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Developing countries win partial victory on controversial Marrakech Call

Morocco presents a revised political statement for all to adopt at the climate talks

Developing countries win partial victory on controversial Marrakech Call
Nitin Sethi New Delhi
Last Updated : Nov 16 2016 | 2:10 AM IST
India, China and other developing countries marked a partial victory at the climate talks with the Moroccan hosts backing off from a rigid stance on the ‘Marrakech Call’ – a political statement that it wanted heads of states and ministers of 196 countries to endorse without getting into the content of the document. On Monday, Morocco, playing the host and president of the negotiations brought out a second and relatively more balanced draft of the document, offering it to countries informally to comment on it.

Business Standard reviewed the second and much shortened version of the Marrakech Call, now named the “Marrakech Action Proclamation for Climate and Sustainable Development."  

“It is a better version than the previous one. But it does not address all our concerns and still lacks the political balance that Paris Agreement exhibited,” said a senior negotiator of a developing country. Earlier, the same negotiator had called the first draft of the document a ‘developed countries’ laundry list'.

The host country had sprung a surprise on the attending delegates on Friday last week. Morocco had confidentially circulated the draft of a political statement to be adopted by ministers and heads of states on the future direction of negotiations on the Paris Agreement. The draft riled many developing countries, as they read it to be extremely partial to the interests of the rich nations. They were also disturbed by the fact that Morocco wanted the ministers and heads of states to sign on to it without permitting the gathered experts of the countries any chance to negotiate the content.


The first draft got agitated many developing countries, including China, India and South Africa talking in their respective groups and assessing that it was extremely inimical to their interests. The leaked document reached out to more countries and other delegates as well raising concerns of how Morocco would deal with the controversy.

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Morocco went into a round of closed door informal meeting with countries in different groups about their concerns.

Sources aware of the discussions Morocco held with several developing countries said the hosts initially preferred that the document not be opened to negotiations at all before ministers endorse it collectively. Morocco also expressed scepticism about  that inserting some new language may not be acceptable to some developed countries, such as a more specific reference to the umbrella UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibility.

But many developing countries insisted that the Marrakech Call would not pass muster unless it was amended to reflect balance that was achieved within the Paris Agreement between interests of developing and developed countries. Responding to this Morocco promised to bring out another version of the document with suggestions from developing countries for changes. All these discussions were held behind closed doors separate from the formal negotiations going on at the conference.

On Monday, the presidency shared a revised draft of the Marrakech Call in its new avtar with all countries in a closed door informal meeting. Several of the concerns of the developing countries had been partially addressed in the new version, sources in multiple delegations told Business Standard. But, at the time of writing it remained unclear if the new document would make it past all countries’ red-lines or non-negotiable concerns.

“It is a better version than the previous one. We still have to discuss and decide if we can live with this or if it needs some more improvement and calibration,” said one negotiator. He had earlier called the first draft of the document a ‘developed countries’ laundry list’. 

The new draft has still not included reference to the principles of the UN climate convention but it has brought back several issues that developing countries had insisted upon such as the need for developed countries to act even before the Paris Agreement takes off in 2020. The document reads, “We call for further climate action and support, well in advance of 2020, taking into account the specific needs and special circumstances of developing countries, the least developed countries and those particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.”

“Even though the reference to pre-2020 action is stronger the language is still ambiguous about where the responsibility lies for this period. The decisions we took collectively are unambiguous: this is the period for the developed countries to take enhanced action on all fronts, mitigation, adaptation and finance,” said one senior developing country delegate.  

The explicit endorsement of the OECD report claiming rich countries are well on path to deliver against their commitment of US $ 100 billion annually starting 2020 has been dropped. Instead the shortened reference to financial commitments reads, “We call for an increase in the volume, flow and access to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology.”

A reference to eradication of poverty as also being important, something developing countries, particularly India has insisted upon, was brought in: “We call for all Parties to strengthen and support efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure food security and enhance resilience of agriculture.”

But the reference to developed countries adjusting their lifestyles to reduce carbon emissions, an idea that has been pushed hard by India under Modi government remained off the charts even in the second version of the political statement.

At the time of writing it remained unclear if Morocco had done enough to get all developing countries on board for the political message or if it needed more back room work to get universal traction. Sources said several developing countries had sent their concerns about the second draft as well to the Presidency.

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First Published: Nov 16 2016 | 2:10 AM IST

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