2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference

24th Conference of the Parties | Katowice, Poland | 02 Dec 2018 - 14 Dec 2018

Multilateral Success in the Face of Adversity

COP24 was expected to be among the most difficult conferences in the history of climate negotiations. The conference took place after Brazil’s election of a climate-skeptic leader in an environmentally critical and developing economy. The host country was facing new elections and an economy traditionally rooted in coal. There was political upheaval in the city and country where the Paris Agreement was born. Many observers predicted the worst for COP24.

Despite these challenging circumstances, this year’s COP was a powerful example of how multilateral systems can overcome unforeseen shocks and produce tangible results. In the face of this adversity, COP24 still concluded with the adoption of the Paris Agreement Work Programme, also known as the “Katowice Rulebook,” which explicitly details the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Although some technical details were pushed to next year’s COP in Chile, the essential components for delivering multilateral climate action are now in place.

COP25 Panel

Advocacy Outcomes

COP24 in Katowice represented the intersection of three important moments: The the drafting of implementation of the Paris Agreement; conclusion of the year-long Talanoa Dialogue consultation; and facing the alarming the scientific evidence to limit global warming to 1.5oC released in the form of a special report from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Talanoa Dialogues

Paragraph 37 of Decision 1/CP24 – “Invites parties to consider the outcome, inputs and outputs of the Talanoa Dialogue in preparing their nationally determined contributions and in their efforts to enhance pre- 2020 implementation and ambition.”

Public Participation

Paragraph 10 of Decision17/CMA.1: “Encourages Parties to foster public participation and collaborate with, inter alia, regional as applicable and local authorities to scale up the implementation of Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE).”

Climate Finance

Paragraph 9 of Decision 4/CP.24 – “Welcomes the decision of the Standing Committee on Finance on the topic of its 2019 Forum, which will be climate finance and sustainable cities”

References to Cities and Regions in the COP24 Katowice Rulebook

Key sections of the Katowice Rulebook refer to the role of local and subnational governments in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Key LGMA Interventions

In Katowice, more than 100 political and technical representatives of cities and regions and their networks participated, hosted or supported around 50 events inside or outside the premises of COP24.

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Opening Plenary

The joint opening plenary of COP24/CMP14/CMA 1.3/SBSTA49/SBI49/APA1.7

Download opening statement (PDF)

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Presidency Open Dialogue

The Presidency Open Dialogue between Parties and non-Party stakeholders.

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Talanoa Dialogue wrap-up meeting of the preparatory phase

Marrakech Partnership

The mission of the Marrakech Partnership is to strengthen collaboration between Parties an non-Party stakeholders to allow greater mitigation and adaptation action as well as action on means of implementation to be implemented in the pre-2020 period and beyond.

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Human Settlements Action Event

The objective of these activities is to provide a space for impact-driven focused dialogues and interactions between non-Party stakeholders and Party representatives.

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Presidency Open Dialogue

The Presidency Open Dialogue between Parties and non-Party stakeholders.

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Wrap-Up Video

A summary of the Marrakech Partnership’s activities relating to the seven thematic areas can be found in this video.

Cities and Regions Talanoa Dialogues at COP24

LGMA official and archived agendas

A record of the events from COP24, from the UNFCC and the mobilization of the LGMA.