The Meeting Process

1. The Meeting Process FIELD MEA Workshop

2. The Meeting Process • The Meeting Process • Players • Rules of Procedure • Documentation

3. The Meeting Process COP MOP or COP/MOP Opening Plenary • Opening remarks, group statements • Proposal and adoption of agenda • Easy issues resolved • Difficult or complex issues referred to smaller groups

4. The Meeting Process Smaller Groups • May exist or be newly established • Chairs named or acknowledged • Chair assists group in developing common understanding of what needs to be done • Parties develop agreed written text • Follow the same format as Plenary sessions

5. The Meeting Process Examples of Smaller Groups Bodies (mandated for several sessions) • Subsidiary Bodies (e.g. SBSTTA) may provide policy recommendations on specific issues by adopting conclusions or draft COP decisions • Ad-Hoc Groups (e.g. Ad-Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biological Diversity and Climate Change) temporarily address issues of concern • Working Groups (e.g. WGLR) are convened to work on large scale issues Groups for a single session • Friends of the Chair/President are a small representative group of negotiators to assist the Chair in informally developing consensus on an agreed text • Contact Groups are formed to focus on specific issues • Informal Groups are called for informal consultations, often closed • Non-Groups can be called by the Chair to encourage communication without the pressure of negotiations

6. The Meeting Process Closing Plenary • Adoption of reports from smaller groups • Potential Outcomes: • Statement of the Chairperson • Resolutions (Declarations, Recommendations and Conclusions) • Decisions

7. Typical timetable • 8 AM: Group / coalition coordination meeting • 9 AM: UN regional group meeting • 10 AM – 1 PM: Official UN meeting time • 1 – 3 PM: Lunch, side events, informal discussion, group coordination, press conferences • 3 – 6 PM: Official UN meeting time • 6 PM: Group report back meeting, side events, informal discussions, extended formal meeting time

8. Actors in international negotiations • State actors/parties • Non-state actors - Secretariat - Observers - Media

9. Non-state actors Civil society NGOs can: • Educate negotiators by compiling and distributing information • Seek to influence negotiating positions through advocacy or lobbying • Assist national delegations by providing advice or participating as members • Facilitate agreement by working with various governmental and non-governmental participants • Provide transparency to the negotiating process, to increase public awareness and pressure on governments • Work with the media, by providing press releases and press conferences

10. Non-state actors Broad public participation in implementation is a fundamental prerequisite of sustainable development. Agenda 21 recognizes nine major groups of civil society: • Business & Industry • Children & Youth • Farmers • Indigenous Peoples • Local Authorities • NGOs • Scientific & Technological Community • Women • Workers and Trade Unions

11. Non-state actors Working with Media: • Does your country or negotiating bloc have a spokesperson? • Is a press officer available to help you? • Can you refer to an agreed media statement? • Is the subject matter controversial? • What is the journalist’s reason for the story and what is their focus? • Use jargon-free language. Don’t use acronyms or measurements the public may not understand. • Before speaking to media, decide on three key messages and always try to return to them. • Make your answers stand-alone, succinct statements. Adapted from Science Media Centre, top tips for media work

12. Rules of Procedure Agenda • Provisional agenda distributed according to a specified timeline before the meeting • Parties can propose additional items to be added to a supplementary provisional agenda before the meeting opens • The COP (or other body) may add, delete, defer or amend items when adopting the agenda. Parties may request to include additional items at this time. • Where there is no consensus on how to include an item in the agenda, it is “held in abeyance” and included in the agenda of the next meeting unless the COP decides otherwise.

13. Rules of Procedure Points of Order / Motions • A representative may raise a point of order at any time if the Chair/President has not followed the rules of procedure. • The Chair/President rules on a point of order immediately. The representative may appeal and have the ruling put to a vote. • A representative may make a motion to offer input on how the Chair/President should deal with an issue. • The motion is accepted if it is seconded by another party and there are no objections.

14. Rules of Procedure Proposed amendments, annexes, or protocols • Must be communicated to Parties at least six months before the session they are proposed for adoption • CBD Arts. 28(3), 29(2), 30(2)(a) • FCCC Arts. 15(2), 17(2), KP Art. 20(2) • FCCC Draft Rule of Procedure 37 • CCD Arts. 30(2), 31(1)

15. Rules of Procedure Voting • Procedural matters are decided by a majority of the Parties present and voting • For many MEAs, there is no agreement on a voting rule for substantive matters. This means that consensus is still required for all substantive matters. • FCCC Rule 42(1), CBD Rule 40(1), CCD Rule 47(1) • This lack of agreement means that these MEAs operate with draft rules of procedure. • Voting is still possible (but very rare)

16. Documentation U.N. Document Symbols FCCC/AWGLCA/2010/MISC.2/Add.1 Subsidiary Body or Working Group Year or Session Organ Modifications Number and/or Nature UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/9/INF/3

17. U.N. Document Symbols 1) Organ • FCCC • FCCC/KP/CMP • UNEP/CBD • UNEP/CBD/BS • ICCD • UNEP/CHW • UNEP/FAO/RC • UNEP/POPS

18. U.N. Document Symbols 2) Main Body, Subsidiary Body or Working Group • FCCC/CP • FCCC/KP/CMP • FCCC/KP/AWG and FCCC/AWGLCA • FCCC/SBI and FCCC/SBSTA • UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS • UNEP/CBD/BS/GF-L&R • UNEP/FAO/RC/COP.4

19. U.N. Document Symbols 3) Year or Session • FCCC/AWGLCA/2010 • FCCC/CP/2010 • UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/9 • UNEP/CBD/BS/GF-L&R/2

20. U.N. Document Symbols 4) Nature • INF: Information document • MISC: Miscellaneous document, issued on plain paper with no UN masthead. Submissions by Parties are usually MISC documents. • L.: Limited distribution document 5) Number

21. U.N. Document Symbols 6) Modifications • Add: Addendum (addition of text) • Rev: Revision (new text superseding previous document) • Corr: Corrigendum (modification to correct errors, revise wording or reorganize text) • Amend: Amendment of portion of adopted formal text • Summary • -/-: Reissuance of document for technical reasons

22. The first addendum to the 9th miscellaneous document issued in 2011 by the AWGLCA under the FCCC: FCCC/AWGLCA/2011/MISC.9/Add.1 Ideas and proposals on the elements contained in paragraph 1 of the Bali Action Plan. Submissions from Parties. Addendum. The third informational document issued at the ninth session of the WG-ABS under the CBD: UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/9/INF/3 Final Report of the Regional Consultations for Latin America and the Caribbean Countries on Access and Benefit-Sharing .

23. Documents to Keep in Mind • Annotated agenda • Note by the Chair (i.e. Scenario Note) • Draft negotiating text • Compilation of parties’ submissions (MISC) • Expert reports (often INF) • Non-papers (unofficial)