Why We Did Not Make More Progress at COP 18: A Short History of Climate Change Negotiations (Video)

This amusing, albeit grotesquely simplified summary of the history of climate change negotiations illustrates why a binding agreement on climate change has proven so illusive.

COP 18: Bridging the Gulf Between Science and Reality

In theory the slew of recent climate studies should inspire the delegates that have assembled for the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP 18). In practice the 194 nations that are meeting in Doha, Qatar, are getting bogged down by the same old arguments.

A Short History of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The UNFCCC was opened for signature on May 9, 1992, after an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee produced the text of the Framework Convention as a report following its meeting in New York from April 30 to May 9, 1992. It entered into force on March 21, 1994. As of December 2012, UNFCCC has 194 parties.

Yvo de Boer's Comments and Predictions Post COP 17

Ex U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer had some very positive things to say about last year's climate talks. As we are getting into the final stretch of COP 18 it is interesting to look back on COP 17 in Durban. On January 6, 2012, Environmental Leader published an article detailing de Boer's views.

The former executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change said that Durban sent a strong message to business that the world’s governments are serious about tackling climate change. He said that the Durban climate talks indicate that it is time for businesses to start preparing for a low-carbon economy. He also said that market-based mechanisms such as carbon trading will continue and he further expected that there will be clear reporting guidelines on GHG emissions.

COP 18: WBCSD on Establishing a Global Carbon Market

Recently the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) resurfaced work that it undertook back at the start of the Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA). The discussion on LCA includes a broad range of issues including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA), the New Market Mechanism (NMM) and more recently, the Framework for Various Approaches (FVA).

The WBCSD has published a paper entitled “Establishing a Global Carbon Market,” it looks at how the substance of the Kyoto Protocol carbon market can be applied much more broadly to an evolving world of various approaches.

COP 18: The History of Carbon and Respective Responsibilities

There are massive disparities between the developed and developing world that compound the issue of emissions reduction at COP 18 and beyond. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution CO2 has increased about 41 percent. Research from climate scientists indicates that we need to act now to reduce emissions. The temperature of the planet has already increased about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1850 and our current trajectory will warm the planet well beyond safe upper limits. However, if we are to make progress on global emissions reductions we will need to address the respective responsibilities of the developed and developing world.

Figueres on COP 18: We Need Domestic Legislation

Before we get an international consensus on a binding treaty under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change we will need to see domestic legislation. Almost 200 Nations have convened for COP 18, but on its own these efforts are inadequate. Those assembled in Doha, Qatar will not deliver the immediate results we need. The modest agenda this year means that no new emissions targets will be set and little progress is expected on a protocol that is supposed to be concluded in 2015 and take effect in 2020. The rate at which emissions are growing means we cannot wait for 2020. A number of studies indicate that are nearing tipping points from which we will not be able to recover.

Canadian Conservative Government Rejects Kyoto

Canada's newly reelected Conservative government has confirmed that it will not support an extension of the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions after 2012. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had already announced his government would not meet the binding emissions cuts it committed to under the first round of Kyoto.

The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 192 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 industrialized countries have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments. The Kyoto Protocol contains key rules to quantify and monitor efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and important market-based mechanisms that enable cost-effective mitigation.

Harper has opted to renege on Kyoto even though the International Energy Agency found that found fossil fuel emissions hit record highs last year, topping 30 gigatons, (about 5 percent more than the previous record set in 2008).

Ottawa, joined the US, Russia and Japan in rejecting an extension of the international agreement at the UN preparatory climate change conference in Bonn, Germany.

Buoyed by their recent election victory, Conservatives can be expected to exploit the tar sands and do as little as possible on the environmental front.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Post COP15

Progress at the Bonn Climate Talks and Hopes for COP17

Climate talks wrapped up in Bonn on Friday June 17 ahead of the seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP17) which will take place later this year in Durban, South Africa.

Before the climate talks in Bonn, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) encouraged countries to come together: "No nation will solve climate change alone. And no nation is alone in feeling its impacts. We're only a few days away now from the mid-year climate negotiations and governments need to pick up speed."

After the Bonn talks, Figueres indicated that she is optimisitic that countries will make progress on a wide range of issues at COP17. These issues include the Kyoto Protocol, global mitigation framework, the Adaptation Committee, the Green Climate Fund, funding, and the Technology Mechanism.

She reiterated the importance of the link between negotiations on mitigation under the UN Climate Change Convention and mitigation under the Kyoto Protocol. As explained by Figueres, the Kyoto Protocol contains key rules to quantify and monitor efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and important market-based mechanisms that enable cost-effective mitigation. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 192 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 industrialized countries have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments.

Figueres pointed to progress on the Adaptation Committee and the Technology Mechanism that will boost global clean technology cooperation. “Strong convergence has emerged on how the Adaptation Committee will be governed, what its composition will be and what its specific role will be,” Figueres said. “This progress means that the Committee could be fully operationalized at Durban."

The Bonn talks also made progress on the Technology Mechanism which will include a Climate Technology Centre and Network which will operate with the strong involvement of the global clean technology stakeholder community. Participants also discussed the effects of implementing mitigation measures including economic transition and diversification, along with health and trade-related issues.

Figueres said the Bonn session included discussions on the design of the Green Climate Fund, as well as identification of sources for long-term funding. Another meeting related to the Green Climate Fund will take place in Tokyo in July.

Other meetings are also planned to help pave the way for progress at COP17. A ministerial conference is planned for 2 to 3 July in Berlin. The leaderships of South African and Mexico are planning to meet with Heads of State and Governments at the UN General Assembly in New York in September and ministers are scheduled to meet approximately one month ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in South Africa.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Hope in the Face of the Fastest Ever Rise in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Despite 20 years of climate negotiations global warming causing greenhouse gases (GHGs) from energy are now rising at record setting levels. As reported in the Guardian, UN climate chief, Christiana Figueres, indicated that we are experiencing the fastest-ever rise in greenhouse gas emissions, but she added that the data should not lead people to believe that the problem is impossible to tackle.

"This is the inconvenient truth of where human-generated greenhouse gas emissions are projected to go without much stronger international action now and into the future." But Figueres added, "I won't hear that this is impossible. Governments must make it possible for society, business and science to get this job done."

Estimates from the International Energy Agency, reveal that despite government policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gases the 2010, global emissions from energy were 30.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, compared with 29Gt in 2009 and 29.3Gt in 2008.

Three quarters of the emissions rise came from developing countries, with a quarter from the developed world. Although most of the record rise in emissions came from rapidly emerging economies, including China, there is growing evidence that the west has "exported" billions of tonnes of its emissions by relying on imports from the developing world.

The developing world is simply using the developed world for more of its energy intensive manufacturing. This is the finding in research being conducted by Sir David King, director of the Smith School of Enterprise at the University of Oxford and former chief scientific advisor to the UK government. Similar results were also revealed in studies from the Carbon Trust and others.

Fatih Birol, chief economist at the IEA and one of the world's foremost experts on energy and climate, said: "Unless bold and decisive decisions are made very soon, it will be extremely challenging to achieve the global goal agreed [at the last UN climate change conference in December] in Cancún."

Connie Hedegaard, the European Union's climate chief, said: "One wonders how many more worrying figures the world needs. The promises of world leaders at Copenhagen and Cancún to stay below 2C of warming need urgently to be followed by more action."

Hedegaard said the EU had put in place strong policies that had reduced emissions, and said other countries should follow. In 2008-10, emissions from EU heavy industry fell by more than 8%, in part owing to the recession and in part to climate policies. Hedegaard said: "We in Europe have specific policies, binding targets and a price on carbon. Europe has committed to an ambitious agenda of climate action. We look to our partners to do likewise.''

Hedegaard insisted there were reasons to be optimistic, "Countries, including the biggest economies, are moving forward with new policies that promote low-carbon prosperous growth, even if they don't always attach climate labels to these policies. And the private sector continues to increase its investment in low-carbon business and renewable energy and wants to do more."

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: Bonn Climate Change Conference June 2011

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres provides some of the highlights from the June 2011 Climate Talks in Bonn, Germany. This video was recorded on the final day of the UN Climate Change Conference. Figueres indicates that it is important to resolve the future of the Kyoto Protocol which is fundamental and critical for at least two reasons 1) It contains the key rules to quantify monitor the mitigation efforts of countries. 2) It also contains important market based mechanisms that allows those countries to reach their mitigation levels in a cost effective manner.

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The Cancun Climate Agreements Achieved at COP16

The climate agreements at COP16 in Cancun, Mexico included short and long-term finance, transparency of financial contributions, and the establishment of the Climate Fund.

“Cancún has done its job. The beacon of hope has been reignited and faith in the multilateral climate change process to deliver results has been restored,” said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. “Nations have shown they can work together under a common roof, to reach consensus on a common cause. They have shown that consensus in a transparent and inclusive process can create opportunity for all. Governments have given a clear signal that they are headed towards a low-emissions future together, they have agreed to be accountable to each other for the actions they take to get there, and they have set it out in a way which encourages countries to be more ambitious over time,” she said.

The Green Climate Fund, (aka the Global Climate Fund or the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund) will deliver support for urgent climate actions like reducing emissions through protecting forests, and shifting to greener energy technologies.

Newly established technology centers will address research, scientific exchange and technical support for countries looking to improve efficiency and reduce emissions from sectors like energy production, transportation, and buildings.

As stipulated in the agreement reached at COP16, the delivery of climate finance will be transparent and there will be a system to monitor and verify the promised funds.

COP16 formalized the short term financial agreements reached in the Copenhagen commitments, however these commitments will need to be increased to deliver 30 billion through 2012.

This year's global climate talks made progress on long term finance including the effort to raise revenues from international transport (shipping and aviation). However, South Africa's COP17 scheduled for next year will have to build on COP16 to achieve the 100 billion commitment required.

Despite low expectations, the arrangements on finance indicate that we have made progress at COP16. The Cancun Agreement will allow critical actions to reduce emissions, as well as protect people from the catastrophic impacts of climate change.

Perhaps most importantly this agreement may have rebuilt the spirit of compromise needed for countries to work together. The overall package will create a solid foundation to build progress to address climate change.

Jake Schmidt, the International Climate Policy Director for NRDC summerized the success of COP16 this way: "Here in Cancun, 193 countries came together and demonstrated a renewed commitment to the fight against global warming. The Cancun Agreements are a detailed set of visionary, yet pragmatic principles that make important strides to begin implementing the agreement reached in Copenhagen last year. The countries gathered in Cancun made progress on emissions reductions, greater transparency, forest preservation and the creation of the green fund to help mobilize much needed investments throughout the world."

Click here to see the full text of the Cancun Agreements.


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