human dimension. Most Ministers
stressed that the agreement should be comprehensive and built to last while holding the
increase in global average temperature below 2C or 1.5C above preindustrial levels. At
the same time, the agreement should be flexible enough to accommodate changing
circumstances and to continuously improve. Ministers underlined that it would be crucial
to achieve political parity between mitigation and adaptation. They also stressed that
ambition and means of implementation, such as finance, technology and capacity
building, are two sides of the same coin. Ministers agreed that the components of the
agreement should reinforce each other in an upward spiral of ambition. Robust
Transparency and accountability provisions were seen as indispensable to building trust
and confidence.
Several Ministers proposed the further operationalization of the below 2C limit.
Concepts that were suggested included inter alia climate/carbon neutrality, early peaking
of global emissions, as well as deep/full decarbonisation in the course of this century.
Such an operationalization could help guide short-term contributions and also inform
national voluntary long-term pathways. Ministers also stressed that the Paris outcome
should accelerate pre-2020 action and implementation of existing commitments on
mitigation and finance. It should also inspire supportive initiatives by a wide range of
non-state actors and sub-national authorities.
Ambitious national contributions for Paris

Many Ministers explained how they are working hard domestically on ambitious and
transparent national contributions that will be submitted as soon as possible, many of
them this summer. Still, a number of Ministers expressed concerns that the overall level
of ambition of the Paris outcome would not suffice to hold temperature increase below
2C. To address this in the agreement, many called for the establishment of a regular
assessment of the aggregate level of ambition. Some Ministers suggested that the
results of such an assessment should inform and encourage bolder and more ambitious,
while still nationally determined contributions over time. Several Ministers stressed that
not only mitigation ambition, but also ambition on adaptation and means of
implementation should be regularly assessed, while taking into consideration their
different nature.
The legal character of national contributions in the Paris agreement was also discussed.
Ministers shared the view that the level of bindingness and accountability would depend
not only on the legal character of contributions, but also on other provisions in the Paris
agreement, inter alia those relating to transparency and accounting.
Means of Implementation their role in raising ambition pre and post 2020
Many Ministers stressed that better predictability of public finance and more clarity on
how the goal of mobilizing 100 billion USD by 2020 will be reached would be necessary
to foster an upwards spiral of ambition on means of implementation and mitigation. A
number of Ministers underlined that the Paris outcome should catalyse and foster a
worldwide transformation in which all investments public and private should become
increasingly climate-friendly. Ministers stressed that all countries will contribute to such a
transformation, but that different capabilities and responsibilities mean that there will be
significant diversity in the way in which countries contribute. It was stressed several
times that developed countries have a special responsibility in this regard and should
continue to increase their efforts in mobilizing climate finance. It was underlined that
developing countries emphasis on climate finance was motivated by the desire to be in a
position to demonstrate transformative leadership. Ministers acknowledged that a longlasting cooperative effort would be needed to scale up development, deployment,
support and transfer of technology as well as capacity building.
Establishing a sound rules based for the agreement

There was widespread support for the notion that a set of sound and common rules was
essential to ensure transparency and accountability, to build mutual trust and confidence
and to provide clarity about the aggregate level of ambition, with principles to be agreed
in Paris. A great number of Minsters supported rules that would enable a forward-looking
assessment of aggregate efforts. Several Ministers cautioned against assessing individual
INDCs against each other in a judgmental manner. There was agreement that this
assessment should be facilitative, rather than punitive. At the same time, some Minsters
warned that other actors would make their own assessment of the level of ambition if
the robustness of the rules system was insufficient. It was noted that a backwardlooking tracking of progress against individual commitments of all Parties needs to be
built into the existing system of reporting and review.
Many Ministers stressed that high-level principles and processes should already be fixed
in the Paris agreement, allowing the details of such rules to be elaborated after Paris.
Principles that were suggested during the discussion included inter alia: quantifiability,
no backsliding and continuous improvement, no double-counting, increased
comprehensiveness, as well as consistency in reporting. Views differed on how best to
reflect different national circumstances, including those of LDCs. It was noted that
existing requirements already catered for different national capabilities, which could be
further developed through built-in flexibility and taking account of lessons learnt.
Improving the view for Paris

Many Ministers suggested that convergence on important issues would be needed well
before the Paris conference. This would require early involvement of Ministers and
possibly heads of state and government. Their pro-active engagement in mobilising
political support in favour of a progressive outcome at COP 21 was considered important
for success in Paris. Progress made in converging on key issues should regularly be
captured and shared each step of the way.
Encouraging the engagement of stakeholders such as businesses, civil society
organizations and subnational entities, including in support of the Lima Paris Action
Agenda, was stressed as essential for both scaling up pre-2020 ambition and success in
Paris.

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Co-chairs conclusions

Berlin, 19th May 2015

Designing an ambitious and balanced Paris outcome

Ambitious national contributions for Paris

Establishing a sound rules based for the agreement

Improving the view for Paris

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