Member Login
Syndicate
| TWN Poznan News Update No.20: "Mini-Ministerial" meeting does not agree to draft "Poznan Partnership |  |
 |
| Written by Third World Network | |||
| Friday, 12 December 2008 00:00 | |||
|
According to some officials, several of the Parties at the meeting did not agree to the proposal to have the draft decision. Some did not agree with the substance of the proposal, and there was also disquiet about the process. The discussions took place late in the evening of Thursday 11 December in an informal ministerial-level meeting at which each region was asked to send a small number of "representative" countries. This process departs from the usual process for negotiations under the UNFCCC. Many delegates expressed concern at the selective nature of the meeting, which included some but not all Parties to the Convention. The President's proposed decision by the COP called for a so-called "Poznan Solidarity Partnership", which would gather a number of separate decisions of the COP and CMP (Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol). These are decision on:
The offer of the "partnership" comes after two weeks of difficult negotiations, in which many issues of importance to developing countries remain blocked. The collection of these issues into a draft COP decision under the banner of a "Solidarity Partnership" offended many delegates. The draft COP decision would also have linked the further work of the AWG-LCA (under the Convention) and the AWG-KP (under the Kyoto Protocol), according to some observers. This reflects the position of the European Union, which is seeking to merge the two separate negotiating tracks under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol with the goal of agreeing a new "Copenhagen Agreement" in 2009. During the talks, several developing countries have stated that they do not want a formal link between the AWG-LCA and the AWG-KP tracks. The President's proposed decision would also have formally linked the timing of the two processes, by resolving to complete the work under the Bali Action Plan "at the same time as" the work by the AWG-KP in Copenhagen in 2009. This would seemingly require the Bali Action Plan negotiations to be timed according to that of negotiations under the AWG-KP. While these two processes are each set to conclude in Copenhagen, there has so far been no formal agreement to link the two. The draft COP decision also took note of the President's summary report on the "informal ministerial round table on shared vision for long-term cooperative action" (CP/2008/CRP.1), which took place on 11 December 2008 in Poznan. This summary report was issued on the morning of 12 December. In the final paragraph it says that participants at the roundtable "voiced their resounding commitment to and optimism for achieving an ambitious and comprehensive deal at COP 15 that can be ratified by all." This is an inaccurate summary of discussions as there was no consensus on this issue. The inclusion of "ratified" suggests a legally binding treaty and would arguably pre-judge the legal form of the outcome of negotiations in 2009. Officials of many developing countries have called for discussions to remain true to the agreement struck in Bali, which launched a process to "reach an agreed outcome" and "adopt a decision" at COP 15 in Copenhagen (Bali Action Plan, paragraph 1). The summary report may still raise issues at the COP. In a background note to the round table (CP/2008/6), it was stated that "The COP, in its decision resulting from the stocktaking of the progress made since COP 13 in Bali, could take note of this summary. Any elements of the shared vision which enjoy general support could also be included in such a decision". The informal ministerial-level meeting is continuing today. The discussion has moved on to the substantive issues outstanding at the climate talks in Poznan, after the President announced his intention not to pursue the proposed COP decision. Like it? Share it!
|
