Ad-hoc virtual meeting of the Consultative Group of Experts

Summary of outcome

The ad-hoc virtual meeting of the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) took place on 14 April 2020 from 14:30 – 16:30 CET (Bonn time). Twenty (20) CGE members and one (1) observer attended the meeting.

Key summary of the outcomes of the ad-hoc meeting include the following:

• The main objective of the meeting was to assess the potential impact of on-going worldwide effects of COVID-19 on the CGE 2020 work plan and discuss how those potential impacts could be managed.
• The CGE reiterated its commitment to deliver its mandate and work towards ensuring a successful implementation of its work plan.
• The CGE recognized that COVID-19 had potential to impact its 2020 work plan, especially those activities that envisage travel and in-person gathering of participants, such as the regional hands-on training workshops, the CGE informal forums, the CGE meeting and the CGE refresher seminar.
• Taking into account of the uncertain challenging state as a result of COVID-19, the CGE to postpone the regional hands-on training workshop for the Latin America and Caribbean region, that was initially planned for July 2020 to November 2020.  The CGE underlined the importance of treating all regions equally and ensuring that all regions are accorded same training opportunities.
• It also requested the secretariat to organize its CGE informal forum on the margins of SB52 in October 2020.  The informal forum was originally planned to be held on the margins of the Regional Climate Weeks.
• Finally, the CGE agreed that it will meet periodically in a virtual setting to continue assessing the situation and, as needed, make adjustments to its work plan.  It requested the secretariat to organise another virtual ad-hoc meeting towards the end of May or early June 2020.