Mr. Chairman… Please explain to us where to go.
Posted on 15. Dec, 2009 by Rosa Kouri in Canada, bits | View Comments
Rosa reports on collapsing discussions on the eve of the ministerial discussions.
This could be the talks breaking down. I really hope not, but things don’t look good. The issues are extremely divisive and it does not seem like anyone is taking responsibility for moulding a consensus. The negotiators are stuck in the wheels and talking in circles. Everything today has been delayed, postponed, collapsed, reconvened behind closed doors, and then postponed again.
What I just heard in the discussions tonight was unbelievable. The meeting was intended to take stock of where discussion had concluded regarding the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol.
The first few working groups reported their progress, or more accurately lack there-of: for example, “there were some issues of consensus, and as a result the entire annex is in brackets”.
Ultimately, given the lack of resolution, they concluded that “we’ve reached the point where political direction is needed”.
Given that the draft text is not in a state to be presented to the ministers tomorrow, the chair asked the negotiators to take more leadership, arguing that “you can make decisions here and in the COPMOP (Conference of the Parties)”
To which the negotiators from Switzerland made a surprisingly frank response: “You tell us we can make decisions, that we need to meet again. But we have been working in drafting groups, to do what? Mr. Chairman? We were up till 2:00… we don’t know what to do next. Please tell us now, Tuesday evening, before the high-level segment, on where we will go? What will be the outcome? … For the time being, each time we go to the drafting groups, we add on versions in a very creative nature, and we go nowhere. Please explain to us where to go.”
Clearly, Switzerland didn’t get the answer he was looking for, as the chair responded:
“I’d love to be the one to determine that.. but I’m not responsible for ministerial discussions. If you give me the mandate, I could go write something up… but that’s not my job. I’m not responsible for what happened or failed to happen in the ministerial yesterday, what I do take responsibility for is the preparation of a report for the COPMOP. That is all I can do. You cannot ask me to give you clarity on what the president of the COPMOP has in mind. That is not my responsibility and I am not privy to that information. “
To which India retorted: “It will be very difficult to prepare a report to the COPMOP if we have NOTHING to report to the COPMOP.” Oh snap!
The translators needed a break and the room needed to be prepped for tomorrow’s state visitors, so the Chair closed the session and moved it into a closed contract group in a smaller room. I don’t know what happened there, as I am not allowed in.
The negotiators streamed out two hours later… reconvening in public a few minutes later. They’ve passed a text it seems, with the AOSIS representative congratulating the Chair on his hard work. They were particularly happy on lulucf elements, which makes sense given this breaking analysis from the
Now it’s midnight, and the next plenary on long-term cooperative action has not even started. Things will go till 2:00am at least.
Can you see how difficult this process is? Nobody can seem to reach a consensus, and everyone feels unable to cut through the deadlock. It’s clear that there has never been a political mandate behind most of these negotiators which would enable them to make the tough decisions.
Perhaps the presence of the state leaders tomorrow will change that, but for now… wish them luck! They’ll need it. And some sleep.
(And stay tuned for more updates, things are changing by the minute here.)
Much love from Copenhagen,
Rosa
A rough day for Canada
Posted on 14. Dec, 2009 by Rosa Kouri in Canada, bits | View Comments
Although today started with a calm morning briefing by Michael Martin, it got a little more eventful as the day wore on.
A group of Canadian youth trailed Minister Prentice throughout the day, trying to ask questions. Their efforts put my tracking skills to shame!
Then, in the early afternoon, a highly unusual statement from the government of Canada was purportedly covered in the Wall Street Journal. This statement acknowledged the government’s commitment to repairing ‘climate debt’, and promised 3% of GDP towards international aid and support for adaptation. However, several sources question the veracity of the statement (as well sound common sense – this is completely unlike anything the government has ever announced). There was some back and forward with retractions and responses, none of which were officially proven or unproven for most of the day. So it’s hard to tell what’s what in this situation, and even the National Post is having trouble sorting it out.
Now, it appears that the CBC has found an early copy of Canada’s new emissions reductions plan, or a plan to increase emissions (depending on your perspective). CBC reveals it has special targets 3 times lower for the oil and gas industry. Critics argue that this plan is much weaker than the soundly rebutted Turning the Corner plan of 2006. Canada’s been talking up their new plan for a while, so this could be a big deal. I can’t wait to find a copy of it myself!
Wow, I’m getting a little exhausted covering all of this. Stay tuned till tomorrow!
Rosa
Who’s on the inside?
Posted on 14. Dec, 2009 by Rosa Kouri in Canada | View Comments
Rosa explores Canada’s motley crew of government representatives
The Bella Centre is progressively closing its access to observers. They have a colour-coded system here at the UN; with some pretty big distinctions. Government delegates (called ‘Parties’) have pink badges, the press has orange passes, the UN and security staff are blue, and observers have yellow badges. Observers include anyone from industrial associations, companies, political parties not in government, universities, and any non-governmental organizations ranging from the Red Cross to Greenpeace.
Those with a yellow badge are out of luck in the next few days. There are at-least 20,000 observers in the centre at the moment, this number will be cut to 7,000 tomorrow, restricted to a total of 1,000 on Thursday, and on Friday they will be restricted to an astronomical total of 90.
Those with the coveted pink badges are like the first-class passengers. They can get into any meetings they want (most of the time). And, they get to sit on the other side of the rope, (much to my chagrin today I was soundly berated by a security guard when I moved from a crowded section to an echoingly empty row of identical chairs across the hallway – apparently I wasn’t supposed to cross the rope). And the pink badgers are not always official negotiators, for various reasons there can be a range of people sponsored under a pink badge. Brazil, for example, has accredited 700 people with pink badges as part of its ‘government’ delegation, being rather inclusive in accepting students, NGOS, local governments, and many others.
So, who wears the Canadian pink badge? Thankfully, I didn’t have to stalk everyone with a Canada badge to find out, because the official delegations are available publicly on the UNFCCC site (the Canadian names start on page 35). Now, keep in mind that these lists were published right at the beginning of last week, and the government can add people as it sees fits. I have added a few names that were included in this Ottawa Citizen story about Prentice’s 17 “special advisors”. The information I have is likely not complete. Also, individuals can be registered and still not attend.
But even incomplete, the list is interesting. Interesting for whom it includes, and also for whom it does not include (ahem! yours truly!!! … but seriously, take a look and consider if there are some big gaps).
Obviously, we have Minister Jim Prentice and Chief Negotiator Michael Martin. I wonder if Prime Minister Stephen Harper gets a badge when he comes? I don’t see him on the list. We do have the federal negotiating team, which ranges from the head of staff at Environment Canada to lawyers and policy analysts in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Natural Resources Canada. All, in all, over forty-eight people represent the federal government, including a range of communications specialists. A number of Members of Parliament and Senators are registered, including NDP leader Jack Layton and Shadow Environment Critics David McGuinty (Liberal), Bernard Bigras (Bloc) and Linda Duncan (NDP). Gary Doer, former Manitoba Premier and Ambassador to the US, is on the list as well.
There are a number of provincial governments present, including six provincial premiers: Jean Charest (Quebec), Greg Selenger (Manitoba), Gordon Campbell (British Columbia), Darrell Dexter (Nova Scotia), Floyd Roland (NorthWest Territories), Eva Aariak (Nunavut),
Many of these provincial delegations are quite large. Quebec is bringing nineteen people, including seven security staff, probably in honour of Jean Charest, as well as his spouse, Michele Dionne. Lynne Beauchamp, the minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, is attending.
Ontario’s delegation has seven accredited, including the Deputy Minister of Environment Gail Beggs.
Canada’s north has a strong showing, including nine from Nunavut: the premier Eva Aariak, as already mentioned, as well as the Minister of Environment Daniel Shewchuk. There are also nine from the North West Territories, including the premier Floyd Roland and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Michael Miltenberger. The Yukon is sending nine, including Deputy Premier and Environment Minister Elaine Taylor.
From the west, there are five from Manitoba, including Premier Greg Selinger and Minister of Conservation Bill Blaikie. Saskatchewan is sending two, one of whom is the Environment Minister Nancy Heppner. Alberta is sending four, including Environment Minister Rob Renner. British Columbia is sending two; Premier Gordon Campbell constitutes half that delegation.
On the east coast, there are seven from Nova Scotia, including Premier Darrell Dexter, as well as Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau. New Brunswick has registered one, Mr. Dean Mundee, the Director, Climate Change Secretariat, and Newfoundland had registered two.
There are a few other organizations represented, including the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, and the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Mary Simon.
A few professors are registered as well, including Ian Burton, Professor Emeritus from the University of Toronto, and William Lahey of Dalhousie University. Bruce Carson, from Canada’s School of Energy and Environment at the University of Calgary is the special advisor to the Deputy Minister.
A representative from the International Emissions Trading Association is included, as well as former astronaut Steve MacLean from the Canada Space Agency. We’ve got the Presidents of McGill and the University of Alberta. We’ve got several CEOs, including Jacques Lamarre of the construction and engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, Linda Newton of auto-parts manufacturer Linamara, and Charlie Fischer of the energy and oil sands company Nexen.
There is the CEO of Atco Ltd. and Canadian Utilities Limited; Galen G. Weston, Executive chairman of Loblaw Companies Ltd.; and Elyse Allen, President and CEO of GE Canada. Former Industry Minister David Emerson is attending with the Government Delegation.
And, last in my list but definitely not least, we’ve got Mike Holmes, the well-known celebrity from Holmes-on-Homes. His presence has already sparked some lively discussion.
Yep, it’s a motley crew.
Think I can convince any of them to be guest trackers while they’re on the inside?
Much love from Copenhagen.
Rosa
Mike Holmes, the TV Handyman, is a special advisor to the Canadian Government Delegation
