2023 summaries of consultations with the chairs and coordinators of regional groups

Summary of the informal consultations on elections with the Chairs and Coordinators of regional groups and constituencies, convened on Friday, 8 December 2023

The fifth consultations on nominations for the election at COP 28 of officers on bodies established under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement was convened on Friday, 8 December 2023. The consultations considered the status of nominations for the elections to be held by the subsidiary and governing bodies.

Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Chair of the consultations on elections, informed that to date the secretariat has received 17% of the nominations that are due for elections at COP 28. 83% of the nominations are still outstanding. He also mentioned that key nominations of the COP Bureau, namely the Vice-Presidents and COP Rapporteur positions are pending. He urged the finalization of these.

He also mentioned that for nominations not received in time for elections at the closing sessions on Tuesday, 12 December 2023, in accordance with rules of procedures, the current officer will remain in office, as appropriate. For those bodies with no procedure for the officer to remain in office, namely, the Adaptation Fund Board, the Consultative Group of Experts and the Paris Committee on Capacity-Building, the position will remain vacant until the nomination is received.

Ambassador Nasr requested Chairs and Coordinators to prioritize the nomination of female and male candidates equally in order to achieve the goal of gender balance and to sustain the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in the UNFCCC process.

Chairs and Coordinators informed that consultations within their respective groups and constituencies are advancing and that they expect to transmit nominations by the deadline. Ambassador Mohamed Nasr urged Chairs and Coordinators to use the UNFCCC Electoral Nomination Portal to transmit their nominations.

Summary of the informal consultations on elections with the Chairs and Coordinators of regional groups and constituencies, convened on Sunday, 3 December 2023

The consultations on nominations for the election at COP 28 of officers on bodies established under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement were convened on Sunday, 3 December 2023. The consultations considered the status of nominations for the elections to be held by the subsidiary and governing bodies, and the status of gender representation on UNFCCC bodies.

Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Chair of the consultations on elections, recalled that to date the secretariat has received 18 out of the 208 nominations that are due for elections at COP 28, which represents 9 per cent of the nominations for open positions.

Furthermore, Ambassador Mohamed Nasr urged Chairs and Coordinators to intensify consultations and transmit the nominations for their respective groups and constituencies as early as possible and latest by Saturday, 9 December 2023, 8:00 p.m. GST. This includes nominations to the 12 positions for regional groups and constituencies on the Advisory Board of the Santiago Network which are open for election at COP 28.

Ambassador Mohamed Nasr requested Chairs and Coordinators to prioritize the nomination of the SBI Rapporteur for the election to be held at the closing session of the SBI on Wednesday, 6 December 2023, and urged Chairs and Coordinators to transmit this nomination by the deadline of Tuesday, 5 December 2023.

The secretariat gave a presentation on the 2023 report on gender balance in the UNFCCC process, where Chairs and Coordinators were informed that female representation on constituted bodies make up 38 per cent, while male representation make up 62 per cent. Ambassador Nasr requested Chairs and Coordinators to prioritize the nomination of female and male candidates equally in order to achieve the goal of gender balance.

The next consultations will be convened on Friday, 8 December 2023.

Summary of the informal consultations on COP 28 elections with the Chairs, Coordinators and advisers of regional groups and constituencies, convened on Tuesday, 10 October 2023

The third consultations on the elections at COP 28 of officers on bodies established under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement were convened on Tuesday, 10 October 2023. The consultations considered the status of nominations for elections at COP 28 and outstanding nominations from COP 27 elections. The secretariat also presented updates to the UNFCCC Election Nomination Portal.

Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Chair of the consultations on elections, informed Chairs, Coordinators and advisers of regional groups and constituencies that to date the secretariat received only 12 out of the 165 nominations that are due for the elections at COP 28, which represents 7 per cent of the nominations. Ambassador Nasr urged Chairs and Coordinators to intensify their consultations and transmit the nominations for their respective groups and constituencies, with priority being given to the nomination of the SBI Rapporteur who will be elected at the closing session of the SBI on Wednesday, 6 December, 2023.

Ambassador Nasr also informed the Chairs, Coordinators and advisers that there are 44 nominations for positions from COP 27 elections that are outstanding.

Chairs, Coordinators and advisers informed that consultations within their respective groups and constituencies are advancing and that they expect to transmit the nominations outstanding from COP 27 and for positions open for election at COP 28, as soon as possible.

Ambassador Nasr urged Chairs, Coordinators and advisers to transmit their nominations for SBI Rapporteau by the deadline of Tuesday, 5 December 2023 and nominations for all other positions as early as possible and latest by Saturday, 9 December 2023.

The secretariat introduced the updated UNFCCC Election Nomination Portal to be used by Chairs, Coordinators and advisers to nominate candidates for election and encouraged them to use the portal to transmit their nominations once the portal is launched in early November.

The Ambassador Nasr informed that nominations for the COP 29 President will be taken forward by the COP 28 incoming President.

The next consultations will be convened at COP 28 in Dubai.

Summary of the informal consultations on elections with the Chairs and Coordinators of regional groups and constituencies, convened on Tuesday, 13 June 2023

The second informal consultations on the nominations for the election of officers of bodies under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, was convened on Tuesday, 13 June 2023.

The Chair of the consultations on elections informed Chairs and Coordinators of regional groups and constituencies that an update on the consultations and status of nominations was provided to the President and members of the COP 27 Bureau at the meeting of the Bureau held on 10 June 2023. The COP 27 President stressed the importance of securing nominations as soon as possible to ensure the proper functioning of UNFCCC bodies.

Chairs and Coordinators informed that consultations within their respective groups and constituencies were progressing, and that they anticipated to finalize and transmit the nominations outstanding from COP 27 and for positions open for election at COP 28, particularly the nominations of those members eligible for re-election for another term, as soon as possible.

The Chair of the consultations on elections encouraged Chairs and Coordinators to continue consultations within their respective groups and constituencies and to transmit to the secretariat their nominations.

The next consultations will be convened at COP 28 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Summary of the informal consultations on elections with the Chairs and Coordinators of regional groups and constituencies, convened on Wednesday, 7 June 2023

The first consultations on the elections at COP 28 of members and alternate members on bodies established under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement were convened on Wednesday, 7 June 2023.

Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Chair of the consultations on elections, informed Chairs, Coordinators and advisers that the President has invited him to conduct the consultations on his behalf and requested him to update the President and the Bureau on progress.

Ambassador Nasr recalled that 43 nominations are outstanding from COP 27. With regards to the six vacancies on the Adaptation Fund Board, and the 2 vacancies on the Paris Committee on Capacity-building, Ambassador Nasr noted that these bodies are experiencing difficulties with the proper functioning of these bodies to undertake their mandates due to quorum difficulties for meetings. Ambassador Nasr urged the Chairs and Coordinators to make extra efforts to finalize the nominations by the end of the week.

Ambassador Nasr informed Chairs and Coordinators that nominations are expected for 156 positions open for the elections to be held at COP 28. He took note that 2 new nominations were received, most importantly the nomination from the Asia-Pacific Group of the President of COP 28. He urged Chairs and Coordinators of the regional groups and constituencies to confirm in writing to the secretariat the nomination of members and alternate members who are eligible for re-election to 116 of the positions open for election at COP 28. Nominations for the remaining vacant positions would be addressed at COP 28. He also encouraged Chairs and Coordinators to ensure balanced representation between women and men when nominating candidates for election.

The secretariat provided an update on gender representation on UNFCCC bodies.

The next informal consultations will be held on Tuesday, 13 June 2023 at the same time.