Annex
Modalities and procedures for the effective operation of the committee referred to in Article 15, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement
II. Institutional arrangements
5. The Committee shall consist of 12 members with recognized competence in relevant scientific, technical, socioeconomic or legal fields to be elected by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) on the basis of equitable geographical representation, with 2 members each from the five regional groups of the United Nations and 1 member each from the small island developing States and the least developed countries, taking into account the goal of gender balance.
6. The CMA shall elect members of the Committee as well as an alternate for each member, taking into account the expert-based nature of the Committee and striving to reflect the diversity of expertise referred to in paragraph 5 above.
7. Members and alternate members shall be elected to the Committee to serve for a period of three years and for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
8. At CMA 2 (November 2019), six members and six alternate members shall be elected to the Committee for an initial term of two years and six members and six alternate members for a term of three years. Thereafter, the CMA shall elect at its relevant regular sessions six members and six alternate members for a term of three years. The members and alternate members shall remain in office until their successors are elected.
9. If a member of the Committee resigns or is otherwise unable to complete the assigned term or to perform the functions in the Committee, an expert from the same Party shall be named by that Party to replace said member for the remainder of the unexpired term.
10. Members and alternate members of the Committee shall serve in their individual expert capacity.
11. The Committee shall elect from among its members two Co-Chairs for a period of three years, taking into account the need to ensure equitable geographical representation. The Advance unedited version 3 Co-Chairs shall perform the functions to be elaborated in the rules of procedure of the Committee referred to in paragraphs 17 and 18 below.
12. Unless otherwise decided, the Committee shall meet at least twice a year, beginning in 2020. In scheduling its meetings, the Committee should take into account the desirability of holding its meetings in conjunction with sessions of the subsidiary bodies serving the Paris Agreement, as appropriate.
13. Only members and alternate members of the Committee and secretariat officials shall be present during the elaboration and adoption of a decision of the Committee.
14. The Committee, any Party or others involved in the process of the consideration by the Committee shall protect the confidentiality of information received in confidence.
15. The adoption of decisions by the Committee shall require a quorum of 10 of the members to be present.
16. The Committee shall make every effort to reach agreement on any decision by consensus. If all efforts at reaching consensus have been exhausted, as a last resort, the decision may be adopted by at least three quarters of the members present and voting.
17. The Committee shall develop rules of procedure with a view to recommending them to the CMA for consideration and adoption at CMA 3 (November 2020), informed by the principles of transparency, facilitation, the non-adversarial and non-punitive function, and paying particular attention to the respective national capabilities and circumstances of Parties.
18. The rules of procedure referred to in paragraph 17 above will address any matters necessary for the proper and effective functioning of the Committee, including the role of the Committee’s Co-Chairs, conflict of interest, any additional timelines related to the Committee’s work, procedural stages and timelines for the Committee’s work, and reasoning in decisions of the Committee.
