1. The 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in Bonn, Germany, from November 6 to 17. At the COP23, negotiations will be conducted to develop guidelines on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

o The COP23 will be attended by representatives from 197 Parties to the UNFCCC. A delegation of the ROK to the conference, led by Minister of Environment Kim Eun-kyung, consists of officials from relevant government agencies and experts.

2. The COP23, which comes one year before the 2018 deadline for completing the negotiations, set at the COP22 last year, is expected to become a stepping-stone to review the progress made in the negotiations over the past one year.

o At the conference, the representatives are expected to create an outline of lists and sub-lists of implementation guidelines for each agenda, to be finally agreed upon in 2018, and to agree on the format of the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue.

3. With one year left until the deadline for the completion of the negotiations, negotiations to develop the guidelines needed to implement the Paris Agreement are expected to be further accelerated.

o Main agendas are those related to mitigation, including Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), transparency framework, and global carbon market. However, as Fiji holds the Presidency this year, the representatives are also expected to engage in robust discussions on adaptation to the threats posed by climate change.

4. The ROK delegation, in cooperation with major countries and negotiation groups, including the Environment Integrity Group (EIG), will contribute to developing guidelines for achieving the temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement. The ROK delegation will also play a bridging role between developed and developing countries to help all Parties take stronger climate action, considering their own capacities and conditions.

5. Minister of Environment Kim Eun-kyung will attend the high-level segment on November 16 as head of the ROK delegation. In a national statement, she will express the ROK’s active support for the Paris Agreement so that the international community’s coalition on climate change does not weaken, and explain the ROK’s efforts to respond to climate change, including efforts to transition to environmentally-friendly energy and implement national adaptation measures.

o She will also attend a side event on carbon pricing, co-hosted by the OECD and the Ministry of Environment, and another side event hosted by the Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change. At the events, she will share the ROK’s experience with the international community.

o She will also meet with officials dealing with climate change at international organizations, including the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC and an official handling climate change and energy at the European Commission, and discuss prospects for climate change negotiations, as well as climate change and energy policies.

6. The 2017 UN ‘Momentum for Change’ Climate Solutions Awards, hosted by the UNFCCC, will take place at the venue for the COP23 on November 14 (local time). The ROK’s Green Card System, which has been selected as an outstanding system, will win an award at the event.

o At the event, where exemplary cases of climate change mitigation will be selected, 19 systems around the world, including the Green Card System, will win awards. Following the Awards on the 14th, delegates from the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, a main operator of the Green Card System, will attend a discussion among award winners on the 16th, and discuss ways to mitigate climate change, making use of information and communication technology (ICT).

7. Minister Kim Eun-kyung said that with the Paris Agreement in place, the trend of transitioning to a low-carbon society is irreversible, and stressed that now is the time to work together with the international community to respond to climate change more actively, as abnormal climate phenomena caused by climate change are worsening across the world.”


* unofficial translation