Climate change: Key dates on the way to Paris accord

BONN, Germany (UPDATED) – Key dates ahead of the planned December 2015 Paris agreement on curbing climate change:

• July 20-21: Informal ministerial meeting in Paris, hosted by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Likely to gather several dozen members of the UN process — the 195-nation UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• July 24: Date set by UNFCCC co-chairmen for submitting streamlined draft of the Paris pact.
• July: Meeting of the Major Economies Forum, gathering world’s biggest carbon emitters (time and venue to be confirmed)
• August 31-September 4: Third round of UNFCCC talks, Bonn.
• September 7: Another round of informal ministerial talks in Paris, chaired by Fabius.
• September 15-28: UN General Assembly meeting in New York, where climate is likely to be a key topic.
• October 9-11: World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meet in Lima, Peru, where climate finance is expected to come up.
• October 19-23: Fourth round of UNFCCC negotiations in Bonn.
• October/November: Ministerial-level “pre-COP” discussions (date and venue to be confirmed)
• End October: Rough deadline set by co-chairmen of UNFCCC negotiations for a “draft package” to be adopted in Paris.
• By November 1: Deadline for UNFCCC secretariat to report on the aggregate effect of countries’ emissions-curbing pledges on the 2 C goal.
• November 30-December 11: UNFCCC’s 21st Conference of Parties, or COP 21, to be held in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget.

– Rappler.com