The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement,
Recalling decision 2/CP.19, whereby the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts was established to address loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change, including extreme events and slow onset events, in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change,
Also recalling decisions 3/CP.18, 2/CP.19, 2/CP.20, 1/CP.21, 2/CP.21, 3/CP.22, 4/CP.22, 5/CP.23 and 10/CP.24,
Further recalling Article 8 of the Paris Agreement,
Being aware of the relevant provisions of decisions 18/CMA.1 and 19/CMA.1,
Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind, Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity,
Reaffirming the role of the Warsaw International Mechanism in promoting the implementation of approaches to avert, minimize and address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in a comprehensive, integrated and coherent manner,
Also reaffirming the role of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism in guiding the implementation of the functions of the Mechanism,
Recognizing the current insufficient level of mitigation and that reducing greenhouse gas emissions reduces the risks associated with the adverse effects of climate change,
Also recognizing the importance of the Warsaw International Mechanism for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change,
Recalling that the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-second session recommended that the next review of the Warsaw International Mechanism be held in 2019,
Acknowledging the Executive Committee’s decision to identify follow-up activities to the 2019 review of the Warsaw International Mechanism under strategic workstream (e) of its five-year rolling workplan at its first meeting of 2020,
Also acknowledging that the Executive Committee agreed to discuss its role in and contribution to the global stocktake at its future meetings, starting with its first meeting of 2020,
Noting that the Executive Committee will evaluate progress in implementing its fiveyear rolling workplan in 2020 and at regular intervals at its subsequent meetings,
Having considered the effectiveness and efficiency of the Warsaw International Mechanism, as well as barriers and gaps, challenges and opportunities, and lessons learned in relation to the Mechanism, on the basis of the terms of reference for the 2019 review of the Mechanism,
1. Welcomes the report of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts, including the recommendations contained therein;
2. Also welcomes the adoption of the plans of action of the task force on displacement and the technical expert group on comprehensive risk management by the Executive Committee during its 10th meeting;
3. Appreciates the contribution of all organizations and experts to the work of the Executive Committee, the Task Force on Displacement and the Technical Expert Group on Comprehensive Risk Management;
4. Acknowledges the catalytic role of the Warsaw International Mechanism in mobilizing and connecting relevant stakeholders;
5. Also acknowledges the progress, achievements and successful practices in implementing the Warsaw International Mechanism since 2013, while noting areas for improvement and shortcomings;
6. Further acknowledges that further work is needed to effectively operationalize the functions of the Warsaw International Mechanism as set out in decision 2/CP.19, paragraph 5;
7. Agrees that further guidance could contribute to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Warsaw International Mechanism, including its timeliness, relevance, visibility, coherence, complementarity, comprehensiveness, responsiveness and resourcing and the delivery and usefulness of its products and outputs;
8. Also agrees that the best available science, particularly in reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, should inform approaches to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with climate change impacts;
9. Recognizes the importance and value of indigenous, traditional and local knowledge;
10. Also recognizes the need to enhance the relevance, usefulness and dissemination of the outputs of the Warsaw International Mechanism to enable Parties and stakeholders to easily use and integrate these outputs into planning and implementing approaches to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage;
11. Encourages the Executive Committee to communicate its outputs in formats that are easy to translate, adapt and access in different contexts and by different users;
12. Requests the Executive Committee to identify modalities for fostering the sharing of relevant knowledge and experience among practitioners and vulnerable countries in an interactive and practical manner;
13. Encourages Parties to establish a loss and damage contact point through their respective national focal point;
14. Invites Parties to promote coherence in approaches to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage when formulating and implementing relevant national plans, strategies and frameworks, and creating enabling environments, including by considering future climate risk, reducing exposure and vulnerability, increasing resilience and coordinated action, and monitoring progress;
15. Recognizes the importance of particularly vulnerable developing countries and segments of the population that are already vulnerable owing to geography, socioeconomic status, livelihood, gender, age, indigenous or minority status, or disability, as well as the ecosystems they depend on, in the implementation of the Warsaw International Mechanism;
16. Encourages the Executive Committee to take into account when updating its five-year rolling workplan areas of work that may require short-, medium- and long-term consideration and efforts, including in relation to sustainable development and transformative change, in the context of the work of each of its thematic expert groups;
17. Recognizes the importance of integrating the consideration of approaches to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change into relevant work under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement;
18. Requests the secretariat, under the guidance of the Executive Committee, to organize meetings in conjunction with relevant regional forums, engaging relevant constituted bodies, networks and work programmes under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, within their respective mandates and workplans and in partnership with relevant organizations, to identify ways of integrating loss and damage into relevant work and guidelines, as appropriate;
19. Encourages relevant constituted bodies, networks and work programmes under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, within their respective mandates and workplans and in collaboration with the Executive Committee, to integrate loss and damage, where appropriate, into their work;
20. Acknowledges the importance of the involvement of and collaboration with relevant constituted bodies and expert groups, organizations and institutions, under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement, to enhance coordination, synergies and linkages;
21. Requests the Executive Committee and its thematic expert groups, in undertaking their work, to draw upon the work of and involve, as appropriate, relevant constituted bodies, networks and work programmes, as appropriate;
22. Encourages the Executive Committee to draw upon the work, information and expertise of bodies under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, as well as on international processes, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030;
23. Invites the Executive Committee, acknowledging the need to strengthen risk assessment, to engage relevant experts and collect and disseminate information on methodologies available for integrating long-term assessment, including those associated with the quantification of risks, into comprehensive climate risk management approaches, including national and subnational assessment and planning processes;
24. Stresses the importance of enhancing the work on slow onset events and noneconomic losses associated with climate change impacts;
25. Requests the Executive Committee to revise the terms of reference for and launch the expert groups on slow onset events and non-economic losses, taking into account the broad range of issues covered by the relevant strategic workstreams, which may need to be addressed using a sequential approach;
26. Also requests the Executive Committee and its thematic expert groups to develop technical guides within their work on their respective thematic areas, avoiding duplication of work across workstreams, which include sections on the following:
(a) Risk assessments, including long-term risk assessments, of climate change impacts;
(b) Approaches to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the risk assessments referred to in paragraph 26(a) above;
(c) Resources available for supporting such approaches;
(d) Monitoring systems for assessing the effectiveness of these approaches;
27. Invites relevant organizations and other stakeholders to collaborate with the Executive Committee, including through strategic partnerships, in developing and disseminating products that support national focal points, loss and damage contact points and other relevant entities in raising awareness of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with climate change impacts;
28. Encourages the Executive Committee, Parties, relevant constituted bodies and organizations under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement and other relevant stakeholders to facilitate or enhance research on, and share good practices for, averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage, including long-term risk assessment and risk communication;
29. Requests the Executive Committee, in collaboration with relevant organizations, to foster public education and awareness-raising efforts at the regional, national and local level, including efforts with a capacity-building component;
30. Recognizes the importance of scaling up the mobilization of resources to support efforts to avert, minimize and address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
31. Also recognizes the urgency of enhancing the mobilization of action and support, including finance, technology and capacity-building, for developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
32. Urges the scaling-up of action and support, as appropriate, including finance, technology and capacity-building, for developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
33. Also urges private and non-governmental organizations, funds and other stakeholders, to scale up action and support, as appropriate, including finance, technology and capacitybuilding, for developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
34. Acknowledges the wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance, relevant to supporting approaches to avert, minimize and address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
35. Urges the broad range of bodies, organizations and funds under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement to scale up support, including finance, technology and capacity-building, for developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
36. Invites Parties to make use of available support relevant for averting, minimizing and addressing impacts related to extreme weather events, slow onset events, non-economic losses and human mobility and for comprehensive risk management from a wide variety of sources, public and private, domestic bilateral and multilateral, under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement, including through the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism, as appropriate, to an extent consistent with their mandates;
37. Requests the Executive Committee to further engage and strengthen its dialogue with the Standing Committee on Finance by providing input in line with decision 2/CP.19, paragraph 5(c)(ii), to the Standing Committee on Finance when, in accordance with its mandate, it provides information, recommendations and draft guidance relating to the operating entities of the financial mechanisms under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, as appropriate;
38. Takes note of decision -/CMA.2,6 paragraph 8, whereby the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement invited the Board of the Green Climate Fund to continue providing financial resources for activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in developing country Parties, to the extent consistent with the existing investment, results framework and funding windows and structures of the Green Climate Fund, and to facilitate efficient access in this regard, and in this context to take into account the strategic workstreams of the five-year rolling workplan of the Executive Committee;
39. Requests the Executive Committee, in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund, as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism, to clarify how developing country Parties may access funding from the Green Climate Fund for the development of funding proposals related to the strategic workstreams of the five-year rolling workplan of the Executive Committee, 8 consistently with paragraph 38 above, and to include information thereon in its annual reports;
40. Also requests the Executive Committee to establish, by the end of 2020, in accordance with its procedures and mandate, an expert group pursuant to decision 2/CP.19, paragraph 5(c), drawing on the work of and involving, as appropriate, existing bodies, organizations, networks and experts under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement, ensuring a fair, equitable and balanced representation within the group;
41. Decides that the expert group referred to in paragraph 40 above shall develop a focused plan of action, while avoiding duplication of existing efforts, at its first meeting to take place in 2020, on the following:
(a) The activities referred to in paragraphs 37 and 39 above;
(b) The collection, compilation and dissemination of information on the available sources of support under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement for activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in developing country Parties;
(c) Collaboration with the thematic expert groups of the Executive Committee to undertake the work referred to in paragraph 26 above;
(d) Collaboration with relevant bodies and organizations under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement pursuant to decision 2/CP.19, paragraph 5(c)(iii);
(e) The organization of events in conjunction with relevant meetings and conferences, including the NAP Expo and regional events, to share information and experience relating to accessing available sources of support for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, in collaboration with relevant constituted bodies and organizations under and outside the Convention and the Paris Agreement, as appropriate;
(f) The analysis and identification of enabling conditions for effective implementation of risk transfer facilities and social protection schemes in the context of comprehensive risk management, as appropriate;
42. Recognizes the importance of building the capacity, and enhancing the facilitation, of the provision of technical support to developing countries for approaches to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
43. Establishes, as part of the Warsaw International Mechanism, the Santiago network for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, to catalyse the technical assistance of relevant organizations, bodies, networks and experts, for the implementation of relevant approaches at the local, national and regional level, in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change;
44. Invites those organizations, bodies, networks and experts referred to in paragraph 43 above engaged in providing technical assistance to developing countries to report on their progress to the Executive Committee;
45. Requests the Executive Committee to include relevant information from the organizations, bodies, networks and experts that have reported on their progress, as referred to in paragraph 44 above, in its annual reports;
46. Recommends that the next review of the Warsaw International Mechanism be held in 2024 and every five years thereafter as follows:
(a) The subsidiary bodies will develop terms of reference for each review at their sessions immediately before the sessions at which they will undertake a review;
(b) The subsidiary bodies will undertake future reviews of the Warsaw International Mechanism and forward the outputs of the reviews to the governing body or bodies;
47. Notes that considerations related to the governance of the Warsaw International Mechanism will continue at its third session (November 2020);
48. Encourages Parties to make available sufficient resources for the successful and timely implementation of the five-year rolling workplan of the Executive Committee;
49. Takes note of the estimated budgetary implications of the activities to be undertaken by the secretariat referred to in this decision;
50. Requests that the actions of the secretariat called for in this decision be undertaken subject to the availability of financial resources.
