The Meeting Process

FIELDMEA Workshop

The Meeting Process

1) The Meeting Process2) Players3) Rules of Procedure4) Documentation

The Meeting Process

COPMOP or COP/MOPOpening Plenary

• Opening remarks, group statements• Proposal and adoption of agenda• Easy issues resolved• Difficult or complex issues referred to smaller groups

The Meeting Process

Smaller Groups • May exist or be newly established• Chairs named or acknowledged• Chair assists group in developing common

understanding of what needs to be done• Parties develop agreed written text• Follow the same format as Plenary sessions

The Meeting ProcessExamples of Smaller Groups

Bodies (mandated for several sessions)• Subsidiary Bodies (e.g. SBSTTA) may provide policy recommendations

on specific issues by adopting conclusions or draft COP decisions• Ad-Hoc Groups (e.g. Ad-Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biological

Diversity and Climate Change) temporarily address issues of concern • Working Groups (e.g. WGLR) are convened to work on large scale

issues

Groups for a single session• Friends of the Chair/President are a small representative group of

negotiators to assist the Chair in informally developing consensus on an agreed text

• Contact Groups are formed to focus on specific issues• Informal Groups are called for informal consultations, often closed• Non-Groups can be called by the Chair to encourage communication

without the pressure of negotiations

The Meeting Process

Closing Plenary• Adoption of reports from smaller groups• Potential Outcomes:

Statement of the Chairperson Resolutions (Declarations, Recommendations

and Conclusions) Decisions

Typical timetable• 8 AM: Group / coalition coordination meeting• 9 AM: UN regional group meeting• 10 AM – 1 PM: Official UN meeting time• 1 – 3 PM: Lunch, side events, informal discussion,

group coordination, press conferences• 3 – 6 PM: Official UN meeting time• 6 PM: Group report back meeting, side events,

informal discussions, extended formal meeting time

Actors in international negotiations

• State actors/parties• Non-state actors

- Secretariat- Observers- Media

Non-state actorsCivil society NGOs can:

• Educate negotiators by compiling and distributing information• Seek to influence negotiating positions through advocacy or lobbying• Assist national delegations by providing advice or participating as

members• Facilitate agreement by working with various governmental and non-

governmental participants• Provide transparency to the negotiating process, to increase public

awareness and pressure on governments• Work with the media, by providing press releases and press

conferences

Non-state actorsBroad public participation in implementation is a fundamental prerequisite of sustainable development. Agenda 21 recognizes nine major groups of civil society:

•Business & Industry •Children & Youth •Farmers •Indigenous Peoples •Local Authorities •NGOs •Scientific & Technological Community •Women •Workers and Trade Unions

Non-state actorsWorking with Media:

• Does your country or negotiating bloc have a spokesperson?• Is a press officer available to help you?• Can you refer to an agreed media statement?• Is the subject matter controversial?• What is the journalist’s reason for the story and what is their focus?• Use jargon-free language. Don’t use acronyms or measurements the

public may not understand.• Before speaking to media, decide on three key messages and always

try to return to them.• Make your answers stand-alone, succinct statements.

Adapted from Science Media Centre, top tips for media work

Rules of Procedure

Agenda • Provisional agenda distributed according to a specified

timeline before the meeting• Parties can propose additional items to be added to a

supplementary provisional agenda before the meeting opens• The COP (or other body) may add, delete, defer or amend

items when adopting the agenda. Parties may request to include additional items at this time.

• Where there is no consensus on how to include an item in the agenda, it is “held in abeyance” and included in the agenda of the next meeting unless the COP decides otherwise.

Rules of Procedure

Points of Order / Motions • A representative may raise a point of order at any time if the

Chair/President has not followed the rules of procedure. • The Chair/President rules on a point of order immediately. The

representative may appeal and have the ruling put to a vote.• A representative may make a motion to offer input on how the

Chair/President should deal with an issue. • The motion is accepted if it is seconded by another party and

there are no objections.

Rules of Procedure

Proposed amendments, annexes, or protocols• Must be communicated to Parties at least six months

before the session they are proposed for adoption CBD Arts. 28(3), 29(2), 30(2)(a) FCCC Arts. 15(2), 17(2), KP Art. 20(2) FCCC Draft Rule of Procedure 37 CCD Arts. 30(2), 31(1)

Rules of Procedure

Voting• Procedural matters are decided by a majority of the

Parties present and voting• For many MEAs, there is no agreement on a voting

rule for substantive matters. This means that consensus is still required for all substantive matters.

• FCCC Rule 42(1), CBD Rule 40(1), CCD Rule 47(1)• This lack of agreement means that these MEAs

operate with draft rules of procedure.• Voting is still possible (but very rare)

Documentation

U.N. Document Symbols FCCC/AWGLCA/2010/MISC.2/Add.1

OrganSubsidiary Body

or Working Group

Year or Session

UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/9/INF/3

Number and/or Nature Modifications

U.N. Document Symbols

1) Organ• FCCC• FCCC/KP/CMP• UNEP/CBD• UNEP/CBD/BS• ICCD• UNEP/CHW• UNEP/FAO/RC• UNEP/POPS

U.N. Document Symbols

2) Main Body, Subsidiary Body or Working Group• FCCC/CP• FCCC/KP/CMP• FCCC/KP/AWG and FCCC/AWGLCA• FCCC/SBI and FCCC/SBSTA• UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS• UNEP/CBD/BS/GF-L&R• UNEP/FAO/RC/COP.4

U.N. Document Symbols

3) Year or Session• FCCC/AWGLCA/2010• FCCC/CP/2010• UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/9• UNEP/CBD/BS/GF-L&R/2

U.N. Document Symbols

4) Nature• INF: Information document• MISC: Miscellaneous document, issued on plain paper

with no UN masthead. Submissions by Parties are usually MISC documents.

• L.: Limited distribution document

5) Number

U.N. Document Symbols

6) Modifications• Add: Addendum (addition of text)• Rev: Revision (new text superseding previous document)• Corr: Corrigendum (modification to correct errors, revise

wording or reorganize text)• Amend: Amendment of portion of adopted formal text• Summary• -/-: Reissuance of document for technical reasons

The first addendum to the 9th miscellaneous document issued in 2011 by the AWGLCA under the FCCC:

FCCC/AWGLCA/2011/MISC.9/Add.1Ideas and proposals on the elements contained in paragraph 1 of the Bali Action Plan.

Submissions from Parties. Addendum.

The third informational document issued at the ninth session of the WG-ABS under the CBD:

UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/9/INF/3Final Report of the Regional Consultations for Latin America and the Caribbean

Countries on Access and Benefit-Sharing

.

Documents to Keep in Mind

• Annotated agenda• Note by the Chair (i.e. Scenario Note)• Draft negotiating text• Compilation of parties’ submissions (MISC)• Expert reports (often INF)• Non-papers (unofficial)