Stuck in a moment
Posted on 05. Oct, 2010 by Juliana Russar in Brazil
“Confidence gives the conversation more content than the intelligence.”
Para ler esse texto em português, clique aqui
Everyday, when I arrive at the convention center, it is routine to go straight to the “Document Center” to get the daily schedule, the ECO and the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB). Even if I don’t have time to read everything, I read the ENB column “In the corridors”. Today, the last paragraph of ENB said:
After the AWG-KP contact group on “numbers,” some delegates lamented that they had run out of things to say and were not quite sure if they could add anything new to the discussions during the coming week, while continuing to underscore that the pledges on the table “won’t keep us under 2°C.
I could end my text here, since this excerpt of ENB sums up pretty well the spirit of the negotiations in Tianjin: no news, no expectations, the same old speeches. It’s like we’re in limbo waiting for the CoP-16 (or the CoP-17?) to arrive. We are stuck in nowhere with nothing new to say.
The countries in the climate negotiations are like a dog chasing its own tail: this process is not getting us anywhere and it is only wasting energy, time and money, while they could be taking important decisions rather than delay them.
The meetings of the long-term commitments track (AWG-LCA), which deal with actions that all countries that are parties to the Climate Convention, including the U.S. (the country that didn’t ratify the Kyoto Protocol) and developing countries, will implement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the long term are closed to observers. These are called “informal meetings”. Today, the drafting groups on mitigation, finance, adaptation and technology transfer met to continue discussing the negotiating text that was published after the last meeting in Bonn in August. As you can see, the text is already 70 pages long and while nobody expects it to grow to the point of reaching the pre-Copenhagen 200 pages text it still feels like a case of the dog chasing its own tail!
The Kyoto Protocol track met today to discuss “legal matters”. The meeting was tense because the G-77+China, including Brazil, said they do not want to follow the scenario note of the AWG-KP chair. The Brazilian negotiator said that Brazil does not agree with this part of the text:
18. On legal matters, the Chair proposes that the contact group consider the parts of the Chair’s proposed text relating to entry into force of any amendments to be adopted by the CMP and also those are not considered by any of the groups referred to in paragraphs 14 and 16 with a view to streamling the options available, if possible. At the fourteenth session, the AWG-KP may wish to request the group to consider the following parts in chapter 1 of document FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/CRP.2:
(a) Section N (page 20) relating to amendment of Article 3;
(b) Sections O and P (page 21) relating to amendment of Article 4;
(c) Section R (page 21) relating to amendment of Article 9;
(d) Section S (page 22) relating to amendment of Article 15;
(e) Section U (page 23) relating to amendment of Article 18;
(f) Section Y (page 24) relating to amendment of Article 21.
Brazil and the rest of the G77 + China argue that the mandate of the AWG-KP covers only the discussion about Article 3.9 of the Kyoto Protocol on the commitments of Annex 1 countries after the end of the Protocol first commitment period in 2012 (below), not other articles. He also said that under the CMP (Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, which runs parallel to CoPs), this discussion can happen, but not in the AWG-KP.
Commitments for subsequent periods for Parties included in Annex I shall be established in amendments to Annex B to this Protocol, which shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions of Article 21, paragraph 7. The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to this Protocol shall initiate the consideration of such commitments at least seven years before the end of the first commitment period referred to in paragraph 1 above.
Australia, for the Umbrella Group, said it does not understand why they want to block discussions about the Protocol. It is clear: if you open a loophole for developed countries, they will want to revisit the existence of a second commitment period and the Protocol itself.
As you can see, nothing new is really going on here…
To have the impression that something is happening, it seems that the term “balanced package” is the flavor of the month for this particular session. All countries and groups of countries have begun to talk about a balanced package of decisions to be reached in Cancun, but it is still not clear what this package would be, because each country has a different view. The elements of this package are still up for discussion and we know how that goes…
The lyrics from a U2 song aptly convey the sentiments of the current state of the negotiations and I would like to dedicate it to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and all its more than 190 party-countries.
I never thought you were a fool
But darling, look at you
You gotta stand up straight, carry your own weight
These tears are going nowhere, babyYou’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment and now you can’t get out of it
Don’t say that later will be better now you’re stuck in a moment
And you can’t get out of it…
It’s just a moment
This time will pass
3 Responses to “Stuck in a moment”