Douala (Cameroon), 16-19 September 2013 - A sub-regional workshop was held at the La Falaise Hotel in Bonanjo to strengthen the capacities of the Climate Working Group and prepare for the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change scheduled to hold from 11 to 22 November 2013 in Warsaw, Poland. Hosted by the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat in collaboration with its development partners, namely GEF / World Bank through the Regional REDD+ Project, the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the workshop brought together all the climate / REDD focal points in Central Africa.

The main objective of the workshop was to enhance understanding of the stakes of negotiations underway under the UNFCCC in order to be better prepared for the 19th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. More specifically, these aims are to:

• strengthen the negotiators’ capacities on key issues under the COP 19 negotiations in Warsaw;
• analyze the ramifications of strides made in Doha (December 2012) and Bonn (April and June 2013);
• develop a common stance on items on the agenda of upcoming meetings and;
• establish a roadmap for future meetings.

The opening ceremony of the meeting was punctuated by two speeches. The statement of the partners’ representative was delivered by Mr. Rémy JIAGO from IUCN who reiterated the COMIFAC partners’ commitment to support the Climate working group. Martin Tadoum, the COMIFAC Executive Secretary’s representative in his introductory remarks underscored the multiplicity of issues facing the COMIFAC countries in recent years and emphasized that these forestry issues are no longer negotiated solely under REDD+, but also under: (1) the Kyoto Protocol (with the matter of the inclusion of the entire LULUCF sector in the CDM), (2) agriculture (3) NAMAs that could include forestry measures and (4) various approaches including the new market mechanism and the non-market based approach.

The opening session was followed by the establishment of a presidium, amendments to and adoption of the workshop agenda. Based on an interactive and participatory approach, the meeting was structured around keynote presentations, exchanges and discussions on various negotiation issues and points on the agenda of the sessions of COP 19/CMP 9, subsidiary bodies (SBSTA 39 and SBI 39) and the ADP. Time slots were also devoted to group work.

After four days of intense deliberations, the participants came up with strong recommendations, namely among others:  

• Strengthening synergies between Climate Expert Working Groups– (expert scientists of the GEC sub-region), under the aegis of ECCAS and the COMIFAC Climate Working Group (negotiators’ group). The COMIFAC Executive Secretariat was mandated to contact the ECCAS General Secretariat in this regard. 
• (COMIFAC ES) -  Explore the ways and means of engaging the Foreign Affairs Ministries of ECCAS member countries in the negotiation process, particularly with respect to ADP issues (2015 Agreement).

At the end of the workshop, the participants discussed and endorsed the views submitted by the COMIFAC countries on the 2015 Agreement which is under negotiation. These views will be forwarded to the Convention Secretariat by the Acting chair of COMIFAC.

Final Report of Workshop 

Common position ahead of the 19th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

FInal Agenda of the Workshop