At too quiet climate negotiations

Posted on 03. Aug, 2010 by Florent Baarsch in Adopt a Negotiator, France | View Comments

Margaret, the LCA Chair

In the article I wrote yesterday, I gave a quick summary of the ongoing negotiations in Bonn. After two days of discussions, the image of these talks is now clearer. After the really intense KP plenary session of Monday morning, the delegates participated in a workshop about mitigation targets, and the different aspects of the negotiations on emission reductions. Following what has been said today by the Chinese delegates, this workshop was really helpful and useful to the negotiations. But let’s be honest, this workshop was really terribly technical…

In the other working group (AWG-LCA) a major event happened in the evening when some of the delegates were having fun at the traditional opening ceremony. The Russian delegation decided to walk out of the negotiations because the proposal of spin off groups made by the chair of the group was not clear enough. In other words, they asked the secretariat to submit a real document to the negotiators in order to explain how and when they are going to work on the different topics. This was finally resolved this morning when Margaret took the floor and she invited the delegates to read the schedule of the next four days. After quick and clear discussions the delegates agreed on the schedule and started working…. on Tuesday, one day later…

As they maybe thought that the next drafting sessions were going to be really rough and that the parties were going to discuss a lot, they decided to kick NGOs and observers out of the sessions. Such a pity. I now always have this feeling that when the negotiations are really interesting the delegates decide to restrict the access to the talks. One of the reasons why they do not want to open to doors to observers it is also because some countries “play” a role in the open negotiations and sometimes in the closed discussions they can accept compromises that are not always the position they were proudly defending.

Even if we can see some progress in these negotiations here in Bonn- they have started drafting a text, they have decided to discuss the really important issues (such as the gap between the two commitment periods) – the process is still so slow. From now, there are just four weeks left before Cancun, and if we carry on working at this rhythm, it is really not sure that we will get a consolidated text. The spectre of Copenhagen is still in everybody’s mind and a lot of delegates understand that we are not negotiating fast enough.

However, some parties can take advantage of this slowness, for example Japan which said yesterday that its emission reductions targets were not for the Kyoto Protocol. China and some other developing countries highlighted this point several times today.

Are we just negotiating slowly, or are we trying to kill the Kyoto Protocol? That is the question.

Thanks @Anna Collins for correcting this article.

Last day AAN video wrap

Posted on 11. Jun, 2010 by Joshua Wiese in Adopt a Negotiator, France | View Comments

OneClimate caught up with our French negotiator tracker Florent Baarsch in the middle of the last day of the Bonn Climate Change Talks.

Carton rouge au pétrole

Posted on 10. Jun, 2010 by Florent Baarsch in France | View Comments

We Stand With Tuvalu !

L’allusion à la Coupe du Monde et aux règles du football est facile aujourd’hui, sachant que demain commence en Afrique du Sud la Coupe du Monde. Cependant, il est à la fin de cette journée nécessaire de sortir un carton pour un groupe de pays et pour les raisons qui les motivent.

En effet, au cours de la session de ce matin, en SBSTA, un gros affrontement a eu lieu. Celui-ci a opposé quatre pays : l’Arabie Saoudite, le Qatar, le Koweit et Oman au reste du Monde. La pomme de la discorde : un rapport concernant la barre des 1,5°C. Cette proposition faite par les pays de l’OASIS avait pour ambition la rédaction d’un rapport évaluant le coût, l’opportunité et la faisabilité de respecter rapidement l’objectif de limitation d’augmentation de la température globale sous la barre de 1,5°C au lieu des 2°C proposés par l’accord de Copenhague.

Ce groupe de quatre pays pétroliers a ainsi expliqué que toutes discussions étaient vaines dans la mesure où l’Arabie Saoudite ne changerait pas son opinion sur la question et s’en tiendrait à cette position jusqu’au mois la conférence de Cancun. Le président du groupe n’a eu d’autres choix que de reporter la discussion de la question à la conférence de Cancun.

Ce report est un grand échec pour la communauté internationale, même si les autres pays ne semblaient pas vraiment tenir à ce que ce rapport soit rapidement rédigé à l’exception des petits Etats insulaires et des pays en développement. Mais il s’agit d’une grande et importante victoire des pays pétroliers et de l’industrie pétrolière qui en faisant capoter cette question conduit à toujours plus remettre en cause le processus de négociations. Et surtout les règles qui le font fonctionner : unanimité et consensus.

Aussi étrange que celui puisse être, un papillon volait au milieu de la salle de négociations. Au moment où le président du groupe de travail a signalé par son coup de marteau que le document était adopté, celui-ci s’est envolé et a quitté la salle.

Parfois, moi aussi, j’aimerais être un papillon. A défaut d’être un arbitre de négociations ayant le pouvoir de mettre des cartons rouges à certains pays qui n’ont que pour seul intérêt, leur intérêt national.

PS: aujourd’hui, ces quatre pays et l’industrie pétrolière se sont vues remettre le Fossil-of-the-Day pour la session de ce matin.