Flash points on the road to Cancun
Posted on 08. Oct, 2010 by Philip Ireland in Australia
Its been a tense week at the negotiations. Check out my article below published on Crikey! on some of the flash points.
Bomb flash | CreativeCommons
“War poetry was evoked on the floor of the main plenary at the UN climate negotiations this week. A European Union negotiator reflected upon the disastrous ‘Charge of the Light Brigade‘ against Russian artillery in 1854, which French army general Pierre Bosquet famously declared:
C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre: c’est de la folie (”It’s magnificent, but it’s not war: it’s madness”).
The EU negotiator brought the United Nations gathering to a standstill when he reflected on the week and said: “It’s magnificent, but it’s not negotiation.”
The UN climate talks in Tianjin are coming to an end. This was the last negotiation before the high level UN climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico this December. So far the talks have been mixed with only marginal progress. We face several flashpoints as we head rapidly down the road to Cancun.
Negotiations have been stalled in the sessions around the legal framework for the climate treaty. Discussions about proposed amendments to the Kyoto Protocol — some of which would make marked improvements — have been blocked all week.
During the first session the chair was cut off during his introduction. One after the other several countries, led by China and Brazil, objected to the plans for the negotiating group. They insisted on a narrow interpretation of the mandate for the Kyoto working group — restricted to new mitigation targets — and refused to discuss proposals to amend it. A few countries subsequently challenged these objections, led by Australia, whose negotiator said they were “mystified!” as to why this was happening. Then the same countries objected to these counter objections. And so on.
Unfortunately this trend has continued throughout the week. Yesterday I attended a meeting where the very same set of speeches were being given. Some of the nations claimed that their questions were about process, however, in my opinion these were simply blocking tactics. On and on it went until one negotiator exclaimed: “I am having an existential crisis. What am I doing here?”
It was a very good question.
The essence of this conflict is about what, and who, goes first. China and others want rich countries to commit to greenhouse gas reduction targets before other discussions are held about changes to the Protocol. Conversely, countries like Australia want the legal framework to be established before they commit to targets bound by that target. Like so many conflicts in these negotiations, both positions have some legitimacy, yet both slow overall progress……..”
To read the full article go to http://blogs.crikey.com.au/rooted/2010/10/08/flash-points-on-the-road-to-cancun/#more-1871
Leave a comment, on this page or Crikey, so I can pass on your perspectives to the Australian negotiators!
Tracking for one last day in China,
Phil
