US Hopes for Tianjin
Posted on 04. Oct, 2010 by astark in U.S.A.
Jonathan Pershing, the US Deputy Special Envoy for climate change, at a UNFCCC meeting in 2009; image from The Guardian
This afternoon I caught up briefly with the lead United States negotiator Jonathan Pershing, who shared with me some of his hopes for the Tianjin conference, and for Cancun. Sometimes it’s hard to get a handle on exactly what our country negotiators are working on, especially when so many of the actual draft negotiations go on behind closed doors, with no NGO observers allowed. So just as I shared my own hopes with you, I thought I’d share Dr. Pershing and the US delegation’s as well.
The first thing Pershing mentioned is that he hopes for a package of decisions that are pretty complete to take to the final negotiation stages in Cancun. He wants a package of decisions that he can “take back home to the US,” one that recognizes all parties’ concerns and that people back home will recognize as fair and balanced. He also hopes that these decisions will be operational. At every UNFCCC meeting there are always discussions from a broad perspective, and a lot of concurrence that for example climate change is a big challenge and could have negative impacts. But the key will be decisions on issues like adaptation, technology transfer, etc. that are concrete and practical.
The US delegation wants to create a sense that progress is possible. Many have declared the UNFCCC process to be dead, especially since the Copenhagen conference last December fell short of global expectations for a binding agreement on emissions. Until now the system has been unable to reach consensus on a new treaty, but it’s still important to create forward momentum. According to Dr. Pershing, the conclusion of the Copenhagen conference was positive in that there was an agreement reached in the form of the Copenhagen Accord. However, the Accord was not binding because not all countries agreed. He recognizes the inevitable truth, that getting consensus is tough. But he also recognizes the importance of finding specific areas of focus where all countries can agree.
Finally, the US hopes for high-level decisions that will translate not only into action in the form of policy-making, but also into on-the-ground action. The decisions made here and in Cancun should also galvanize private sector investment, and have a concrete impact on what individual people are doing about the problem of climate change.
So here’s to all of our hopes for Tinajin- not just to me or the US negotiating team, but to the people of the United States and the people of the world. We deserve to have our hopes met and a successful outcome in Tianjin.
Even when there are many nonsense expressions (like that the accord is not binding because not all agree on it) there is still hope in what he says about progress is possible in the frame of the UNFCC, that is exactly the kind of message that is needed. It is notorious that he does not mention emmision cuts at all, only adaptation and financing. Of course the recognition of the gigaton gap is still far from been recognised or even envisaged, but lets keep on pushing for it.