Today kicked off with a Stocktaking Plenary, where the co-chairs of all four Contact Groups reported a “snapshot” of the status of work.  The co-chairs shared that the Contact Groups are making positive progress after a number of substantive discussions on key articles and requested additional time for informals and informal informals to help member states reach convergence. Many member states and regional groups took to the floor to reiterate their long-standing positions.  Of note, China requested that the Chair undertake a prioritization exercise and focus on impactful areas of convergence, an intervention that was supported by the US. Contact Group sessions resumed after the plenary with more informal sessions running in parallel the remainder of the day.

There will be no official meetings on Sunday, but members states are encouraged to use the time to conduct informal meetings.

Key insights:

• Contact Group 1 met after the plenary to receive updates from the co-facilitators of the different informal and informal informal sessions that took place the day prior. After hearing these reports, members discussed the how to best leverage the time on Sunday. An informal meeting on Article 5 took place in the evening.
• Contact Group 3 convened later in the day to go through the new co-chairs text of Article 11 to let those countries that thought an important concept or element had not been sufficiently included in the new text could make sure it was included. This process began smoothly, but eventually disagreements on certain additions led to a breakdown in the discussions. After a lengthy huddle between most of the members in the room, a path forward was found through a combination of asking the co-chairs to consolidate some paragraphs (1-7), move into an informal for the remainder of the evening, and picking up the Article again on Monday, likely moving quickly into an informal.
• Contact Group 4 met after the stock-take plenary to finish interventions that were not delivered yesterday due to time constraints. It was the first opportunity for countries to share their positions on the Preamble. Countries were split between having a more detailed section, which would include select principles from existing conventions vs those who prefer to have a shorter preamble and not “cherry pick” principles. Some expressed flexibility to include references to trade, health and sustainable consumption and production. Contact group will meet for informal sessions this evening and tomorrow.

For reference, the “assembled text” dated August 9 can be found HERE.