UN climate talks result in deal for 'green' fund
December 12, 2010, Sunday
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A UN climate conference yesterday approved a deal to create a "green" fund for developing countries and to take other small steps to address global warming, over heated objections from Bolivia that the pact doesn't go far enough.
The agreement in Cancun, Mexico, went a long way to restoring faith in the unwieldy UN process after the letdown a year ago at a much-anticipated summit in Copenhagen, though a comprehensive accord to slash global emissions is being deferred another year.
The new agreement creates "building blocks" for a new global pact and, unexpectedly, gives recognition to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial countries by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels within the next 10 years. Current pledges amount to about 16 percent.
Debate on a larger pact was deferred to the 2011 conference in Durban, South Africa.
Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, the conference president, gaveled the two-part deal over the objections of Bolivia. Decisions at the UN climate talks are typically made by consensus, but Espinosa said consensus doesn't "mean that one country has the right to veto" decisions supported by everyone else.
The accord establishes a multibillion dollar annual Green Climate Fund to help developing countries cope with climate change, though it doesn't say how the fund's money is to be raised. It also sets rules for internationally funded forest conservation, and provides for climate-friendly technology to expanding economies.
Espinosa won repeated standing ovations from a packed conference hall for her deft handling of bickering countries and for drafting an acceptable deal, though it fully satisfied no one.
Country after country praised the document, though flawed, as the best available deal. But Bolivia's chief delegate Pablo Solon refused to go along with the package, arguing it was dangerous because it was too weak to stop rising temperatures.
"Bolivia has clearly stated that it does not agree with this document and there is no consensus," Solon said.
The draft Cancun deal finesses disputes between industrial and developing countries on future emissions cuts and incorporates voluntary reduction pledges attached to the Copenhagen Accord that emerged from last year's climate summit in the Danish capital.
"What we have now is a text that, while not perfect, is certainly a good basis for moving forward," said chief US negotiator Todd Stern. His Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, sounded a similar note and added, "The negotiations in the future will continue to be difficult."
The accord "goes beyond what we expected when we came here," said Wendel Trio of the Greenpeace environmental group.
Underscoring what's at stake in the long-running climate talks, NASA reported that the January-November 2010 global temperatures were the warmest in the 131-year record.
Its data indicated the year would likely end as the warmest on record, or tied with 2005 as the warmest.
Solon protested that the weak pledges condemned the Earth to temperature increases of up to 4 degrees Celsius, which was tantamount to "ecocide" that could cost millions of lives.
Solon also complained that the text was being railroaded over his protests.
Highlights Of Cancun Agreement
Chief elements of yesterday's decisions of the annual conference of parties to the UN climate treaty:
Green Climate Fund: To establish a Green Climate Fund to support developing nations in obtaining clean energy technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Deforestation: To promote efforts in poorer nations to protect their climate-friendly tropical forests, with the prospect of financial compensation from richer nations.
Technology transfer: To establish a Technology Executive Committee to analyze needs and policies for transfer of technology to developing nations for clean energy and adaptation to climate change.
Anchoring pledges: To inscribe in conference UN documents the voluntary pledges to rein in greenhouse gas emissions made by some 80 nations under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.
Monitoring pledges: To strengthen reporting requirements and reviews of emissions-reduction actions by both developed and developing countries.
The agreement in Cancun, Mexico, went a long way to restoring faith in the unwieldy UN process after the letdown a year ago at a much-anticipated summit in Copenhagen, though a comprehensive accord to slash global emissions is being deferred another year.
The new agreement creates "building blocks" for a new global pact and, unexpectedly, gives recognition to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial countries by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels within the next 10 years. Current pledges amount to about 16 percent.
Debate on a larger pact was deferred to the 2011 conference in Durban, South Africa.
Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, the conference president, gaveled the two-part deal over the objections of Bolivia. Decisions at the UN climate talks are typically made by consensus, but Espinosa said consensus doesn't "mean that one country has the right to veto" decisions supported by everyone else.
The accord establishes a multibillion dollar annual Green Climate Fund to help developing countries cope with climate change, though it doesn't say how the fund's money is to be raised. It also sets rules for internationally funded forest conservation, and provides for climate-friendly technology to expanding economies.
Espinosa won repeated standing ovations from a packed conference hall for her deft handling of bickering countries and for drafting an acceptable deal, though it fully satisfied no one.
Country after country praised the document, though flawed, as the best available deal. But Bolivia's chief delegate Pablo Solon refused to go along with the package, arguing it was dangerous because it was too weak to stop rising temperatures.
"Bolivia has clearly stated that it does not agree with this document and there is no consensus," Solon said.
The draft Cancun deal finesses disputes between industrial and developing countries on future emissions cuts and incorporates voluntary reduction pledges attached to the Copenhagen Accord that emerged from last year's climate summit in the Danish capital.
"What we have now is a text that, while not perfect, is certainly a good basis for moving forward," said chief US negotiator Todd Stern. His Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, sounded a similar note and added, "The negotiations in the future will continue to be difficult."
The accord "goes beyond what we expected when we came here," said Wendel Trio of the Greenpeace environmental group.
Underscoring what's at stake in the long-running climate talks, NASA reported that the January-November 2010 global temperatures were the warmest in the 131-year record.
Its data indicated the year would likely end as the warmest on record, or tied with 2005 as the warmest.
Solon protested that the weak pledges condemned the Earth to temperature increases of up to 4 degrees Celsius, which was tantamount to "ecocide" that could cost millions of lives.
Solon also complained that the text was being railroaded over his protests.
Highlights Of Cancun Agreement
Chief elements of yesterday's decisions of the annual conference of parties to the UN climate treaty:
Green Climate Fund: To establish a Green Climate Fund to support developing nations in obtaining clean energy technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Deforestation: To promote efforts in poorer nations to protect their climate-friendly tropical forests, with the prospect of financial compensation from richer nations.
Technology transfer: To establish a Technology Executive Committee to analyze needs and policies for transfer of technology to developing nations for clean energy and adaptation to climate change.
Anchoring pledges: To inscribe in conference UN documents the voluntary pledges to rein in greenhouse gas emissions made by some 80 nations under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.
Monitoring pledges: To strengthen reporting requirements and reviews of emissions-reduction actions by both developed and developing countries.
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