Daily Tck – December 8th
Posted on 08. Dec, 2010 by adoptanegotiator in Daily Tck
Every day during the Cancun climate talks, The TckTckTck campaign hosts an open meeting for people to discuss areas of concern and opportunity, and for people & organizations to collaborate on taking action. The following is based on that meeting.
by Paul Horsman, Global Campaign for Climate Action
Summary of the Current status/situation
“Nature isn’t waiting while we negotiate.” So said UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at a press briefing yesterday. Indeed. In fact the atmosphere is out of time and not open to negotiations as the conference president that the session “will end at 6pm on Friday” noting that ministers and negotiators don’t need more time for discussion they just need political will.
The Japanese hard line on Kyoto looms like a dark cloud over the negotiations. It is hard to imagine that the country that gave birth to the Kyoto Protocol would now want to kill it off. It is the only internationally legally binding deal on climate. Japan must turn around.
The US negotiating team will be thanking Japan and breathing sighs of relief for taking the heat of them at these sessions. But the US is back to its old tricks and blocking progress on many issues. Given they have not achieved their own domestic legislation and don’t have much to offer here one might think their approach would be more constructive.
Canada, the US and Australia are blocking the establishment of a fund to assist developing countries with mitigation and adaptation. We just need to get on with it and ensure developed countries at a minimum keep the promises they made last year in Copenhagen.
What is happening?
Ban Ki Moon highlighted the fact that climate change affects everything the UN does – peace and security, development, and human rights; prevents movement towards the Millennium Development Goals threatens ecosystems and the safety and stability for the poor and vulnerable. At the same time he pointed out that climate change also presents compelling opportunities.
Such opportunities are spelled out in a PEW report on clean energy markets showing how Asia is leaving the EU and US behind: http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=62379. TckTckTck Executive Director, Kelly Rigg highlights the report in Huffington Post “Asia is definitively winning the race to a renewable energy future”. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-rigg/cancun-two-worlds-apart_b_793196.html.
A similar call by UNFCCC executive director Christiana Figueres makes the point that the battle is between winners in the private sector and those who see themselves as losers who are much better organised and funded and much more effective in lobbying governments at executive and in the US at legislative level. Are you a winner or a loser in the race to the future?
Posts by Partners, Fresh Air bloggers and Adopt a Negotiator:
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/uk-youth-climate-coalition-a-letter-to-chris-huhne/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/care-international-all-we-need-is-love/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/sustainus-youth-from-mountain-regions-call-for-protection/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/yes-we-can-cun/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/deborah-phelan-climate-is-a-human-problem-in-pakistan/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/greenpeace-real-people-cant-live-underwater/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/215-organizations-come-together-in-call-for-fair-climate-fund-at-cop16/
Partner Actions:
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/protect-finlands-forests-from-logging-lobbyists/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/protect-new-zealand-forests-from-logging-lobbyists/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/protect-australian-forests-from-logging-lobbyists/
http://live.tcktcktck.org/2010/12/join-the-call-for-a-fair-climate-fund-at-cop16/