This week in ClimatePULSE we take a look at the recently concluded UN Climate Change conference in Poznan, Poland. Although the conference brought together some 200 countries to discuss how to tackle global climate change, it was largely shadowed by a global economic crisis and a leadership vacuum in the U.S. The conference was apparently more about process than measurable targets, as hardly any firm targets were set. And even though expectations for the conference weren’t high, it seemed as if the talks were merely a pre-cursor to much more anticipated discussions in Copenhagen next year where a new Kyoto Protocol will be agreed upon. So what did the conference actually accomplish? Well, not much, but some progress was made, particularly regarding deforestation and so-called “adaptation funds” (money to help poor countries counter the future impacts of climate change). In this article we’ll present some of the booms and busts of the conference.
The ongoing global climate negotiations in the Polish town of Poznan are all about financing, insiders say. So what proposals are on the table? A roundup of some headline generating plans:
The future of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is at the heart of the discussions. New projects in this mechanism, which allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to sell credits to industrialized countries wishing to meet their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol, are worth $25 billion. Last year alone, $82 billion worth of carbon credits were traded globally. The certificates are aimed at boosting technology transfer to developing countries.
Combating climate change is a pro-growth, pro-economic recovery policy according to a survey of decision makers conducted by GlobeScan and released at the UN Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Poznan, Poland.
Three-quarters of the 1,000 experts from 115 countries agreed that “equitable economic growth and development and significant progress in combating climate change can be achieved at the same time," according to the survey, which was conducted over a one month period in cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the International Development Research Center, Local Governments for Sustainability, the United Nations Environment Program and the World Bank, among others. Only 11% disagreed.
Those surveyed ranked improving energy conservation and efficiency as having the greatest potential impact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term among 17 specific approaches put forward. They ranked the removal of subsidies for carbon-intensive activities second.
Tuesday is Poznan Business Day at the ongoing COP14 Climate Talks. According to host organizations, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) the global economic crisis underscores the need for strong government leadership and the urgency of agreement on the road to Copenhagen.
Martin Wolf, Chief Economic Commentator for the Financial Times, suggests, “businesses will respond – or, in the technical jargon, “internalise” externalities [such as climate change] – only if it is in their interests to do so.”
The joint ICC and WBCSD presence in Poznan proves that’s not so, Björn Stigson, President of the WBCSD, argues in a letter to the editor. Together the two organizations represent a diverse membership of thousands of companies worldwide. Clearly though, voluntary effort on the part of industry has proven an inadequate tool for fighting climate change. Effective regulation and incentives (read: subsidies) are imperative to systematize an impact on corporate culture.
Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Forest Degradation-- a.k.a. REDD-- is a focal point of this week´s UNFCC COP 14 global climate change negotiations in Poznan.
A fundamental question arises given the make-up of the government delegations who will be the ultimate decision makers as to what, if any form, a new global compact on climate change will eventually take: is any political body and process-- even one as broad-based as the UNFCCC's Conference of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol-, open, inclusive and motivated enough to recognize and represent the interests of the indigenous forest peoples around the world? Traditionally run over by the wheels of “progress” and those motivated primarily by the narrow interests of maximizing profits and minimizing costs, will these people ever be included, and viewed as equals, in high-level political and commercial negotiations?
Forestry researchers and policy wonks have been putting forth various and numerous methods to inform and guide the UNFCC as it seeks to develop the means and mechanisms to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. None address the most fundamental issue, however, asserts ForestAction Nepal and the Nepal Federation of Community Forest Users.
The critical issue, according to these organizations, is not “how to implement” REDD, but “who is it that we are rewarding through REDD and carbon financing?”
The two-week COP14 climate talks which start today in Poznan Poland, are the halfway mark in a two year negotiation effort by no less than 190 countries on a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
The new concept is way more ambitious than Kyoto which was signed by only 37 industrialized countries who committed to reducing carbon emissions to below 1990 levels by an average 5% by 2012. China, which had been hesitant about some of the issues on the table made a u-turn in its policy last December when it agreed to commit to a target in emissions reductions - on condition that it wouldn't be bound to the same limits as industrial countries, and only if the rich world assists the poor countries in transitioning to cleaner production methods.
The Poznan conference will begin reviewing ideas on how to help poor nations in their efforts to combat climate change. A major part of this will be ideas as to how to finance the technological transfer that's needed and what kind of targets are fair. Another focus point will be how to incentivize countries to successfully cut back on deforestation. Efforts will be made to agree to a time table for all these issues and achieve agreement by December next year.
As many as 9,000 participants are expected to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's 14th Conference of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Poznan starting tomorrow, including an official US delegation led by Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Dr. Paula Dobriansky. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) will lead a Senate delegation. Members of President-elect Obama's transition team are also expected to attend.
The climate change talks in Poznan mark the critical halfway point between the 2007 meeting in Bali in which a draft blueprint of a global action plan was set and next year's COP meeting in Copenhagen, which is expected to result in the establishment of a global climate agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Kerry warned that although the US is now in a position to play a leading role in global climate change negotiations, Congress and the incoming Obama administration's ability to offer greenhouse gas emission reduction incentives to rapidly industrializing countries such as China and India would be limited by the economic crisis. "The bottom line is we are not going to be in the position we were two years ago in the short term to do as much technology transfer or economic assistance in terms of transitional issues that might have led other countries to participate," Kerry was quoted as saying in a news report.
The COP14 climate talks next week are taking place amid circumstances that are drastically changed compared to the last round of negotiations; the world's economy is in severe turmoil. That means one thing - global leaders' resolve to combat climate change will be put to the test.
The talks, which will take place December 1-12 in Poznan, Poland, could be the scene of intensified difficulties and any climate action may be seen as a trade off against economic growth. The experts at the United Nations are prepared for it. In a recent interview with Reuters news agency, they said their calculations show that the maximum sacrifice rich nations will be making to avert the worst effects of global warming is less than 0.12 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) annually until 2030.