Crisis or procedure: Your future and the next 48 hours

Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by Philip Ireland in Australia | View Comments

I wish I knew what exactly is going on. This past day has been mayhem. As I write this all is not well.

Let me just have a moment of honesty with you all. I am tired, really tired. 12 long hard days have taken their toll on me and many others in this process. People are frustrated, confused and despairing at the direction these talks are taking.

To paraphrase George Woods, the Climate Action Network Australia coordinator here (who may I add is doing an amazing job):

“There have been all sorts of wildness here today, in the negotiations and in the NGO community. People with passes were refused entry because of the growing number of spontaneous and unpredictable protests springing up. There is a lot of frustration — protestors and other NGOs have been treated badly by police, security and the UN, everyone has been confused about who is allowed to do what, and the UNFCCC process has hit a dark moment, with a great deal of uncertainty about whether an effective and binding agreement can be secured.”

Oh dear.

So far in my blogs I have avoided going into detail around the different negotiating streams and texts… for the simple reason that it is confusing!

But, if you will spare me just a small moment of your time I will some of explain some of it here so you can grasp what is happening.

There are 2 different treaties being negotiated here. Yes, that’s right two.

The first is the Kyoto Protocol (KP). At the moment this treaty is set to finish in 2012 and they are trying to extend it further. But…because this treaty does not involve the US (and also doesn’t place binding emission reductions on the major growing economies such as India and China) they are also negotiating a second treaty. This second treaty, which would involve the US, is called LCA or Long-term Cooperative Action.

Now, you will have heard in the media a lot about countries trying to kill the KP. If KP did end and the LCA agreement did pass this would be called a ‘one-track’ treaty. However, developing countries generally do not want the KP to end because it is arguably stronger than a potential LCA treaty and provides more protection for developing countries. So, this then leaves us with what is call a ‘two-track’ treaty with both LCA and KP.

For the past two years countries have been negotiating the texts that would comprise these treaties. This has been broken into several smaller groups to work on specific sections of each of the treaties, such as adaptation, mitigation, finance, forests etc. These texts have been notoriously long and complicated with numerous different options within the text.

During the past ten days the different groups tried to bring all this text together. They have tried to find consensus. They have tried to find common ground. They failed.

Yesterday the chairs of the two working groups were supposed to pass on the proposed treaty text to the Ministers and Heads of State to finalise over the next 2 days.

Amidst much confusion these meetings were scheduled for 5pm then postponed till 6pm then 7pm then 8pm and so on and so on as negotiators grappled (behind closed doors of course) with what their final proposals would be.

The final KP plenary started at 11pm and finished after midnight.

The final LCA plenary started at 5am and finished at 730am.

The Australian negotiating team looked really tired this morning.

Meager offerings

In short, the text in both the treaties seems almost as contested as it was 2 years ago. It seems just as complicated…and there are still far too many different options within it. Today, I have not met a member of any country delegation that was happy with either of the texts. There has been dissent and there has been public argument.

It is these texts that have now been passed onto Ministers and Heads of States. It is still possible that they will be able to bring it all together…. But to be honest it is unlikely. There are MAJOR disagreements both between countries and within negotiating country groups.

This I hope, provides some idea of what has been happening here. I encourage you all to check out the other blogs on AAN to hear different stories and perspectives on all the days action (and inaction!). Also, you should take action on A Climate for Change to tell Australia’s leaders to increase the ambition of their targets.

I have many thoughts and reflections on this process, however, I will reserve these for a later date as this blog is already too long and I need sleep…. Which is of course, contingent upon me leaving here.

Tracking for you in Copenhagen, T-minus 48 hours.

Phil.

What a good global deal looks like (and other crucial updates!)

Posted on 14. Dec, 2009 by Philip Ireland in Australia | View Comments

Rally in Copenhagen on Global Day of Action | Hannah Ireland

The Ministers have arrived and head of states (aka. Prime Ministers and Presidents) are on their way.

As I am writing this, however, the talks have stalled. This is because, in short, everybody thinks that everybody else is not doing enough. Oh the irony.

The different streams of negotiations have been suspended and restarted several times now, but be assured (or unsettled depending on your perspective) that there are ‘informal’ meetings continually running.

In contrast to this, December 12 provided us a ray of hope with action from all around the world. The pressure is mounting from all directions.

Violence?

I am sure you have all seen the media about violence in Copenhagen. It has been a little disheartening for many of us here as the vast majority of action as been peaceful.

In fact, of all the ‘violence’ that was reported on December 12 in Copenhagen charges have been so far only laid on 3 people…. (mind you, to get this number they had to arrest almost 1000 people). So…. Just to put those numbers straight, tens of thousands marched (the police estimated 100 000), and 3 people have been charged.

If only the media was more interested in the substance of this convention.

Australia’s walk against warming!

I would like to personally congratulate all those in Australia who attended the walk against warming. In a positive twist, a few people from delegations from the Global South, asked me about the marches in Australia. They have been encouraged about your calls for justice.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu gave an inspiring speech to a few hundred of us just outside the convention centre.

Watch this video to hear his speech (I can promise that you will not be disappointed!)

What are we asking for?

As we head into, what is beginning to look like a very chaotic final week I thought I would spend some time outlining what we are actually asking from a global deal.

The essentials checklist as outlined by Climate Action Network available online (http://www.climatenetwork.org/) includes:

-A commitment to keep warming below 2 Degrees Celsius
-this requires reducing greenhouse gas concentrations to 350 ppm and ensuring global emissions peak within the 2013-2017 period

-Industrialised countries as a group must reduce emissions by at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020

-Developing countries must be supported in their efforts to limit growth of their industrial emissions

-Emissions from deforestation and land degradation must be reduced to zero by 2020

-Developed countries need to provide at least US$195 billion in public financing per year by 2020, in addition to aid commitments for developing country adaptation and mitigation

-An adaptation framework that immediately and massively scales up predictable and reliable support for developing countries

-Copenhagen outcomes must be legally binding and enforceable

This is the week we have been waiting for.

Now is this time for strong international climate action.

Many of the powers in this world do not want to see a strong deal out of Copenhagen. We must all take action to tell our leaders what we expect from them, indeed, what we demand.

Here are some things you can do right now:

-send a letter to Penny Wong

-check out the Copenhagen toolbox on A Climate for Change and ….get tips on how to stay up to date during the talks, talk to the media and much more!

Tracking for you,

Phil

A video interview with Louise Hand, Australia’s Ambassador on climate change

Posted on 13. Dec, 2009 by Philip Ireland in Australia | View Comments

No commentary required.
Watch this interview as Louise Hand answers your questions on Australia’s position at the Copenhagen negotations (hang in till part 2…. thats the good stuff).

Post your comments and follow up questions. There may be a chance to have them asked later this week.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Stay tuned…. in my next post I will update you on the state of the negotations and our asks for a global deal.

Tracking for you,

Phil