World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

Pablo Solón

The Climate Change Conference ended two days later than expected, adopting a set of decisions that were known only a few hours before their adoption. Some decisions were even not complete at the moment of their consideration. Paragraphs were missing and some delegations didn’t even have copies of these drafts. The package of decisions was released by the South African presidency with the ultimatum of “Take it or leave it”. Only the European Union was allowed to make last minute amendments at the plenary.

Several delegations made harsh criticisms to the documents and expressed their opposition to sections of them. However, no delegation explicitly objected the subsequent adoption of these decisions. At the end, the whole package was adopted by consensus without the objection of any delegation. The core elements of the Durban Package can be summarized as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

Nele Marien (*)

After this morning a set of 2 negotiation texts, giving the “bigger picture” for the Durban outcome were presented, and later rejected by the G77, now a second trial has been presented.

Let’s see what it says.

1) It takes note of a decision — still unknown — under the CMP which would “secure a ratifiable second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol” Well, or you just adopt a new commitment period. Or you don’t, and you can’t secure what parties will do in the future. Seeing the list of unfulfilled promises, and the amount of announces that developed countries have made stating they don’t want a second commitment period, it is quite doubtful that a 2nd commitment period can be ‘secured’. Read the rest of this entry »

After several hours of waiting, a new “bigger picture” text came out in the Durban Climate Conference. Again, drafted only by some. 

Chairs Proposal

INDABA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

Friday, 9 December 2011 @ 23:00

The Conference of the Parties,

Recognizing that climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet and thus requires to be urgently addressed by all Parties, and acknowledging that the global nature of climate change calls for the widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, with a view to accelerate the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions;

Noting with grave concern the significant gap between the aggregated effect of Parties mitigation pledges in terms of global annual emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020 and aggregate emissions pathways consistent with having a likely chance of holding warming below 2°C or 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels;

Recognizing also that fulfilling the ultimate objective of the Convention will require strengthening the multilateral, rules-based regime under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

1.  Noting decision 1/CMP.7 [Amendments and related decisions to secure a ratifiable second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol];

2.  Also noting decision 1/CP.17 [Implementation of the Bali Action Plan, including operationalisation of the Cancun Agreements];

3.  Decides to extend the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention for one year in order for it to continue its work and reach the agreed outcome pursuant to decision 1/CP.13 (Bali Action Plan) through decisions adopted at the 16th, 17th and 18th sessions of the Conference of the Parties, at which time the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action shall be terminated;

4.  Decides also  to launch a process to develop a Protocol or another legal instrument applicable to all Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, through a subsidiary body under the Convention hereby established and to be known as the Ad Hoc Working Group on XX;

5.  Decides  that the process shall begin immediately and be conducted as a matter of urgency and that the Ad Hoc Working Group on XX shall report to the intervening sessions of the Conference of the Parties on the progress of its work;

6.  Decides that the Ad Hoc Working Group on XX shall complete its work as early as possible but no later than 2015 in order to adopt this legal instrument at the 21st session of the Conference of Parties;

7.  Also  decides  that the Ad Hoc Working Group on XX shall plan its work in 2012, including, inter alia, on mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building, drawing upon submission from Parties, and relevant technical, social and economic information and expertise;

8.  Decides that the process shall raise levels of ambition and be informed, inter alia, by the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the outcomes of the 2013-2015 review and the work of the Subsidiary Bodies;

Finally  the two draft decisions (one for the COP, one for the Kyoto Protocol) that have been workerd out in exclusive and closed meetings, have been known. In bold the most problematic points, analysis on the will be published soon.

I. Draft Decision for the COP

Chairs Proposal

INDABA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

Friday, 9 December 2011 @ 08:00

The Conference of the Parties,

Recognizing the need to meet present and predicted climate change imperatives through

full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention with a view to reducing

global greenhouse gas emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C above preindustrial levels, and to consider strengthening this goal in relation to a global average temperature rise of 1.5°C;

Recognizing also that meeting this goal will require strengthening of current  implementation efforts as well as crafting a future multilateral rules-based response under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change framework after 2020;

1.  Noting decision 1/CMP.7 [Giving effect to Kyoto amendments/elements/rules in time to avoid the gap];

2.  Also noting decision 1/CP.17 [Implementation under the Convention, including making the Cancun Agreements operational];

3.  Decides in order to achieve the full effective and sustained implementation of the Convention to complete the agreed outcome pursuant to decision 1/CP.13 (Bali Action Plan) through a set of decisions to be adopted at the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties, at which time the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action shall be terminated;

4.  Also decides to launch a process in order to develop a legal framework applicable to all under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change after 2020, through a subsidiary body under the Convention to be established at the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties and to be known as the Ad Hoc Working Group on [XX];

5.  Decides  that the process shall begin immediately and be conducted as a matter of urgency and that the Ad Hoc Working Group on [XX] shall report to the intervening sessions of the Conference of the Parties on the progress of its work; 

6.  Decides that the sessions of the Ad Hoc Working Group on [XX] shall be scheduled  to ensure completion of the work as early as possible but no later than 2015 in order to adopt the legal framework at the 21st session of the Conference of Parties;

7.  Also decides to further elaborate the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on [XX] in 2012, including on mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building, drawing upon submission from Parties, and relevant technical, social and economic information and expertise;

8.  Decides that the process shall encourage increasing levels of ambition and be informed, inter  alia, by the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the outcome of the 2013-2015 review and the work of the Subsidiary Bodies.

————-

II. Draft decisión for the CMP (Kyoto Protocol)

Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol at its sixteenth session

Version of 9 December 2011 @ 05:00

The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol,

Recalling Article 3, paragraph 9, of the Kyoto Protocol,

Also recalling Article 20, paragraph 2, and Article 21, paragraph 7, of the Kyoto Protocol,

Further recalling decisions 1/CMP.1, 1/CMP.5 and 1/CMP.6,

Noting with appreciation the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol,

Noting also the importance of developing a comprehensive global response to the problem of climate change,

Recognizing the importance of ensuring the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol,

Cognizant of decision -/CP.17 {title of decision on AWG-LCA},

Emphasizing the role of the Kyoto Protocol in the mitigation effort by Parties

included in Annex I, the importance of  ensuring continuity in mitigation action by those Parties and the need to start the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol without delay,

1.   Welcomes the agreement achieved by the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol on its work pursuant to decisions 1/CMP.1, 1/CMP.5 and 1/CMP.6 in the areas of land use, land-use change and forestry (decision -/CMP.7), emissions trading and the project-based mechanisms (decision -/CMP.7), greenhouse gases, sectors and source categories, common metrics to calculate the carbon dioxide equivalence of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks, and other methodological issues (decision -/CMP.7) and the consideration of information on potential environmental, economic and social consequences, including spillover effects, of tools, policies, measures and methodologies available to Annex I Parties (decision -/CMP.7);

2.   Takes note of the draft amendments to the Kyoto Protocol developed by the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol as contained in Annexes 1, 2 and 3 to this decision;

3.   Takes note also of the quantified economy-wide emission reduction targets communicated by Parties included in Annex I and presented in Annex 1 to this decision and of the intention of these Parties to convert them to quantified emission limitation or reduction objectives for the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol;

4.   Invites Parties included in Annex I and listed in Annex 1 to this decision to submit information on their quantified emission limitation or reduction objectives for the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol by 1 May 2012 for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation at its thirty-sixth session and requests the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to deliver the results of its work to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol with a view to the Conference of

the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol adopting them as amendments to Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol at its eighth session, while ensuring coherence with the implementation of decision {title of decision on AWG-LCA};

5.   Decides to adopt the amendments contained in Annexes 2 and 3 to this decision in conjunction with the adoption of the amendments referred to in paragraph 4 above;

6.   Requests the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to assess the implications of the carry-over of assigned amount units to the second commitment period on the scale of emission reductions to be achieved by Annex I Parties in aggregate for the second commitment period, with a view to preparing a draft decision for adoption by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol at its eighth session;

7.   Decides, on the basis of the outcomes and results described in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 above, that the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol has completed its work in accordance with decision 1/CMP.1;

8.   Requests the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to assess and address the implications of the implementation of decisions -CMP.7 referred to in paragraph 1 above on the previous decisions on methodological issues related to the Kyoto Protocol adopted by Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol including those relating to Articles 5, 7 and 8 of the Kyoto Protocol, with a view to preparing relevant draft decisions for consideration and adoption by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol at its eighth session, and noting that some issues may need to be addressed at subsequent sessions of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

Annexes:

Annex 1. Draft amendments to Annex B to the

Kyoto Protocol

Annex 2. Draft amendments to Annex A to the

Kyoto Protocol

Annex 3. Draft amendments to the Kyoto Protocol

Separate -/CMP.7 decisions:

Decision -/CMP.7: LULUCF 

Decision -/CMP.7:  mechanisms 

Decision -/CMP.7: methodological issues 

Decision -/CMP.7: potential consequences 

Talks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference are in their second to last day, but little progress appears to have been made on the key issues of extending the Kyoto Protocol or forming a Green Climate Fund. The United States is refusing to accept any deal involving binding emissions cuts before the year 2020 despite dire warnings that the world can’t afford to wait. We get analysis from Pablo Solón, Bolivia’s former ambassador to the United Nations and former chief negotiator on climate change, and from Patrick Bond, a South African climate activist, professor and author. “The main issue is the figure of emission reductions of rich countries is not really being raised,” Solón says. “It is very, very low… You cannot be silent when you see the genocide and ecocide that is going to happen because of this kind of decision.” Solon also says the U.S. “blackmails” developing countries into dropping demands for binding cuts by threatening to withdraw climate aid. Bond says the next round of climate talks should include the idea of sanctions against major polluters, like the United States, that reject binding cuts.