Decisions at COP17: Delayed or Derailed?

After being thrown out of the ICC last night, we are back at the venue for tracking the talks. The deadline to end the talks and come up with a decision has already passed last night. But negotiators couldn’t come to terms with each other on a lot of issues, so they are back on the table. If things go right, we may have a deal in Durban by the evening. If not, there will be a second round of COP17 talks mid-next year, known as COP bis, as happened with COP6. But let’s hope that does not happen for the outcome of that will be far worse as some countries will bully others and try to obliterate progress. We can’t allow countries to back out now after getting all the momentum built up for a fair, ambitious, and legally binding outcome. Certain parties are trying to kill that momentum by involving procedural things in the discussions to slow things down. If they are successful in doing that, we are doomed!

US, as usual, is blocking progress. It is not willing to talk about raising ambition levels relating its emission reductions, or incorporating equity in the texts. It’s really sad that the US government is not listening to the world community or its own people. EU, on the other hand, looks serious in these talks. Connie Hedegaard, EU’s commissioner for climate action, remarked quite boldly yesterday that “2015 is not an unfair deadline. Parties have 4 years to do what should be done”. But it’s not just EU that can make a deal happen in Durban. It needs support, especially from countries like India and China. While the latter countries have remained rather quite in the talks this year, they can show leadership by siding with the EU and give the world a clear signal that they are not the bad guys here.

So while the delay has happened at COP17, let’s hope the negotiations don’t get derailed by postponing them till next year. But just one thing of caution, even though time has and is running out, we don’t need haste decisions; rather we want fair, ambitious and balanced package out of Durban. If that can’t happen here, then COP bis can be our last resort.