Climate negotiators will gather in Germany next week for key talks that aim to lay the groundwork for the crucial Cop28 summit in the UAE.
The Bonn Climate Change Conference that runs from June 5 to June 15 marks the halfway point between successive Cop summits and will focus on ramping up at what was achieved at Cop27 in Egypt last year and chart a course for agreement at Cop28.
Negotiators will tackle issues that are expected to dominate the talks in Dubai such as climate finance, adaptation and measures to cut greenhouse emissions, as well as work to further the loss and damage fund that was established at Cop27.
Cop28 will also complete the first global stock-take of pledges made by countries under the 2015 Paris Agreement and this is expected to feature prominently in Bonn.
Each stock-take is a two-year process that happens every five years. The first got under way at Cop26 in Glasgow and will conclude at Cop28.
The Paris Agreement
The Paris deal aims to limit global temperature rises to 1.5°C on pre-industrial levels and to keep them “well below” 2°C.
Global emissions must halve by 2030 if this target is to be met, the UN has said, while repeatedly warning the world is way off track.
The stock-take will result in countries submitting revised pledges – known as national determined contributions – to try to keep alive the goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
“For many people around the world, limiting warming of our planet to 1.5°C is a matter of survival,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the organisation that oversees the talks.
“The global stock-take is the opportunity of a generation to correct the course we are on, to design a way forward to tackle climate change with fresh vigour and perspective,” he said.
“Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh marked the shift to implementation of the Paris Agreement, resulting in several important outcomes supporting this historic new phase. Parties know what is at stake, and each country now has to deliver.”
The Bonn gathering is much smaller than a Cop summit and largely consists of technical negotiations.
Other issues expected to be discussed are measures to ensure a flow of climate finance to developing countries, increase the transparency of climate action and examine the impact of climate change on agriculture and the food security.
Six months until Cop28
With only six months to go, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the event's President-designate, said the Bonn sessions were critical for shaping “meaningful, pragmatic, and impactful outcomes” in the UAE.
“As the incoming presidency, we will ensure a fair, inclusive and transparent presidency that provides space for all parties to reach consensus across the whole agenda,” said Dr Al Jaber, also the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
“That includes making climate finance more available, accessible and affordable; doubling adaptation finance, operationalising the loss and damage fund, tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030; and putting young people, nature and health at the heart of climate progress.”
High-Level Champions for Cop27 and Cop28, Mahmoud Mohieldin and the UAE’s Razan Al Mubarak, will also seek to galvanise non-state actors – businesses, cities, financial institutions, civil society, non-government organisations, indigenous people, academia and all other sections of society – into addressing the climate emergency.
“The Bonn Climate Conference is an opportune occasion to stock-take the status of implementation of the outcomes and breakthroughs achieved in Sharm El Sheikh,” said Sameh Shoukry, president of Cop27.
“It also provides an opportunity to pave the way towards achieving remarkable progress at Cop28 in the UAE later this year. This is most urgent, given that the climate crisis is becoming the new reality and we are forced to deal with its consequences on a daily basis.”
Cop28 runs at Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12.
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
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Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
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