31 March 1999

ENGLISH ONLY

UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

SUBSIDIARY BODY FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVICE

Tenth session

Bonn, 31 May - 11 June 1999

Item 6 of the provisional agenda

1. At its ninth session, the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) considered Article 6 of the Convention: Education, training and public awareness.

2. At the same session, the SBSTA invited Parties to submit to the secretariat, by 14 December 1998, their views on possible means of promoting the implementation of Article 6, for compilation into a miscellaneous document

(FCCC/SBSTA.1998/6, para. 37 (9)).

3. The secretariat has received three such submissions.⁽¹⁾ In accordance with the procedure for miscellaneous documents, these submission are attached and are reproduced in the language in which they were received and without formal editing.

Paper No. Page

1. ARTICLE 6 OF THE CONVENTION: EDUCATION,

TRAINING AND PUBLIC AWARENESS

(Austria on behalf of the European Community and its member States) 3

2. ARTICLE 6 OF THE CONVENTION: EDUCATION,

TRAINING AND PUBLIC AWARENESS

Uzbekistan 5

3. ARTICLE 6 OF THE CONVENTION: EDUCATION,

TRAINING AND PUBLIC AWARENESS

Switzerland 6

In response to the request in FCCC/SBSTA/1998/6 paragraph 37(g) the European Community and its Member States would like to record their views on this matter.

The EU recalls that in its statement to SBSTA 8 it suggested that it was timely to undertake further work in this area and that an important aspect would be to review the scope and nature of the education and public awareness of climate change to date. It also suggested that as part of their compilation and synthesis of Second National Communications of Annex 1 Parties, the Secretariat draws to the attention of all Parties those elements under this heading which are considered to demonstrate "good practice." It further suggested that more specific reporting guidelines be developed on this issue, especially with a view to increase the comparability of information.

The EU attaches great importance to these areas. It is essential to ensure that our public is made fully aware of the threat of climate change and that individuals are fully informed of the actions they themselves can take to contribute to its solution. Given the hard choices which may have to be made by governments to address climate change it is also important that their citizens can understand and support the actions that have to be taken even when they involve personal cost.

Our education systems clearly have a key role to play in developing an informed populace, but the wider public also needs to be informed. Whilst government campaigns should and can be use ful , television, radio and the press together with NGO's can have a major role to play in the wider dissemination of information on climate change. Governments and international organizations should make basic source material on climate change readily available for others to use by maintaining a policy of open publication of basic data, assessments and reports. These are needs for all countries and is an area where we can all learn from each other's experiences. As suggested above the Secretariat could usefully draw attention to good practice as reported in National Communications such practices more widely.

Increasing the national pools of trained personnel is clearly an important requirement for addressing climate change and has been highlighted as a significant need by developing countries. The European Community and its member states recognize this well and contribute widely to training issues. We would encourage all developed country Parties to consider ways in which they can consider further specifically developing country needs, e.g. training of personnel, in countries and through exchanges and secondments, and provision of additional financial resources. Such additional measures should be reported in national communications.

The EU believes that many bodies are and can be involved in education, training and public awareness. In the view of the EU it would be appropriate for the Parties to ensure that the institutions over which they have influence, e.g. the Secretariat, UNEP, WMO, IPCC and other UN agencies and International Governmental Institutions, play a full role in climate change education training and public awareness. It would be useful if the Secretariat as part of its proposals on how to integrate Article 6 into the work programme of the SBSTA could review what these I key institutions are doing, if there are over~or important gaps or new areas which heed to be addressed.

Some have raised the need for the translation of additional documents (see para. 37 d (i) of FCCC/SBSTA/1998/6). The EU is in favour of case by case decisions on specific needs. We should bear in mind that the UNFCCC already provides its main documents in the six UN languages and IPCC provides translations of its summaries for policy makers.

The EU recalls the conclusions of SBSTA 8 (see para 37 (h) of FCCC/SBSTA/1998/6) that the Secretariat should investigate on a UN "Climate Change Day." The EU would urge caution here. There are a number of such days now. It would be useful to gauge how far related "Days" such as "World Ozone Day," are helpful. In that context it should also be considered if the "Day of the Environment" could be used as a platform for activities regarding climate change. We would be grateful if the secretariat could assess these issues and advise the Parties on their practical and cost implications as well as the benefits of a "Climate Change Day."

The inclusion of Article 6 into SBSTA agenda and regular consideration of this Article implementation at SB session will make it possible to prioritize the activity in education area, training and public awareness.

Republic of Uzbekistan supports the measures proposed by SBSTA for the implementation of Article 6. For many developing countries the main condition for the overall implementation of Article 6 is the assistance of the Convention Secretariat in the finding of financial resources and in establishment of national institutional structures. It is urgent to establish national committees, probably under UNEP aegis. The main tasks of these committees would be an accumulation, adaptation to the local conditions, translation to the national languages and distribution of available information (including popularization of IPCC reports) and also revision of training material in conformity with existing national education programs. Undoubtedly, the interaction with UNEP in the sphere of assessment of national demands in the public awareness in the developing countries is a valuable initiative and is to be included into the plans of collaboration with international organizations. At the same time the Convention Secretariat should assist UNEP in the larger extent in the organization of such national committees, the prior task of which should be the dissemination of information on the climate change issues. UNEP should be entrusted with the promotion of the preparation of proper information in the official UN languages, as the main documentation flow is in English, the work with the information is delayed substantially. The dissemination of the information can be fulfilled by the established committees, which can transfer the information to the public via NGOs. These committees can also include the elaboration and implementation of education programs into their working plants.'

On our opinion, in the plan of SBI activities it would be also expedient to envisage the holding of the regular international workshops on education issues, training of the national specialists and exchange of the best experience in this field.

Republic of Uzbekistan encourages the assertion and formation of "The Day of Issue on Climate Change" agenda, as this initiative will promote the popularization of the main ideas and focussing of society attention on the urgent issues of implementation of UNFCCC and Kyoto protocol as well as on the specific features of the political positions of various states, with regard to the future ecological positions of various states, with regard to the future ecological problems. The above mentioned national committees can also be charged with the carrying of these activities.

In response to the call for comments at the eighth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice concerning Promoting the implementation of Article 6 of the Convention, Switzerland presents the following views.

1. Each Party to the Convention is responsible for adopting the necessary actions to reach the objective of the Convention and fulfil all of its commitments under the Convention, including commitments under Article 6.

2. Consequently, it is the responsibility and the choice of each Party to assess and to consider how the aspects of public awareness mentioned in Article 4.1 (i) and 6 could help this Party to implement most efficiently the Convention. In other words, it should be left to the appreciation of each Party if, for the most efficient implementation of the Convention, it considers appropriate to involve its population or certain groups and actors in specific sectors of activities.

3. Notwithstanding the above, there may be, to a differing degree, limitations regarding the capacities of individual Parties when they are confronted with the implementation of the Convention, particularly in the field of the diffusion of information generated within the process of the Convention. This can in part be explained by the fact that this information is not always made available in a readily accessible and comprehensible manner.

4. To remedy this situation, specialised UN agencies and IGOs, by providing vulgarised and/or translated documentation as well as training opportunities (as workshops, seminars, etc.) could assist the Convention in helping Parties to make better use of existing information and disseminate it within their public administration and amongst other relevant audiences.

5. We notice the following deficits which should be addressed by the Convention:

· Neither IPCC itself, nor the Convention is responsible for the diffusion of the information contained in the assessment reports of the IPCC

· Excerpts, summaries or vulgarised versions of the assessments of the IPCC should be disseminated in languages other than the six UN languages

· The information from the Convention and from the IPCC should be made available in a more user friendly and pedagogical manner to Parties and/or actors in relevant fields (energy, transport, technology transfer, etc.)

· The Conference of the Parties should designate a resource centre (e.g., a specialised UN agency or IGO) with the task of collecting and making available copyright-free materials that serve the purposes of Article 6 of the Convention.

1. In order to make these submissions available on electronic systems, including the World Wide Web, these contributions have been electronically scanned and/or retyped. The secretariat has made every effort to ensure the correct reproduction of the texts submitted.

FCCC/SBSTA/1999/MISC.1

GE.99-