The latest round of United Nations negotiations on climate change
conclude in Bonn, Germany on Friday. By all reports the pace of
negotiations crept as slowly as ever over the past two weeks, despite a
looming deadline for agreement when the 182 nations meeting in
Copenhagen in December.
U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer said on Wednesday it will be
"physically impossible" to have a detailed climate treaty prepared by
December. But he said he hope the "Copenhagen (summit) will deliver
clarity on key political issues in this debate, that there will be
clarity on the extent industrialised countries will reduce their (GHG)
emissions, and clarity on what major developing countries (including
India) are willing to do to mitigate their emissions."
De Boer said participating nations added more than 200 pages to
the 30-page draft negotiating text over the last two weeks. Those will
have to be whittle down before a final agreement
It now seems likely that if participants are able to agree in principle
to an agreement in Copenhagen, detailed negotations will continue
into 2010. This would be similar to negotiations that led to the Kyoto
Protocol, for which it took four years to finalize "modalities."
De Boer reiterated that four issues are central to widespread
agreement: targets for emissions cuts by industrialised countries;
efforts by developing giants (e.g. China, India) to limit the growth of
their emissions; funding to help poor countries cope with climate
change and tackle emissions; and the "governance structure"
of the future treaty.
No Targets Set
Yet again, it appears that another round of talks will end without set
targets for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions, either individually or as a collective unit.
This remains the primary sticking point in negotiations, as
industrialized nations have been unwilling to take strong leadership on
reducing emissions without commitments from developing nations to also
reduce emissions.
However, top U.S. climate negotiator Todd Stern, who visited
China over the weekend, said the U.S. is not pursuing a mandatory cap
on greenhouse gas emissions from developing nation China.
"We don't expect China to take a national cap at this stage,"
Stern said, adding that what China had already done to address its
growing emissions is "very impressive." This includes a 20% energy
efficiency target, renewable energy initiatives and nuclear power
targets in its current five-year plan.
Stern's visit to China was meant to lay groundwork for U.S.-China
cooperation in reducing emissions. Although no formal agreements were
reached on potential areas of cooperation, such as carbon capture,
electric vehicles and energy efficiency, the two nations promised to
strengthen scientific cooperation.
Japan's Sets Small Target
On Wednesday Japan unveiled its plans to cut greenhouse gas
emissions to roughly 8% below 1990 levels by 2020. That is only 2%
deeper than the cuts the nation is currently responsible for under the
Kyoto protocol. The nation has been struggling to stay on track for
that committment.
Referring to Japan's target, which is far below the 25%-40% cuts
suggested by climate scientists for the year 2020, de Boer said he was
speechless. "For the first time in two and a half years in this job I
don't know what to say," he told reporters.
He also said he doesn't think
negotiations will lead to 80% global reductions by 2050, as recommended
by the IPCC scientists.
Japan's plan does leave the door open to funding carbon offsets abroad,
as the 8% target is strictly for actualized domestic offsets.
Environmentalist Community
Lobby groups on Monday unveiled their own version of the treaty
they want to see produced. WWF, David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace,
Germanwatch, IndyACT - the League of Independent Activists, and the
National Ecological Centre of Ukraine unveiled their blueprint for a
legally binding Copenhagen agreement.
They called on developed countries to reduce their greenhouse
gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2020 and 95% by 2050. The
blueprint also outlines the transfer of hundreds of billions of dollars
to the developing world to help pay for adaptation to climate change
and the technology to help cut their own rising emissions significantly
over time.
