Simple but complicated
Posted on 07. Oct, 2010 by Juliana Russar in Brazil
Para ler esse texto em português, clique aqui
On the fourth day of the climate talks here in Tianjin, I have nothing important to report as the countries are still discussing how to discuss (process) rather than substantive issues. I followed the AWG-KP contact group on legal matters. Brazil, together with G77+China, will not open for discussion on any article beyond the 3.9 in the AWG-KP claiming that the mandate of this working group is only concerned with the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and that the discussion of other articles under the AWG-KP threatens the existence of the Protocol - I’ve already talked about this on Tuesday. Given this deadlock, the chair of the AWG-KP was called in the afternoon session, which was closed because there was no consensus. The chair will hold informal consultations to try to advance this discussion, but it is unclear whether this contact group will meet again here in China.
Besides the expression “balanced package” in the context of the outcome of decisions that will come out from CoP-16, another term I have heard repeatedly in Tianjin, especially from representatives of environmental organizations is “race to the future”. Greenpeace has created a very useful table that compares the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. I took the liberty of adding data (accessible and available) from Brazil. You can check it below.
Before coming to China, I had no idea of the extent of the competition between this country and the United States. On the first day I was here, I watched a TV show (in English, obviously) that compared the development model of China and United States. Recalling that media here is controlled, all programs always exalt the Chinese model and are keen to make comparisons with the U.S. I also remember that both countries constantly trade barbs over who should take on commitments and leadership in combating climate change. In the case of the race to the low-carbon future, as the table data and my post from Oct. 4 show, China is ahead of the USA. Some people believe that this Chinese behavior can make the U.S. take steps to keep up. What a noble race that would be!
The race to the future is very simple, but it seems complicated. We are not encouraged to act together, to cooperate. If a country falls behind, everyone loses; if everyone acts according to their capacities, everyone wins.
Negotiator Tracker - Juliana Russar
Juliana mora em São Paulo e sempre foi apaixonada por pol�tica internacional e desenvolvimento. Não por acaso, ela se formou em Relações Internacionais e fez especialização em Meio Ambiente. Desde 2007, tem acompanhado as negociações internacionais sobre mudanças climáticas ... leia mais»
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