59 days from Copenhagen

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recyclinage
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59 days from Copenhagen




by recyclinage » 11/10/09, 10:05

The clock is ticking, time is contracting: there were no more, Friday October 9, at the close of fifteen climate negotiations in Bangkok, only 59 days before the start of the Copenhagen conference. 59 days, when almost nothing is agreed.

Admittedly, the discussions in Bangkok made it possible to emerge from the quagmire in which the negotiators had been bogged down since the beginning of 2009. By participating, in September, in New York, in the United Nations (UN) day on climate, the heads of State have revived the diplomatic machine. So much so that in Bangkok, during the session opened on September 28, the main text under discussion was lightened, going from around 200 pages to around XNUMX and becoming more or less readable. Agreements are even emerging on various aspects, such as technology transfer, the "action register" of different countries or the forest.
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Africa presents the bill to rich countries

Two months before the Copenhagen summit, African countries have decided to make themselves heard. "We believe that it takes 65 billion dollars (44 billion euros) to be able to cope with these phenomena of climate change", told AFP the Minister of Environment of Burkina Faso, Salifou Sawadogo, during from the opening of Forum global conference on sustainable development organized in Ouagadougou. Particularly offensive, African officials have argued "the duty of solidarity" of rich countries towards the most vulnerable. "Lately, the Ethiopian Prime Minister (Meles Zenawi) has been adamant. If nothing is done, Africa will leave the room (of negotiations)," Mr. Sawadogo recalled.


But this clarification brought to light the basic differences, which stem from the classic but perennial North-South divide. They appeared unexpectedly when China, on behalf of the G77 (the group of developing countries), accused the countries of the North of wanting to "kill" the Kyoto protocol. "Today we are clearly witnessing statements and actions which will bring about the end of the Kyoto Protocol," Yu Qingtai, representative of China, said Monday (October 5th) during a press conference. "It's like, in the last five minutes of a game, one player puts forward a set of new rules, a new format, a new mandate and expects the other player to accept that as a condition. prior to any progress. "

As if to drive the point home further, the Chinese declaration in Bangkok was followed by another, in Beijing this time, and signed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama and South Korean President Lee Myung- Bak who indicated, on Saturday 10 October, "wanting to work together (...) in order to contribute to the success of the Copenhagen Conference". This "success" will, according to them, require "the creation of an effective international cooperation framework for the post-2012 period, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations framework convention on climate change".

This unusual rant from China was in response to proposals from the United States which led to the Kyoto protocol being set aside. To understand the dispute, we must remember that the Convention on Climate Change, signed in 1992, includes all countries, but does not entail constraints. On the other hand, the Kyoto protocol, signed in 1997, includes legally binding commitments for the countries of the North. As the "first commitment period" of the Kyoto protocol ends in 2012, we ended up believing that it was going to disappear. The countries of the South have firmly recalled that the Kyoto Protocol remains valid without expiry, that it is in fact a question of defining the level of commitments for the "second period".

This means that they expect reduction commitments from the countries of the North. As the European Union and Japan have announced their targets for 2020, it is mainly the United States that is targeted. But Washington does not want to move forward: Jonathan Pershing, the head of the delegation of the United States, repeated that "it would be extremely difficult to commit to specific figures in the absence of legislation passed by Congress" .
SINGLE TEXT

The XNUMX have suggested a compromise solution. Artur Runge-Metzger of the European Commission recalled that the Union would respect its commitments in the protocol. But the European Union was in favor of a single text which would involve all the states, including the United States. In fact, it firmly asks the United States to commit to reducing their emissions, but also the large emerging countries to commit in one way or another.

Anders Turesson, representing Sweden, who currently chairs the Union, hammered home the point: the lack of commitment from developing countries "makes it difficult to discuss financial assistance in concrete terms," ​​he said. he indicates. This is the second stumbling block: how much are the countries of the North willing to put on the table to help those of the South? The debate on this point has not advanced, the Twenty-Seven awaiting a significant gesture from the emerging countries, a condition, according to them, essential to lead the United States.

The Nobel Peace Committee got involved in the negotiations: by awarding the prize to Mr. Obama, he is trapping the latter. Can he not come to Oslo on December 10 to receive his award? And don't go to Copenhagen, where will the climate conference be held? And can the United States afford to bear the responsibility for the failure of the Copenhagen conference?
Hervé Kempf


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