Small Island States Lead Charge
December 11, 2009
AOSIS press conference with 350.or, Ambassador from Cape Vert
Today I attended a press conference for AOSIS, the Association of Small Island States, the group has been very vocal during the COP and is demanding a binding treaty, with clear commitments from developed countries and funding to start immediately for mitigation, adapatation and insurance in the most vulnerable countries.
It was a moving meeting and I will post more tomorrow when I am rested. The main message is that this is a desperate plea from skinking islands, and they are clear about the deperation at this point. They need progress in these talks and are taking charge by providing draft text for consideration. Only time will tell if this will bring us closer to a deal, or drive the sides further apart!
Supporters hold up "we support AOSIS" signs - giving a voice to the small islands and helping them be heard
Mayor Miller Accepts Fossil of the Day for Canada
December 11, 2009
Me and Mayor David Miller before he accepts Canada's fossil award
Although I dont normally do this, I thought this press release was worth sharing.
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11th 2009
A fossil winning streak for Canada
Toronto Mayor David Miller accepts Canada’s 1st and 2nd Fossil of the Day Awards
(Copenhagen, Denmark) Canada seems intent on adding to its Fossil of
the Day awards collection, successfully saying enough destructive
things in the last 24 hours to win them both the first and second
place fossil today. This “prize”, given to countries who are blocking
progress at the United Nations climate summit, is awarded daily by a
coalition of 400 leading international NGOs.
Especially noteworthy is the willingness of Toronto Mayor David Miller
to attend the Fossil Awards Ceremonies to accept these non-prestigious
awards on behalf of Canada.
“It is with disappointment and regret that I receive both the first
and second place Fossil awards today,” said Toronto Mayor David
Miller, Chair of the C40 climate leadership group. “As Mayor of
Canada’s largest city, I can assure the rest of the world that there
is leadership in Canada. Provincial and Municipal governments are
taking climate change seriously even as the federal government is
lagging. We must send the Harper government the message that Canadians
find this unacceptable and we want real action in Copenhagen. We
expect the government to support a fair, ambitious and binding deal.”
1st place Fossil Award:
It doesn’t get much more Fossil worthy than this: Canada’s Environment
Minister, Jim Prentice, said yesterday that “it’s in Canada’s
interests to replace the Kyoto Protocol with a new agreement.” He
didn’t explain whether that’s because he’s scared to face Kyoto’s
compliance committee, or because he’s hoping no one will notice that
Canada’s current 2020 target (3% below 1990) is weaker than the one it
promised to meet under Kyoto (6%).
2nd place Fossil Award:
Canada’s chief negotiator insisted today that his country’s target of
-3% below 1990 are, in fact, based on science. Last we checked, the
IPCC scientific community called for 25-40% emission reductions below
1990 levels. The Fossil Supreme Command Council can only conclude that
he wasn’t referring to climate science at all, but rather the science
of mathematics–because -3% is, indeed, a number. (Although a very
small one.) Speaking of math, Canada already promised in the Kyoto
Protocol to go to -6% from 1990 levels. Oops!
Further, when the chief negotiator was asked this morning if he
believed Canada’s so called “science based-target” would protect
melting summer sea-ice in the North West passage, he responded quite
accurately that he is not a scientist and therefore cannot predict
sea-ice.
It also appears that Canada’s environment minister is suffering a
serious case of CAN envy. Yesterday, he invented his own prize, the
Hot Air of the Day Award, and tried to give it to a Canadian
environmental group. It’s a true honor to be recognized for hot air by
this government, who are absolute masters at it themselves, but sadly
we have to decline. Sorry Minister, but you’re going to have to sign
on to a fair, ambitious and binding deal before we’ll consider your
application to CAN.
-30-
Fossil of the Day will be presented daily in Copenhagen from a network
of over 400 leading international non-governmental organizations
following a vote to determine which country had done the most over the
course of the day to delay, stall, and otherwise disrupt this crucial
negotiating sessions in Copenhagen in December.
www.fossiloftheday.com
Friday, and hopefully the climate of the talks are changing
December 11, 2009
It’s Friday. The first week is almost over (although there are official negotiations on the weekend too). Last night was the first night I regretted staying in Malmo, Sweden because the train took 2 hours to get home and I had a very late night. I made up for this by sleeping in, but unfortunately missed the first few hours of the conference this morning. But enough about me, on to the negotiations…
The sessions that are open to the public are becoming fewer and fewer, which is totally normal because the nitty gritty are usually negotiated behind closed doors. Hopefully proposals and draft text will be released in the coming days, preparing Ministers and Heads of State to be able to negotiate more effectively during the high level sessions starting mid-next week.
The big issues continue to be unresolved. First of all, it is unclear whether the Kyoto Protocol will survive. Canada and others are advocating that Kyoto be “replaced with a new agreement”, but other countries are insisting that the treaty containing the only legally binding emissions targets be sustained and continued post-2012.
Canada is concerned that, since the U.S. is not a party to Kyoto, it does not make sense to continue with it. Not to mention that we are already 26% above (if not more) our Kyoto targets and want to have a new deal, with a new baseline and new (less aggressive in the short term) targets. I think this position is fatally flawed for a number of reasons…namely, it is a distraction from solving the most pressing challenge facing humanity, we need to start negotiating in “emergency” or “war-time” mode.
It appears that some good news about the CDM is emerging. It seems very likely that the CDM will continue after the expiry of the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol. In other words, the CDM will likely survive post-2012.
Draft text continues to emerge, but consensus is still not in sight. Although parties are being “constructive” (in the words of the Secretariat) it appears that any real movement may have to wait until the Ministers and Heads of State join the talks next week.
Clean Development Mechanism and Adaptation Fund
December 9, 2009
From my vantage in the "observer" section before the parties arrived
It’s nearing the end of day 3 of COP 15. I’ve sat through a few hours of the opening round of negotatiation on the Clean Development Mechanism, Compliance Committee Reporting and the Adapatation Fund. And some common themes have emerged.
Clean Development Mechanism
Parties discussed the CDM, mostly focusing on issues related to what should be included in the CDM, decisions of the Executive Board to reject or accept projects, and regional distribution.
Parties from Africa emphasized that the CDM was intended to encourage sustainable development projects which quantifably reduced emissions in a regionally equitable way. With the vast majority of projects happening in three countries (China, India and Brazil) other developing nations expressed concern that the CDM was not adequately being implemented in other jurisdictions. How to improve this situation and help ensure more equitable distribution will be discussed over the next week.
China expressed concern that the Executive Board (EB) was discriminating against some of its wind projects by finding these projects are no longer “additional” to business as usual. This decision by the EB is largely based on the fact that China gives incentives for renewable energy to producers. The EB has determined that these wind projects would have happened without the CDM funding and therefore, did not approve them. China is upset about the decision and expressed this in today’s meeting.
The above two issues were not nearly as controversial as the third – Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Oil producing companies baneded together to demand CCS be included in the CDM. Some developing countires, espcially those from small islands rejected this suggesting, claiming that CCS is a dangerous distraction and should not be included in the CDM. This will also be discussed in the coming days, parties seem miles apart at present.
Adaptation Fund
The message from the negotiations on the Adaptation Fund: the fund has little money, it needs more money to do anything significant. The parties need to figure out how to “fund” the Fund.
The session ended with a fantastic intervention from the American Youth Delegation, called SustainUS. The young American delegate called for all citizens of developed countries to contribute 25 cents to the adaptation fund per day ($100 billion/year). Just pocket change for developed countries, she said, but enough to protect some of the most vulnerable populations on earth from the consequences of climate change. She was the only delegate to receive applause after she spoke.
The feeling of urgency, the hope from certain delegations, the promise of youth keep the fire in the belly of COP 15.
Leaked Danish Text Caused Quite a Stir
December 8, 2009
I arrived in Copenhagen yesterday. It was a long travelling day, but the beautiful Danish (and Swedish) city squares lit up with bright lights kept me going. Once I got my accreditation badge (after over 2 hours waiting outside in the cold) and had my picture taken, I was in; free to participate in one of the most important international conferences in history. That evening, the Danish government put on a nice reception, gave out some gifts, and hosted a concert in the city square. I received a “hopenhagen” poncho and water bottle and had some complementary wine and food. Us “climate tourists” were happy campers.
And the Danes kept the gifts going. On day two the Danish government provided fodder for interesting gossip. One of the first meetings I attended mentioned a Danish Text floating around. As anyone who has been at major international negotiations knows, rumours fly around and take on a life of their own. The rumour we heard on the first day of COP 15 (the short form name of the Copenhagen Negotiations) was that a Danish draft text would soon be released – “the” draft of what it will propose as the “Copenhagen Agreement”. Today the rumors were partially substantiated by a leaked text, which has now been posted by the Guardian in the U.K. Even though we see the draft in front of us, the rumors are now switched to saying this draft is out of date, and not the real draft that will be circulated by the Danes in the coming days.
I will not go into the details of the draft text, but will say this much: it will likely be easy for most developed countries to sign off on as there are no radically strong commitments as far as I can tell. The draft outlines the Copenhagen Agreement as a “political agreement”, meaning that is is not the fair, ambitious and binding treaty that many had hoped would come together at this conference. It puts off the finalization of a full legally binding treaty to a future Conference of the Parties. It also does not specify a “short term” target but acknowledges that the Parties support a 2050 target of 50% below 1990 levels, even going as far as giving an equivalent for a 2005 baseline since some counties (notably Canada) want a later baseline year for a new agreement. The mention of 2005 in the draft is a sign that we may not even get a decision on a clear base year for future commitments.
The draft text has gotten some parties and NGOs very rilled up today. They claim that the text far too closely aligns with the Danish position and does not consider the developing countries positions on many issues. It also has been criticized for a lack of ambition and bias, uncharacteristic of a host country so early in the conference.
This is only day two and already the sparks are flying.
Copenhagen bound
December 5, 2009
I will be heading to the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen tomorrow. I will be doing a number of things while there, possible the most important to me is helping with the capacity of Pacific Small Island Developing States through the organization Islands First. I will also be participating in the negotiations with Climate Action Network, and presenting at a legal capacity building course on Sunday December 13th. It promises to be a very busy two weeks.
Although expectations have been rolled back, I believe that a fair, ambitious and binding treaty is possible, if not in Copenhagen, then sometime in 2010. The work that will be done over the next two weeks if of the utmost importance for the future quality of life, and survival of the human species. I am honoured to be a part of it.
I will post blogs often to update you on what I’m doing in Copenhagen, but also provide some general updates about the negotiations. Next time I post I’ll in Denmark (or Sweden, where I’m staying).