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November 26, 2013
Applause in Warsaw (credit: COP19/CMP9) Negotiators worked for 36 straight hours to cut a deal at the Warsaw climate talks , which ended in the early hours of November 24. The two-week meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's ( UNFCCC ) 19th annual Conference of the Parties ( COP-19 ) was tasked with laying the groundwork for 2015’s COP-21 in Paris. The meeting in Paris is expected to result in a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol , a treaty that set binding obligations on industrialized nations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
At the inaugural meeting of the UNFCCC in 1992, 192 nations, including the United States, agreed that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions should be reduced to prevent warming over 2 degrees Celsius. Subsequently, representatives of the 192 member nations of the COP have met annually to evaluate progress on climate change.
Despite intransigence throughout the meetings, the delegates agreed to disclose carbon targets by early 2015. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christina Figueres commented on the talks, stating, “We have seen essential progress. But let us again be clear that we are witnessing ever more frequent, extreme weather events, and the poor and vulnerable are already paying the price. Now governments, and especially developing nations, must go back to do their homework so they can put their plans on the table ahead of the Paris conference."
The divide between developed and developing nations became a major theme of the talks. Opening on the heels of Typhoon Haiyan, the conference began with a plea for a strong agreement on GHG reductions from Philippines representative Yeb Sano, who urged negotiators to “stop this climate madness.” However, a coalition of developing nations, including Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, Malaysia, China, India, and their close allies, maintained that requirements for the developing world should be less stringent than those for the developed world, a precedent set by the Kyoto Protocol. The last-minute negotiations centered on one word, “commitment,” with China’s negotiator, Su Wei, stating that "only developed countries should have commitments."
The United States and European Union wanted GHG commitments to be universally applied, arguing that, within six years, GHG emissions from developing nations such as China and India will outpace those of richer nations. Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, commented on the duties of all nations towards climate change action, stating, "rich countries have to lead the way in cutting emissions, but emerging market and developing countries must also make substantial reductions ... it simply will not be adequate for any country, rich or poor, to insist that they will not take action until others act first. Such an approach risks leading to inaction, which would be the most inequitable outcome of all." In the end, an agreement was reached by changing the word “commitment” to “contribution,” allowing for a more flexible interpretation of the goals of developing and developed countries.
Other minor successes emerged during the two weeks of negotiations, including the formal adoption of the United Nations' Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program, aimed at preserving the world's remaining forests. Additionally, a non-binding aid agreement, the “loss and damage mechanism” was reached, wherein victims of natural climate disasters may receive aid from developed nations. While negotiators saw the 2015 GHG emissions reductions goals as an important first step in achieving a binding protocol at the Paris conference in late 2015, the agreement is tenuous, at best. According to Alden Meyer of the Union for Concerned Scientists, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, the negotiators “failed to agree on what process and criteria they would use to evaluate the adequacy and fairness of each other’s proposed actions."
The limited deal led to disappointment in the NGO community. For the first time since 1995, activists and environmental groups staged a walk-out of the climate conference, with 800 individuals leaving Warsaw’s National Stadium mid-talks to protest the lack of progress. Negotiations were further dampened by Japan’s announcement that it was walking away from its earlier GHG reduction commitments (following its switch away from nuclear power), as well as the absence of representation from Australia, one of the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide per capita. Additionally, the Polish hosts drew criticism for what many saw as the nation’s troubling relationship with the coal industry. Indeed, as it greeted the COP's delegates, Warsaw was also hosting the World Coal Association’s International Coal & Climate Summit. Figueres addressed the Summit, stating that despite the emerging technology of carbon sequestration and storage, most of the world’s coal would need to “stay in the ground” in order to dramatically reduce GHG emissions.
COP-20 will meet next year in Lima, Peru. The final GHG emissions goals, to be set the following year at COP-21 in Paris, are expected to take effect in 2020. Author: Jessie Stolark Sources:
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