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| Climate conference in crisis as developing countries press for KP |
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| Written by Meena Raman | |||
| Thursday, 17 December 2009 18:14 | |||
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Copenhagen, December 14 (Meena Raman)- The climate conference in Copenhagen appeared to have slipped into a crisis on Monday as developing countries insisted that the process, that now includes Ministers, give top priority to developed countries committing themselves to emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol and its second commitment period. The Africa Group, supported by many other developing countries including China, India and Bolivia, announced they would not take part in drafting groups on other issues until they were assured that the Kyoto Protocol would continue and the developed countries that are members in it would honour their obligation to undertake a second period starting 2013 to commit to binding emission reduction targets. At an emergency meeting between G77 and China leaders and the Danish Minister of Climate and Energy, Ms. Connie Hedegaard this morning, the developing countries were apparently assured that the Kyoto Protocol track would be given priority in the sequencing of issues to be discussed, and that the texts to be put before the heads of state and governments on 17 and 18 December would emerge from the current negotiations, and not new texts introduced by the Danish government. Ms Hedegaard, who is President of the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 5th Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) was supposed to hold an informal plenary meeting with Ministers which was scheduled to begin at 11.30 am. She was to have kicked off a Ministerial process to discuss six or seven issues on the Bali Action Plan track, dealt with in the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA). The issues she listed include long-term emission reduction goal, developed countries' mitigation, developing countries' mitigation, the role of market based approaches in achieving mitigation, long-term financing, and other issues. This plenary was however delayed as the G77 and China were in consultations with the Danish Minister, who also later met with developed country Parties. The informal consultations finally got underway only at 2.30 pm. Meanwhile the talks in many AWG-LCA drafting groups were suspended, as were the contact groups under the Ad-hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex 1 Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP). The G77 and China were unhappy with the Danish Minister's proposal for the open-ended informal consultations to seek solutions on issues relating to the work only of the AWG-LCA. They wanted the consultations to first begin on the work of the AWG-KP. (Developed and developing countries are deadlocked over whether the Kyoto Protocol will survive, with the latter stressing that the continued survival of the Kyoto Protocol is essential for success in Copenhagen while the developed countries want a new treaty to replace the Protocol so as to also involve the United States and developing countries in emission reduction targets). At the plenary, diplomatic sources said that the Danish Minister had conveyed that consultations with Parties had been intense. She informed delegates that Heads of States and Governments had been invited to meetings on 17 and 18 December to adopt decisions resulting from the COP and that her objective as the COP President was to deliver to the Heads of States decisions of the COP and the CMP for adoption by consensus on 18 December. According to sources, the Danish Minister referred to rumors that a special declaration is being prepared for the Heads of States, and assured Parties that this was not the case and that decisions will result from the negotiations. Ms. Hedegaard appeared to have agreed that the issues relating to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) on the developed country targets be considered first, and then the AWG-LCA issues would be considered. She announced that she has invited the German Environment Minister Dr. Norbert Röttgen and the Indonesian Minister R. Witoelar to facilitate consultations on the issue of the Annex I countries' targets under the KP. The two Ministers are supposed to hold consultations in the next 24 hours and will report to the COP President by tomorrow evening. At 5 pm this evening, a plenary was convened to discuss work related to the AWG-LCA. At the 2.30 pm plenary, several developing countries stressed the importance of outcomes in the two tracks of the AWG-KP and the AWG-LCA and that the work in the KP was paramount as regards the Annex 1 targets. In relation to the issues defined by the COP President in relation to the AWG-LCA for the informal consultations this morning, according to sources, the G77 and China had informed the plenary that the Group did not endorse the original issues as identified by the COP President. Several developing country delegates had also raised concerns about the process and about its transparency as to participation of their Ministers, referring to an informal meeting that was convened by the COP President on Sunday at the Bella Centre. Around 48 ministers were reported to have attended that meeting. Earlier this morning, it is believed that the Africa Group and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) had communicated to the COP President that that the work of the AWG-KP on the targets for the second commitment period proceed first before all other work, including the work in the AWG-LCA. News swept through the conference centre that when the AWG-LCA contact groups (such as on technology and on shared vision) met this morning, the Africa Group as well as other developing countries informed the groups that they would not engage in the groups for the time being until the KP issue was sorted out. The Africa Group also did not want to take part in some contact groups of the AWG-KP (relating to land-use, land use change and forestry) as the focus should be on the KP working group on numbers, which is focusing on the emission reduction targets of developed countries under the KP. Meanwhile in the KP contact group on numbers, there was also a dispute as to whether its work should carry on. Australia, in the numbers contact group asked for the contact group meeting to be suspended, as it had also heard that the Africa Group did not want to continue negotiations in the AWG-LCA. Japan and the EU supported Australia. They asked the Chair of the contact group for an explanation as to what was happening. Gambia, speaking for the Africa Group asked Parties to engage in the numbers contact group as did the G77 and China, who was represented by South Africa. Micronesia for the Alliance of Small Island States also insisted that work must proceed. China supported Africa and said that a core part of any result that will emerge from Copenhagen was the work of the contact group on numbers. The more Parties delayed on this, the more will negotiations in Copenhagen be in danger. Despite appeals by the Chair of the contact group to continue its work, Sweden for the EU said that if other parts in the KP process are not moving forward, it could not see how work can proceed in the numbers group. India stressed the importance of the targets of Annex 1 Parties under the KP as the core of the work of Parties and that if Parties failed to come up with ambitious numbers for Annex 1 Parties, then the process was not something India would like to think about. Russia said that the main purpose is discussions for a new regime as a whole and not just the numbers for Annex 1 Parties. It supported Australia's call for a suspension of the meeting. Bolivia said that the work on numbers is a core issue for the KP discussion and urged Parties to see what happens at the informal consultations in plenary. The meeting of the contact group was suspended pending further clarification on the way forward. As the Ministers and other heads of delegation were in intense discussions in the plenary hall, a group of NGOs held an impromptu demonstration chanting and holding placards that read "We support Africa" and "Annex 1 targets now". TWN Update No. 14 Copenhagen News Update 15 December 2009 Published by the Third World Network www.twnside.org.sg Like it? Share it!
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