Posts by: Paul Horsman
When Ministers started arriving in Durban a few days ago many NGOs reminded them “it is all to play for”. Yet negotiations are now well into overtime and there are so many issues still at play that is hard to see an outcome that can be celebrated.
If there was one word to describe what is going on as the Durban climate talks drag on into midday Saturday – ‘chaos’ certainly comes to mind.
Yesterday’s Daily Tck referenced the ‘dreadful’ Chair’s proposed text on the Big Picture and it was almost universally panned particularly by the LDCs and AOSIS who pleaded for a much more ambitious outcome that gives them a chance a survival. There was a new Chair’s Big Picture text presented to Ministers at midnight Friday and they emerged at 2am looking much happier with the new proposed text. It includes a reference to a legal ‘instrument’ as opposed to a ‘framework’, recognizes the ‘gap’ between what Parties have pledged and where the science says we need to be and it references the conclusion of negotiations of a new treaty by 2015. Notably absent was a reference to when a new treaty would come into force and a reference to common but differentiated responsibilities.
While the new Big Picture text was received more warmly than the first iteration – as they say the devil is in the details and Ministers left the ministerial to set about studying the new KP text that was released a little before 2am last night. The LCA text was to be released at 6:00am but was not put online until nearly 10:30am. The delay in putting up the LCA text is a good indication of the number of unresolved issues and that this COP is simply running out of time to get much of anything decided. This is the result of Ministers leaving their negotiators with far too narrow mandates that would have allowed them to set the table with a limited series of decisions by the time they arrived. Some might say this was by design by less ambitious Parties but nevertheless we save the recriminations for later.
Substantively there is a proposal on the table for a 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol for 2013 – 2017. The bad news is the forestry loopholes are just about as bad as they could get which puts into question the integrity of the KP.
As predicted for the past few days, the Green Climate Fund looks like it will launch in some form but it will remain an empty shell with no sources of funds identified. It is still possible that a work program to assess new sources of funds will be included in a decision here. Given the High Level Panel on Finance submitted their work on this very question to the Cancun COP it is hard to see this as anything more than a delaying tactic.
Finally the critical issue of mitigation is for all intents and purposes off the table at this stage. The Daily Tck has noted over the past several days that it is important to remind ourselves that at the end of the day irrespective of the importance of legal form we must find a way to mitigate now even in the absence of a global deal. As of publication there is word that AOSIS and other progressive Parties are fighting hard to at least get a decent workplan on mitigation into the text. Observers on the floor are doing their best to support this intiative.
It is not over yet but it is hard not to feel a mixture of sadness and anger over what appears to be another CoP that just takes us closer to 4 degrees.
When Ministers started arriving in Durban a few days ago many NGOs reminded them “it is all to play for”.…
Read post →Daily Summary: Wednesday, 7 December
At today’s High Level Meeting the head of the Guatemalan delegation asked the plenary “I wonder how many people in the world must die before we come to an agreement?” Far too often that question is shunted from the room, and it is incumbent upon all of us to remind them that their slow pace has real human consequences.
The human tragedy is happening in real time. It is important to remind ourselves and the media and ministers that we are not asking for more than governments can deliver in Durban. We need a 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol without loopholes; we need an agreement to open a discussion for a bigger global treaty to end no later than 2015 (even that is late – we have been calling for a FAB treaty since 2009); and we need progress on ambition and finance to help developing economies adapt and mitigate now.
These are not giant steps and anything less puts us on a path to dangerous climate change.
The role of ‘champion’ of the talks is still wide open. China looks like it might be applying for the job and the EU should be contenders but we are still waiting for someone to step forward. The US has managed to fill the role of chief laggard (along with its ‘me too’ neighbor Canada) by blocking progress on many fronts – including finance where it continues to insist countries avoid any discussion. An empty shell of a Green Climate Fund does not fulfill the promise of the Cancun Agreements.
Unfortunately the end-of-pipe so-called ‘solution’ offered by the coal industry of Carbon Capture and Storage is about to be adopted under the Clean Development Mechanism, a stark reminder of the insidious influence of the fossil fuel industry here. There is no CCS coal plant operating anywhere in the world. This option simply leaves a devastating legacy for future generations.
Message of the Day…
The longer we wait for action to reduce emissions the less options we will have, the more it will cost, the less likely we are to be able to stay below global warming of 2 degrees C and the bigger threat to the world’s most vulnerable. To avoid expensive and disruptive rates of emissions reductions in coming decades countries must increase their ambition now.
What is Happening?
This morning, members of TckTckTck and CAN joined 2000 Durban students in creating the world’s largest human lion on the beach. Their goal? Urge leaders at COP 17 to have the courage to create a breakthrough agreement that will ensure a safe future for young Africans and people all over the world. Hopefully the image of Durban children with the courage of a lion facing an uncertain future will instill courage and urgency in the talks – it is after all their future which is at stake. Watch the video from OneClimate and download photos.
The Financial Transaction Tax as a source of long-term finance got a boost in Durban today when France, Norway and Bolivia held a news conference with WWF, ITUC and Oxfam to offer their support for an FTT.
The US earned the 1st place in the Fossil of the Day. Having put forward a proposal for a treaty before Copenhagen, the US now seems to have taken a complete u-turn on the issue of legally binding commitments. We are just at the start of a ‘critical decade’ in which we must increase ambition, peak and decline and the USA – the largest historical emitter – turns up with a mandate to only discuss commitments in the following decade. This is completely irresponsible and only makes other high emitters sit back and do nothing.
The US and the EU won the 2nd place Fossil. The US-EU supported the deletion of Fast Start Finance paragraphs which implies that they are not serious about the past commitments made by their head of states on provision of finance to the most vulnerable countries to cope with the impacts of climate change. Not only is it a breach of trust, but also shows lack of leadership from them to take climate action seriously.
Members of the Canadian Youth Delegation were ejected from COP17 today as Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent delivered his opening address at the United Nations climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa. Just as Kent began his speech, six youth stood and turned away from the Minister revealing the message “Turn your back on Canada” prominently displayed on their shirts.
“Our so-called Environment Minister entered these talks by going on record that he would be defending the tar sands. I have yet to hear him say that he’s here to defend my future,” said James Hutt, one of the youth delegates who participated in the action.
The six youth, including Brigette DePape (the “Rogue Page”) received an ovation from the crowd watching the Minister’s address. They were escorted out of the International Convention Center’s plenary hall and removed from the premises at 12:30 p.m local time. Their accreditation was revoked upon their removal. Read more & watch their interview with OneClimate.
What can you do today?
There are plenty of ways to share resources, ideas and amplify each others’ efforts. Here are a few:
- More than 330,000 people have signed the Avaaz call to action for Brazil, China and the European Union. If there’s one thing you do today, share this petition:
- Are you in Durban for COP17? Attend the Daily Tck meeting at 10:15am tomorrow in Berg River.
- If you’re tweeting about COP17, we want you on our official Twitter list! Please send a message to @tcktcktck on Twitter or an email to heather.libby@tcktcktck.org to be added.
Daily Summary: Wednesday, 7 December
At today’s High Level Meeting the head of the Guatemalan delegation asked the plenary “I…
Summary of the Current status/situation
Some Government leaders are here and many ministers have now arrived for the start of what’s called ‘The High Level Segment’ tonight. Appropriately this will begin with statements from the Prime Ministers of Ethiopia, Nauru, Senegal, Samoa and the Central African Republic. We don’t know what they will say but just the presence of these African leaders speaks a thousand words. It has been said many times this week that Africa and small island states are the ‘canaries in the coal mine’ of climate change. There is already much suffering on this continent with increased extreme weather causing droughts, floods, food and water shortages. Yet as we all know climate change will have devastating effects all over the world which makes the trajectory of these negotiations defies logic – economic, environmental or social. Ministers now take over and we need them to ignore corporate polluter lobbyists and deniers and to lead and take bold decisions to protect the climate.
The US continues to be the biggest fly in the ointment in Durban on every front but China and India curiously did not support an option for a legal form decision that would have seen negotiations for a global treaty result in a legal agreement. There is no question that any agreement needs to reflect the critical issues of equity that India has brought forward; any deal has to reflect their rights to lift people out of poverty. However, delays will ensure that equity will never be addressed as blocking discussions only damns the poorest and most vulnerable to the ravages of the climate change.
Yesterday AOSIS made the sensible suggestion that developed countries acknowledge the ‘gigatonne gap’ between current pledges and what we need, set about setting up a work programme to address the gap and hold a high level ministerial in 2012 to discuss solutions. As many have pointed out there are concrete solutions to this gap, many identified in a recent UNEP report, that we can address today – outside of this process. It is hard to imagine how countries can object to this proposal. We need to throw everything we have avoiding two degrees warming, let alone the survival limit for some low-lying countries of 1.5 degrees.
What is happening?
The latest analysis from the Climate Action Tracker on the costs of waiting until 2020 for stronger targets shows that delaying decisions on future climate action until 2015 or 2020 will bring rapidly increasing costs and threatens our ability to keep global warming to below 2 degrees C. We are heading toward a global emissions pathway that will take warming to 3.5degC, and far from a cost-optimal pathway to keep warming below 2degC.
Members of the Canadian Youth Delegation and the Indigenous Environmental Network held a welcome party to formally receive Environment Minister Peter Kent and his tar sands pushers to the UN climate negotiations. As conference delegates entered the negotiations this morning, the welcoming committee handed out samples of tar sands on behalf of Kent, along with tourism brochures for Canada’s scenic tar sands. Photos freely available at: http://bit.ly/v1A3vR
Download the latest programme of events for the People’s Space. General Assembly outside the conference centre at Speakers corner.
Message for the day
As the 2nd and last week of the UN climate negotiations got underway yesterday there is grave concern among the world’s scientific, non-governmental, labour, faith groups and many countries that the end result of COP 17 will be that we have locked humanity into a 3-4 degree world – 2 degrees is the maximum that the world’s scientists have estimated is the threshold for runaway and dangerous climate change.
The longer we wait for action to reduce emissions the less options we will have, the more it will cost, the less likely we are to be able to stay below global warming of 2 degrees C and the bigger threat to the world’s most vulnerable. To avoid expensive and disruptive rates of emissions reductions in coming decades countries must Increase their ambition now.
What you can do today?
Today there is a special Toxic Tour of South Durban followed by Rights of Nature action! Bus leaves at 1 PM – ENGEN PROTEST 4-6 pm
If you are in Durban the C17 is finalising the programme for ‘The People’s Space’.
Other materials:
In a good article called Durban to Rio could be our Road to Damascus, Jai Naidoo asks:
Are our negotiators parts of the problem or part of the solution? Do our governments represent the real interests of the people? Are the shadowy global interests that manipulate our politics and our lives invincible?
A multi-stakeholder coalition in cooperation with the UNFCCC secretariat launched the award “Transformative Step of the Day” as a way to increase focus on transformative low-carbon solutions during the negotiations.
Christian Aid called on Europe to step up and commit to tackling climate change.
The latest analysis from the Climate Action Tracker on the costs of waiting until 2020 for stronger targets shows that delaying decisions on future climate action until 2015 or 2020 will bring rapidly increasing costs and threatens our ability to keep global warming to below 2 degrees C.
Read post →Daily Summary: Monday, Dec 5
We have five or six days left in which we need to ensure that we do not close the door on the possibility of a global increase in temperature greater than 2 degrees. At a press briefing today, the heads of Greenpeace, WWF, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Oxfam sounded a that the climate talks are on track to deliver no increased mitigation, no deadlines for a new deal and we are heading for a four degree world. The US was criticised for their obstructive behaviour at these talks and urged to get out of the way and allow others to move forward.
Practicing the Art of the Possible, China’s more positive tone and messaging saying that it will agree to discuss binding emission cuts after 2020has created a buzz in the halls today. Contrast this with the intransigence of the US on almost all issues in these negotiations. We dont yet know what this shift will mean but it certainly is a signal that the US should stop blocking and the EU should step up.
Brazil’s puzzling reluctance to avoid a strong decision here is causing concern. It is a puzzle as this contrasts from the leadership they have shown in the past and it would seem to undermine their interest as a bad outcome in Durban will land on their doorstep at the June Rio+20 conference. Last week’s Fossil of Day Award given to Brazil as a result of the pending forestry law received significant domestic media coverage.
President Dilma has not upheld Brazil’s important role—supporting the massively destructive Belo Monte dam project—and allowing changes to the forest law that weakened our environmental progress at home.
Meanwhile, at international talks Brazil has sided on important issues with countries like the USA, India and Saudi Arabia who try to block progress and shirk commitments to reduce pollution.
New Zealand appears to aspire to be the new Canada as they have been behaving badly on many fronts. New Zealand negotiators may really want to leave Canada alone in their exclusive club of embarrassing retrogrades.
Finance remains a priority with the US being a big fly in the ointment preventing the adoption of the report at the last Transitional Committee meeting of the Green Climate Fund that took place a few weeks ago. The latin American ALBA countries piled their objections when the report was tabled. We don’t know if there will be any way forward.
Message of the Day…
A delay to 2020 puts us on the path for a 4 degree world, that is unacceptable. If the U.S. cannot make a contribution here they need to get out of the way. Governments need to move on without the US in order to get a final agreement which has any chance of protecting the climate.
What is Happening?
On Saturday civil society in their thousands took to the streets of Durban in a United against Climate action. Then this morning Greenpeace continued with their ‘Listen to the people – not the polluters’ campaign with the release of the “Who’s holding us back report” and a protest at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) conference – where many of the ‘dirty dozen were meeting.
The halls of the DEC and ICC are flooded today with “I (heart) KP” t-shirts, ties, buttons and stickers as campaigners put a big push to support the Kyoto Protocol for a 2nd commitment period. However the KP is only worth retaining if it has environmental integrity. On that front the African Group presented an excellent submission on closing forest emission loopholes.
Brazil’s President Dilma is considering the unthinkable and joining the US and other big polluters. Avaaz has just launched a campaign to flood Dilma’s inbox, twitter and orkut pages with a call not to sell out to the US, and to stand with the planet, the global South, and the Brazilian people to fight for action on climate change.
Meanwhile on Finance, youth groups presented the Robin Hood of the Day Award to Pakistan. On Friday they unfurled a target and invited delegates and observers to “aim for an FTT,” shoot a suction cup arrow at bullseye and win a Robin Hood cap.
The Adopt a Negotiator trackers continue to post great content you can share, including:
- Alex Lenfarna digging into Africa’s role in the talks
- Marvin Nala dissecting the complexities of China’s role
- While Farrukh explains – It’s not just Drones that Kill, Climate Change too!
What can you do today?
There are plenty of ways to share resources, ideas and amplify each others’ efforts. Here are a few:
- Dilma cannot afford to ignore the call of thousands of Brazilians who care about a climate future for all of us. Join the call to return Brazil to its place as a climate hero.
- There is a sign-on the letter to President Zuma in support of the FTT (Robin Hood Tax) for organisations – the deadline is the end of business today, Monday, Dec 5th. The text is available here. Contact Alex Kent.
- If you are in Durban the C17 is finalising the programme for ‘The People’s Space’.
- If you’re available, attend the Daily Tck meeting at 10:15am tomorrow in Berg River.
- If you’re tweeting about COP17, we want you on our official Twitter list! Please send a message to @tcktcktck on Twitter or an email to heather.libby@tcktcktck.org to be added.
A delay to 2020 puts us on the path for a 4 degree world, that is unacceptable. If the U.S. cannot make a contribution here they need to get out of the way. Governments need to move on without the US in order to get a final agreement which has any chance of protecting the climate.
Read post →Message of the Day: 1 December 2011
We came to Durban to discuss a post 2012 climate regime, a discussion about action in ‘8 years from now’ is simply not acceptable.
Summary
We are in South Africa, but the last thing we need to see are elephants in negotiating rooms tying up progress. Yet, they are everywhere.
The biggest elephant in the Kyoto Protocol room is the United States. The U.S. sits outside the Kyoto Protocol but yet they remain vested in its future (or its demise) for several reasons. The EU has stated that in order for them to agree to a 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol they need to see progress on a timeline for a global deal in the ‘LCA’ track of the negotiation, i.e. the track including large emitters like the U.S., China, India, Brazil and South Africa. The U.S. has repeatedly messaged that it will move to take on legally binding commitments when China does (an inherently immoral position given the U.S.’s historical responsibility for emissions already in the atmosphere), yet they have made it clear here in Durban that they intend to avoid any obligations until 2020 or beyond.
This leaves China and the other large emitters to decide whether they will call the U.S. bluff by working with the EU and other countries in building on the strengths of the Kyoto Protocol towards a fair, ambitious and binding deal, or whether the U.S. will succeed in side-lining the Kyoto Protocol for good. We need the Kyoto Protocol, and not just any Kyoto Protocol, so the EU must step up its game to close those forestry and hot air loopholes, while avoiding an 8 year commitment period that locks us into low ambition levels for too long.
The ‘Fair’ part of a future global treaty hit a bump in the road yesterday. After a year of work and compromise, the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund presented its report in an effort to get the Green Climate Fund launched, but it was objected to by Venezuela on behalf of the ALBA countries. The COP Presidency is undertaking informal consultations to hopefully find a way forward. If that doesn’t work out, we are likely looking at going another year without a fund established, giving donors another excuse to hold back much needed climate finance.
What is Happening?
Today is World AIDS day and Youth and Future Generations Day. It’s the perfect occasion for CAN International and partners to launch the “I love 1.5” tie action! This afternoon 200 “I [heart] 1.5″ ties will be given to negotiators, NGOs and youth delegates. Find out more here: http://ilovekp.org/ilove1-5/.
If you’re not big on neckties, you could have caught the WAGGGS dance action: The World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides and YOUNGO members performed a climate change-related version of the cha cha slide at 12:00 outside the exhibition center. Other partners, including theand 350.org celebrated the Youth and Future Generations Day with side-events portraying the inspiring stories of African youth activists.
Your fellow partners in the EU published this letter in this week’s edition of European Voice.
This afternoon at Speakers Corner, volunteers from the Sierra Club and other members of TckTckTck dressed in black brought a black casket labeled “COAL” in bold lettering, declaring King Coal dead. In a New Orleans style, celebratory funeral procession, other volunteers dressed in white accompanied the funeral holding wind turbines and a solar panel. The funeral for coal reflects the success of the Sierra Club and local activists across the United States in defeating over 150 proposed new coal power stations over the past 5 years.
Taking a page from Big Oil, the Canadian and UK youth delegations were raising money to compete with big polluters to set Canada’s climate agenda in Durban. They were holding a bake sale to buy back their future. Youth across Canada simultaneously sent letters to the Prime Minister’s office containing small change to urge the federal government to switch gears and put people before polluters.
The International National Trusts Organisation, with just under 60 member organisations around the world representing 6 million individual members has recently held a conference in Victoria, B.C. One of the outcomes of that conference was the unanimous support for the Victoria Declaration on the Implications for Cultural Sustainability of Climate Change. Their concern is that in all the talk at the COPs little mention is made of the effect of climate change on the cultural heritage. Curious? Visit these guys at stand 76 in the DEC and sign the declaration.
And coming up next week:
What can you do today?
There are plenty of ways to share resources, ideas and amplify each others’ efforts. Here are a few:
- Tweet your support for bold ambition in these negotiations: Our climate future starts in the present. A deal can’t wait until 2020. #COP17 #Climate
- As you know, the EU position on the length of the KP 2nd commitment period and the implementation of the global legally binding treaty has been a issue these days. We knew that Connie Hedegaard is going to have a phone call meeting with the EU HoD tomorrow, so we thought it would be a good idea to (massively) remind her our demands through twitter. Send her this tweet: “@CHedegaardEU – Only legal #Kyoto with 5yrs will secure 2015 mandate and control global #fossil corporates #cop17 #climate”
- Spread the word! Plans are underway for the Global Day of Action on Saturday, December 3rd at 9am. This mass march, a tradition at UNFCCC COPs, is a demonstration of civil society’s common determination to address climate change. Participants include the international and national community, labour, women, youth, academic, religious and environmental organisations. For more information, go here.
- Attend the Daily Tck meeting at 10:15am tomorrow in Berg River
- If you’re tweeting about COP17, we want you on our official Twitter list! Please send a message to @tcktcktck on Twitter or an email to heather.libby@tcktcktck.org to be added.
We came to Durban to discuss a post 2012 climate regime, a discussion about action in ‘8 years from now’ is simply not acceptable.
Read post →About the author
Having campaigned for over 26 years on peace and environmental issues in different parts of the world for Greenpeace, Paul now works as the global campaign director for the Global Campaign for Climate Action.
