The global stocktake process carried out by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to measure progress towards the Paris Agreement, is too "harmonious", putting insufficient pressure on countries, German lawmakers heard at a committee hearing in the lower house of parliament (Bundestag) on Monday.
The "harmony" prevailing in the stocktake process, and the absence of any "naming and shaming", means that the stocktake process lacks the expected "signals" — both legal and political — that are expected of it ahead of the next Cop 28 UN climate conference, climate economist Reimund Schwarze, of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), told Bundestag deputies at a hearing on Germany's foreign climate policy. The stocktake process focuses very much on "collective" achievements, Schwarze noted.
This makes it "rather unlikely" that the stocktake process contribute to enforcing the countries' obligations under the Paris agreement, Schwarze warned. The system of periodic ratcheting of nationally determined contributions (NDC) — raising climate ambitions every five years — "does not work", he said. Raising the targets as a reaction to underperformance, will simply lead to more freeloaders, he added.
The UNFCCC global stocktake is a five-yearly undertaking to measure progress towards the Paris accord. The stocktake is intended to inform the next round of emissions reductions plans under countries' NDCs, due in 2025.
Deputy Olaf in der Beek of the co-ruling pro-business FDP and co-chairman of the parliamentary sub-committee on international climate and energy policy, pointed out the "risks" of the stocktake in its current form, with its focus on setting ever higher targets.
Deputy Anja Weisgerber of the opposition right-of-centre CDU/CSU group and spokesperson for the environment, voiced her concern with the more collective procedure of the stocktake. Weisgerber stressed her "understanding" that the idea of the stocktake was for countries to "justify" any shortcomings.
Weisgerber suggested that Germany, together with the EU, start looking at getting involved in activities under the Article 6 of the Paris agreement — not for the period until 2030 for which the EU has pledged to rely solely on domestic reductions, Weisgerber stressed, but for beyond.
Expert Kira Vinke, head of the German Council on Foreign Relation's (DGAP) Center for Climate and Foreign Policy, cautioned on making use of Article 6. She pointed out the "scandals" involving carbon offsets in the voluntary carbon market over inflated reduction claims or human rights abuses. This has to be seen against the backdrop of a Cop 28 hosted by UAE, some companies of which are active in large-scale land purchases in Africa for carbon-offsetting projects, Vinke said.
