That meeting started Monday, and we’ve got a four person team on the ground to tracking government negotiators and helping you follow the proceedings as they decide whether and how countries will mitigate and adapt to climate change. Meet the team:

We’re assuming the 35 participating countries are a who’s who of who the Germans think are key for moving the climate solutions agenda forward. For those of you who couldn’t identify the minister’s and high-level government officials by face in the pictures released yesterday, Germany’s environment ministry just published the list of participants.  A few interesting titles on that list:

• Saudi Arabia’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources – perhaps further indication of what KSM views as the most significant climate impact on their country, climate solutions and demand for oil.
  
• Peru’s director general for climate – Peru was one of two main contenders for hosting next year’s COP, though rumor has it they aren’t having much success in finding supporters to back their bid.
  
• US’ special envoy for climate change – though not a surprising appearance, Todd Stern is the face of the US government’s push for a bottom-up 2015 deal. 

We’d love to read your thoughts on which countries on the list stand out and why. Feel free to put them in the comments below.

It terms of the actual substance of the 2-day talks, it’s difficult to draw conclusions. Co-chairs Marcin Korolec & Peter Altmaier produced a political summary which will be fed into the UNFCCC process later this year. None of the ideas referenced in the summary are new, but their showing up in this context could influence what gets increased traction going forward.  

Notably, there was an increase in the profile of energy efficiency and renewable energy. There was reference to Ban Ki-Moon’s 2014 leaders summit as a key moment for governments to increase their pledges for climate action. Ministers stressed that “without engagement from the general public and their acceptance for practical solutions proposed, the impetus behind more climate action will be lost and successful implementation will fail.” To that end, there were suggestions of that some sort of major stakeholder engagement could take place at the next Conference of Parties (COP) in Warsaw later this year.

Ministers emphasized that  ”long-term, stable and reliable policy signals are essential to drive investments.” Germany’s environment minister Peter Atmaier pointed the finger squarely at the EU, calling for an urgent solution to the price decline in EU carbon credits. He suggested that saving the EU emissions trading scheme would be crucial for inspiring and encouraging other states to follow suit.

Beyond being an opportunity for key government officials to continue their engagement on climate issues, this meeting was a chance for Poland’s environment minister Marcin Korolec to show that Poland is serious about addressing the threats of climate change and will use their upcoming COP presidency to demonstrate that seriousness.  While the Co-Chairs summary failed to give any obvious indications to that end, it’s perhaps notable that most of the deadlines for concrete deliverables needed for a 2015 climate deal come not during, but after Poland hosts the COP. 

Have a look at the full summary text below. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier, Polish Environment Minister Marcin Korolec. High-res & additional photos.

The Petersberg Dialogue has become an annual event, either following or preceding the Bonn Climate Change Conference that takes place every June. Ministers and high-level officials from 35 countries were invited to this year’s meeting, which aims to address four questions:

1. How can we shape an ambitious, effective and fair climate agreement with active participation from all countries by 2015, and implement it from 2020?

2. How can the UN climate process bring about more climate action at national level up to 2020, so that we can remain below the 2°C ceiling?

3. How can international climate policy create effective incentives for more private investment to advance the transformation towards a low-emission economy?

4. How can the climate change conference in Warsaw help us to achieve our main goals, and what are the most important milestones on the path to a new agreement in 2015?

Participants in this year’s Petersberg Climate Dialgogue. High-res & additional photos.

Perhaps indicative of how Poland’s government views the issue of climate change during a year they are set to host the annual Conference of Parties in Warsaw, Polands Prime Minister was invited to share the stage with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but declined. Instead, all eyes are on Poland’s Environment Minister, Marcin Korolec. In a conversation last week with RTCC’s Ed King, who covers international climate policy:

There’s a chance for him to demonstrate that he’s committed to a climate deal that’s going to have some environmental integrity. It’s a big opportunity for him to demonstrate that.

RTCC has a piece out today digging into Poland’s role on the road to getting a global climate deal in 2015.

Korolec and German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier are expected to produce a political summary of the meeting, enabling the results to feed directly into the UN negotiations. They will host a closing press conference at 13:00 CET May 7th (livestreamed here).

It’s the first day of the Bonn Climate Change Conference where government representatives of 195 countries are meeting for the first time this year. I met with with Sebastien Duyck in a Google+ Hangout, to talk about expectations for this round of climate negotiations and the atmosphere so far.

This coming week, however, Christiana and many other key players in that 2015 deal will be in Bonn for the first major round of negotiations this year. To set expectations, or at least help set the tone, the UNFCCC published it’s latest newsletter prior to talks kicking off. Christiana, as you might imagine, plays a staring role. Check out her video curtain raiser, previewing the Bonn Climate Change Conference:

If Christiana’s video hasn’t sated your interest:

• Be sure to check out this press conference hosted by CAN International and the Global Call for Climate Action.
• Here’s the official UNFCCC press conference.
• You might also dip your toes into this article by Chairs of this week’s negotiations.

And of course, stay tuned to the Adopt a Negotiator website – veteran tracker Sébastien Duyck will be blogging from inside the conference halls, and I’ll be supporting remotely.

To kick things off, we’re bringing you this recording from a joint CAN/GCCA press conference from Thursday, 24 April. More soon. Stay tuned.

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Download Audio (23.3MB | 53:34 | mp3)

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On 25 April NGO experts from the two largest climate change networks briefed media on the current state of play in the international climate negotiations ahead of the year’s first round of UN talks, the Bonn Climate Change Conference. They previewed major milestones in 2013 related to climate change, and their potential impact on the negotiations.

• Julia Michalak, Climate Action Network Europe
• Alden Meyer, Union of Concerned Scientists, United States,
• Lina Li, Greenovation Hub, China

*the above recording is incomplete due to technical difficulties. The speaker order is Alden Meyer, Lina Li, then Julia Michalak, followed by press questions

Our CAN friends left the plenary halls angry – about COP18′s outcome & about the utter lack of political will brought by the countries most responsible for creating climate change. Many of those countries are also essential to meaningfully address it. They’re ready to pour their frustration into more work back home.

Samantha Smith from WWF

Kumi Naidoo from Greenpeace International

Tim Gore of OXFAM

Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists

Mohamed Adow from Christian Aid

For more information, here’s a link to the media release put out by CAN just before calling the media scrum.

Our Adopt a Negotiator project manager and resident super-wonk, Sébastien Duyck, gave us the state of play as of noon on Saturday; and he walks us through some of the possible scenarios that could play out this afternoon.

If you’re feeling up for it, Seb posted the five current negotiating tracks on the documents section of our website. Have a look and follow along when plenary opens in a few minutes.

The Luke Callahan Arthur hereby died on December 7th, 2012. It will be remembered by its common but differentiated children who, unfortunately remain involved in an ongoing argument over who really killed their father.

Although both were found at the scene of the crime with blood on their hands, they continue to plead their innocence. Juan “Annex 2” Salves-Smith claims that it was his sister who stabbed their father in the back in a spite of jealousy after complaining that her father had allowed Juan to become irresponsible. Jane “Annex 2” Smith-Salves (who changed her name to highlight the differences) claimed that while she had threatened to kill her father before, she was tricked by a moustached man.

It’s not clear what will come of the most politically contentious issues that were being negotiated in the LCA. It’s not clear if developing countries have a plan to get what they say they want and need at the end of the day. It’s not clear what this means for any possible Doha outcome? Or for that matter, the climate.

It’s clear that some parties are objecting, so we’ll keep you updated with progress as we understand it. In the meantime, check out tweets from out trackers with real-time analysis here.