There Is Progress But Focus Is The Key
For A Successful Cancun Outcome
By Marianne de Nazareth
09 August, 2010
Countercurrents.org
According to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, governments meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (2 to 6 August) have made progress towards deciding the shape of a successful result at the November/December UN Climate Change Conference in Mexico, but now need to narrow down the many options for action on climate change presently under negotiation.
In Bonn, many governments said they believed a set of COP decisions which quickly operationalise key elements of the Bali Action Plan would be an achievable outcome of Cancún.
"This means countries could agree to take accountable action to, for example, manage and deploy climate finance, boost technology transfer, build skills and capacity to do this and deal with adaptation, especially in the poorest and most vulnerable countries," said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres.
The Bali Action Plan, agreed in 2007, serves as a basis for work under the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA). The negotiating group is tasked to deliver a long-term global solution to the climate challenge.
"Progress at Cancún would also include a mandate to take the process inexorably forward towards an encompassing agreement with legally binding status, which would take more time," Ms. Figueres said.
"Governments can and must make progress on areas such as adaptation, finance and ending deforestation at COP 16 in Cancun," said Gordon Shepherd, Leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative. "But they will have to increase their efforts now and start seeking areas of convergence in a much more serious way." Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) is an example where agreements already achieved in Copenhagen have been opened up again on such basic issues as the definition of what it covers.
The chair of the Kyoto Protocol negotiating track, John Ashe, produced a draft proposal text which governments will be able to consider between now and the next UNFCCC negotiating session in October. That text includes a possible set of draft decisions for Cancún, including impacts of agriculture on emissions, carbon markets and mechanisms, greenhouse gases, and the effects on different countries of moving to a low-emissions future.
However, many countries had reinserted established positions into the texts, increasing the number of options for action said Ms Figueres. "To achieve desired outcomes in Cancún, governments must radically narrow down the choices on the table," she said.
Ms. Figueres called on governments to agree further compromises at all levels between now and the UN Climate Change Conference 29 November to 10 December in Cancún. Significant opportunities for this are the high-level meetings which are scheduled in Geneva and New York in September, followed by the next UNFCCC negotiating session in Tianjin, China (4 to 9 October).
"Governments can and must make progress on areas such as adaptation, finance and ending deforestation at COP 16 in Cancun," said Gordon Shepherd, Leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative. "But they will have to increase their efforts now and start seeking areas of convergence in a much more serious way." Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) is an example where agreements already achieved in Copenhagen have been opened up again on such basic issues as the definition of what it covers. The Bonn UN Climate Change Conference was attended by 1656 participants from 175 countries.
If anything is to happen at all in Cancun the WWF says it is important for governments to move away from the "all-or-nothing"-approach at the UNFCCC, and seek breakthroughs for a balanced Cancun package in areas such as forest protection, adaptation to inevitable threats from climate change, and the beginning of real flows of finance for climate action.
