We are six months out from Copenhagen and further talks in Bonn, where the UNFCCC is headquartered, have just concluded. The release from the UNFCCC says the recent talks made “progress on fleshing out specifics” for a global climate change regime. There were 5,500 participants, including government delegates from over 180 countries, and reps from business, activist NGOs and research institutions. Yvo de Boer, the outgoing executive secretary, said, among other things, that more progress was yet to be made on the pledges by countries to reduce their emissions. Here’s his summary of the two-week talks.
The BBC reported Gulfs remain after UN climate change talks in Bonn. Dessima Williams, from Grenada, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), is quoted as saying “We really revived a spirit here of wanting to work, of rebuilding confidence and trust.” (That was a major theme of the conference hosted by Germany and Mexico in early May.) Many countries, though, echoed de Boer’s call for the developed nations to up the ante on their emission reduction pledges. (For in-depth coverage, see this from the good folks at the International Institute for Sustainable Development [IISD].)
This article from the FT’s redoubtable environment correspondent, Fiona Harvey, brings into focus the fact that more and more emphasis may be on different venues for negotiations and agreement from the Framework Convention. One important voice, Todd Stern, the US envoy for climate change, is quoted here: “From my perspective, there was actually significant progress made at Copenhagen … I think we ought to devote a lot of attention and focus on building on that progress. Exactly what form [progress] will take, we don’t know yet.” Progress may come from the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) and from the G-20.
Aside from the hard work of a binding international treaty, there is great progress being made on critical issues like adaptation. This briefing paper from Germanwatch and WWF International is an overview of the work that’s being done. The UNFCCC, of course, bears much of the operational responsibility for this work.
Other critical work is being done on REDD+, the schemes to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, on several tracks apart from the UNFCCC’s treaty work. (An update on this key, critical program is forthcoming in a post here soon.)
Yvo de Boer is leaving this month and is being replaced by Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica. She is, by all accounts, a skilled diplomat and a climate change warrior. In my estimation, she’ll have some big shoes to fill. Mr. de Boer brought the UNFCCC through some important times and has been a staunch, committed spokesman for the urgency of our task.
His farewell speech noted that “…everyone agrees that we need a broad package of incentives, credible reporting guidelines, measurement, reporting and verification in different forms, and market mechanisms that lead to real reductions. A good debate on rules and compliance can help bring us closer to an ambitious and credible regime.” He says, importantly: “We are on a long journey to address climate change.”
De Boer made some important contributions – and will no doubt make more in new roles – but it is incumbent upon the world community concerned about the climate crisis to continue plowing ahead with answers and solutions on every level, from the local to the international, from the technical to the conceptual, from the economic to the spiritual.
Critical climate talks are taking place every day, all over the world, from one-on-one conversations between friends and family to complex international negotiations.
