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Paltry progress

Paltry progress
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The COP17 kicked off on November 28, 2011, in Durban and continued till December 11, 2011. The seventh meeting of the Conference of Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7) was also held during this period. In addition, the two Ad Hoc Working Groups reconvened: the 14th session of the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the 16th session of the Ad hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP). The two subsidiary bodies also had their meeting during COP17: the 35th session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).

Discussions during the Conference

After the Copenhagen fiasco at COP15 and the lacklustre COP16 at Cancun, there was a feeling among the participants that the climate negotiations needed to be rescued from a low- level equilibrium and some ‘big’ decisions needed to be taken. It may be recalled that the last meaningful roadmap or agreement was reached at COP13 at Bali where the Bali Roadmap had included agreements in various areas such as Adaptation, Mitigation, Forestry, Capacity Building, Technology Transfer and Financing. Accordingly, the main focus was on the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol and legal binding agreements under a long-term cooperation agreement. The idea of ‘nationally determined contributions’ was floated for the first time by China and India: this basically entailed that all countries including developing countries will take emissions reduction commitments, either voluntary or mandatory.

Jacob Zuma, the then President of South Africa captured this sentiment in his opening remarks reproduced below:

“We are agreed that this global challenge requires a global solution. However, different positions still prevail on some critical points. However, it is important that there is common ground on the elements that will remain critical in reaching any agreement. These are multilateralism, environmental integrity, common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities, equity, and honouring of all international commitments and undertakings made in the climate change process {…} We need to show the world that Parties are ready to address the problems in a practical manner, and that they are willing to forgo the national interest at times, for the interest of humanity, no matter how difficult this may be”.

The Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Christina Figueres, called on developing countries also to get involved in the fight against global warming and asked them to set emissions reduction targets. Figueres laid out the main tasks before the Durban conference: conclude the tasks begun in COP16, including the setting up of the Adaptation Committee, operationalising the Technology Mechanism and getting the Green Climate Fund to start functioning.

The Durban conference saw the developed and developing countries continue with their respective stands: developing countries reiterating their view about common but differentiated responsibilities and taking voluntary commitments and the developed countries stating that any future Agreement on emissions cuts must include developing countries. Interestingly, this was in the face of murmurs that the developed countries wanted to stretch negotiations so that an Agreement could be reached only by 2016. The G77 group of developing countries, led by Argentina, made all this clear and also stated that they were in favour of a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, where developed countries will take mandatory emission reduction commitments.

Interestingly, the EU took a tough stand on developing countries and wanted China, India, Brazil and other developing countries to take concrete action on mitigation and emissions reduction, before discussing any future Agreement.

The US continued with its oft-stated position that developed and developing countries must have the same standing in respect of legally binding commitments. Developed countries, as a whole, wanted developing countries to take binding commitments. Another reason for this was put forward by Chris Huhne, the UK Energy Minister, who said that the definition of developing countries was rather elastic and included even Singapore and South Korea. Not only that, large countries like China were major emitters and this too needed to be checked.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) statement was made by Grenada. They wanted to scale up the ambition of mitigation pledges; a second commitment period; a Durban mandate for a legally binding agreement in accordance with the Bali Action Plan; operationalising the new institutions established in Cancun; and reviewing the adequacy of the long-term global goal for emission reductions.

Even with varying stands among countries, the COP17 did manage to come up with the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, wherein the most important decision was an agreement to launch negotiations for a new legally binding agreement to be adopted by 2015, which would come into effect before 2020. This agreement would involve all countries, which was a departure from the Kyoto Protocol, where only developed countries were mandated to take emissions reduction commitments. COP17 also witnessed the setting up of another Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP). This group was mandated to work exclusively on the new agreement, which would involve developing a new legal instrument with an agreed outcome with legal force under UNFCCC. In addition, the Green Climate Fund, set up in COP16, was also operationalised, including selection of Board Members, funding mechanism etc. The Adaptation Committee set up in COP16 in Cancun was also strengthened and the important developing country demands of technology transfer and capacity building were also expedited. The MRV (Measuring, Reporting and Verification) systems were strengthened for developed and developing countries. Finally, the REDD+ (reduction of deforestation and degradation of land) mechanism was sought to be developed to support forest conservation and sustainable management. This was to be done through better methodologies for measuring and verifying emissions reductions from REDD+ activities.

In the seventh conference of the parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7), the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol was finally adopted and slated to run from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2020. Interestingly, the Kyoto Protocol continued to be applicable only for developed countries, while the new agreement for which negotiations would begin, included all countries. The CMP7 also took a decision to continue the other instruments under the Kyoto Protocol, namely the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Joint Implementation, albeit with a stronger compliance mechanism. Decisions were also made on the accounting rules for Land Use Land-use change and Forestry (LULUCF) and enhanced reporting and review mechanisms for monitoring emissions reductions.

Conclusion

The Durban Agreement was important in that it did away with the difference between developed and developing countries while framing a new legal agreement under the aegis of UNFCCC. On the other hand, even though a second commitment period for Kyoto was agreed upon, it was likely that the new agreement involving all countries would become the dominant agreement and Kyoto would recede to the background. But the battle against global warming was only getting bigger and the Durban agreement was too little too late. As Keith Allot, WWF head of climate change said: “Governments have salvaged a path forward for negotiations, but we must be under no illusion: the outcome of Durban leaves us with the prospect of being legally bound to a world of 4C warming.”

The writer is Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Mass Education Extension and Library Services and Department of Cooperation, Government of West Bengal

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