Bangkok, Thailand hosted a week-long intermediate session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) prior to the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-24) in Katowice, Poland in December. The conference, which ran from 4-9 September, allowed negotiating Parties to focus on moving forward the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP).
Ipieca attended the conference, as an observer organization to the UN. Throughout the week, Parties concentrated on producing texts that clearly distinguished those elements that need to be agreed during COP-24 and those that can be handed over to the technical bodies for completion later. Deliberations continued late into the night on most days and made use of 'informal' consultations away from observer organizations.
In a conclusive statement to the Bangkok conference, the Parties said, 'they are confident the progress agreed at this session provides a useful basis for further negotiations and a successful conclusion at COP-24'. The chief negotiators are tasked with preparing a 'joint reflections' note identifying ways forward and preparing revised texts of the proposals by mid-October, well in advance of COP-24, when negotiations will resume.
