A crucial round of global climate change talks begins between high officials of 170 countries in Bonn today. The talks are important because the first negotiating text is on the table now. It’s the second round of a series of five rounds leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen in December.
Released recently on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 53-page text includes proposals from all the countries that will join the conference in Copenhagen to conclude the global climate change treaty. Most of the industrialised nations have come out with their post-2012 emission cut plans. The text has already been criticised by some sections in India for being loaded in favour of industrialised countries and limiting the options of developing countries by suggesting high emission targets for them.
In a telephonic interview with FE, UNFCCC chief Yvo de Boer said, “I have not heard any official reaction from the Indian delegation. There has been no initial reaction as yet. The text represents the viewpoints of various countries.” The numbers that are given in the negotiating text are there because they were introduced by other countries and there are no alternative numbers because no one proposed them, he added.
But the first text is just one more step and not the end of the talks. He said, “If the Indian delegation comes to the conclusion that there is a problem with the numbers, then it can use the June session to either introduce new numbers or to suggest that these numbers can’t be there because they are unsupported.” The meeting will be an opportunity for various countries to point out any elements they think shouldn’t be there, he added.
There are bigger issues, too. The talks hinge on three major issues. How much emissions will be cut by industrial nations? What are developing nations willing to do? How to secure financial support for climate change mitigation measures for developing countries, particularly since the previous funding mechanisms haven’t lived up to the promise in the past?
The first two issues hang on the answer to the third question. It’s not only about commitment of financial support by industrialised countries to developing countries, but also about making sure that any such commitment is lived up to. The financial support is critical. “We have to move forward from a voluntary mechanism to come with a clear formula so that there is no scope for ambiguity later on,” Boer said.
For now, it’s a chicken and egg situation with industrialised countries asking developing countries to make emission commitments and the latter asking them to put the money on the table first, he said. It’s a big challenge to resolve the issue. It’s not possible to engage developing countries without giving them financial support.
Though the countries the world over are committed to reaching the final climate change deal in Copenhagen, the devil will lie in details. The worst case scenario is that there will be an uncertain and ambiguous outcome, says Boer. It will serve neither industrialised nor developing countries.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 01 June 2009