AFRICA @COP30: AGN RESISTS ATTEMPTS TO RE-DEFINE RESPONSE MEASURES

Response measures to climate change, like climate mitigation policies, affect developing countries in various ways—through economic, social, and environmental impacts, which can be both positive and negative.

Key impacts include cross-border changes in trade flows, potential job losses in carbon-intensive industries, and the need for economic diversification and new technologies.

Developing nations also face challenges in implementing their own measures, requiring international cooperation and support.

It is for this reason that Response Measures (RM) is a specific agenda item under the UNFCCC under which impacts of implementation of response measures is understood as the effects arising from the implementation of mitigation policies, programmes and actions, “in-jurisdiction” and “out-of-jurisdiction” or cross-border impacts, taken by Parties under the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement to combat climate change, are extensively discussed and negotiated.

Negotiations are centred on assessing, analysing, addressing and reporting these cross-border environmental, social and economic impacts.

At COP30, key issues for Response Measures include financing for developing countries, scaling up adaptation efforts, energy transition, integrating responses across sectors like forests and health, and consideration of implementation details of the Katowice Committee on Impacts (KCI) work plan for 2026–2030, which was adopted at COP29 last year.

In the work plan, the KCI proposed several recommendations to the forum for consideration by the COP 30 governing bodies, including:

• Encouraging Parties to mainstream the consideration of the impacts of response measures in their national climate planning processes (NDCs, NAPs);

• Promoting the enhancement of capacity-building for Parties, especially developing countries, to conduct assessments of the social and economic consequences of response measures; and

• Encouraging Parties to use tailored approaches to attract sustainable investments, strengthen capacities, and reduce barriers to implementing climate plans, while ensuring just transitions and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

AGN Lead Coordinator for Response Measures, Dr. Ama Essel highlights key issues and state of play at COP30