Independent Alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC)

Abstract

Compared to mitigation, which is—in its own right—fundamental to the Convention, adaptation had a late appearance as a central piece in climate action. This created a difficult situation, where developing countries asked for a balance between mitigation and adaptation, but the latter had almost no technical development compared to the former. It was only with the Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF) in 2010 when adaptation started to pick up in relevance and received more attention. G77 and China positions were the basis of all discussions on adaptation in the negotiations leading up to the Paris Agreement. In fact, the adaptation section of the so-called “Geneva Text,” which was constructed from submissions from all groups and Parties of the Convention some months before Paris, is mostly built on positions and ideas from G77 and China Parties and groups. This was to be the case during the entire process to COP 21, with developed countries assuming a position of reacting to the G77 and China proposals instead of suggesting their own ideas. AILAC played an active part in building consensus among members of the G77 and China, contributing to it through its own ideas and proposals. The results of the negotiations on adaptation, today reflected not only under Article 7 of the Paris Agreement, but also in the preamble, the objective, the articles on finance, transparency, and the global stocktake, among other provisions, evidence that political parity was raised. Adaptation managed to be at the center of the discussions as a key component of climate action, along with mitigation, that will have, for the first time, proper follow up and visibility. For AILAC, the Paris Agreement represents a platform for continuing to push for more of this progress, built on the G77 and China accomplishments.