UN climate talks in Cancun

UN climate conference in Cancun on Saturday reached a "compromise" to set up a USD 100 billion 'Green Fund' to fight global warming, a decision India described as an "important step forward", but there was no agreement on extending the landmark Kyoto Protocol on emissions cuts beyond 2012."Confidence is back, hope has returned," host Mexican President Felipe Calderon said, minutes after a set of decisions was adopted at the end of the two-week conference of ministers from nearly 200 countries.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh noted that the major emerging economies -Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC) had welcomed the decision."We are very happy with the text," he said.Progress at the conference includes a broad agreement on technology-sharing mechanism that will ensure that poor and vulnerable countries are able to access green technologies easily and in a cost-effective manner.

A 'Green Fund' has been set up that is expected to mobilise USD 100 billion per year by 2020, which will be given to developing countries for adaptation and mitigation purposes.The nitty-gritty of the technology and finance mechanism still needs to be worked out.The decisions reached in this conference will be followed up in negotiations next year, and it is hoped that a legally binding treaty emerges at the next climate meet in Durban, South Africa.

Bolivia was the sole country to oppose the decision in Cancun, but was eventually overruled.Many of the contentious issues had been bypassed to reach compromises in Cancun.For instance, no number had been given for further emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol and there was no commitment to continue the Kyoto Protocol after it expires in 2012.Some groups here said that it is a "weak" text that will eventually lead to the death of Kyoto Protocol, the only treaty that imposes legally binding cuts on developed countries.Others said that it is a workable "compromise" for the moment."Space has been given to dump the Kyoto protocol. The text allows for creation of new market mechanisms for carbon trading which could be built of the existing market mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol," said Chandra Bhushan, from the Centre of Science and Environment.On the 'Green Climate Fund', the Cancun decision does not identify specific sources of financing, which will be subject to continuing talks.Other main components of today's decisions included promotion of efforts in poorer nations to protect their climate-friendly tropical forests, with the prospect of financial compensation from richer nations.

The final text contained vague compromise language on financing, monitoring and oversight.The meet also decided to establish a Technology Executive Committee under the treaty to analyse needs and policies for transfer to developing nations of technology for clean energy and adaptation to climate change, apart from a Climate Technology Centre to build a global network to match technology needs and suppliers.
It also stressed on strengthening the reporting requirements and review of emissions-reduction actions by both developed and developing countries, to verify they are being carried out effectively.Developed nations also would improve reporting on climate-related financial support to poorer nations.

Climate negotiators struggle to finalise Cancun text
Negotiators from nearly 200 countries are struggling to finalise the outcome of the two-week Climate Change conference that has been enlivened by India's call for emission cuts by countries under an "appropriate legal form".Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had said on Thursday that all countries must take binding commitments under appropriate legal form to check emissions, which is seen as a departure from India's long-held position that it will not accept any legally-binding cuts.The Indian minister's statement is considered as an attempt to break the stalemate in the conference, which has been marked by differences on various issues.
The BASIC group comprising India, China, South Africa and Brazil, appears to have been divided on the issue with Beijing steadfastly opposed to internationally-binding cuts.But, Ramesh maintains that India still stood by its stand that there can be no internationally-binding cuts "at this stage".He has rejected charges that India has made a u-turn, adding that he had only "nuanced" the position because he does not want the country to be isolated.Delegates from various countries said after Ramesh's speech that now there could be some hope of a breakthrough in the conference.Different areas of concern have arisen with the preliminary text that needs to firmed-up by tomorrow when the conference comes to an end.

Till now, the texts have not matured sufficiently for presenting final outcomes. So, there is a desperate effort to speed up the process, which meant late-night huddles for negotiators.The text is riddled with contentious issues including reporting of mitigation actions by developing countries and developing countries through MRV/ICA programme, setting temperature goals, the peaking of carbon emissions and long-term goals.

The current text, for instance, says that countries must reduce their carbon emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.However, small island states, which are the most vulnerable to climate change, want more than 50 percent and these nations argue that less ambitious targets may be too little too late for them.

The small island states along with African nations also want the world to work toward limiting the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 degrees, which is lower than the 2 degrees that is currently agreed on by a majority of countries.

On the peaking issue, India would like to reflect that the global peaking of carbon emissions leaves enough space for developing countries to grow economically.The current squabble is about the date of peaking and what kind of differentiation should be made for developed and developing countries.

On the issue of finance, a key question remains how the green fund of USD 100 billion will be administered.

On the technology side, the IPR issue remains the most divisive. Developing countries say that the industrialized countries should make available the technologies through public channel but the developed countries like US argue that these technologies are privately held under patents.But India asserts that the IPR regime should not constrain the availability of technology due to the potentially devastating consequences of climate change.

One significant handicap appeared to be the absence of a big picture, which was reflected in negotiators working on separate issues in separate rooms without one common thread tying up all the different discussions. Actual negotiation on the text between the negotiators themselves has been sparse since much of the work was done by two facilitators who were appointed by the conference president to lead groups on different issues.The lack of big picture was compounded by the speculation surrounding the continuance of the Kyoto Protocol because of the Japanese refusal to accept the second commitment period after 2012.

Despite these differences, there has been significant progress in few areas including the REDD+ program to prevent deforestation, adaptation and technology transfer.On the positive side, negotiators have acknowledged that there has been more transparency during the conference in Mexico that in the previous talks in Copenhagen.In Copenhagen, last year, negotiators were taken aback when the Danish presidency of the conference sprung a secret text on the delegates.This time around, however, there was confidence that no such hidden documents were lurking in the background.

BBC reports :David Cameron has praised a new UN deal to curb climate change as a "very significant step forward".The prime minister said it renewed the international community's determination to tackle carbon emissions through multilateral action.The agreement, reached in Mexico, includes a fund to help developing countries and a recognition that deeper cuts in carbon emissions are needed.It is estimated the fund could cost the UK about £1.5bn a year by 2020.More than 190 countries struck the deal at the latest round of UN climate talks in Cancun, which lasted two weeks.
Christiana Figueres,UN's chief negotiator said at the conference,the results had "reignited" hope in climate change talks."Nations have shown they can work together under a common roof, to reach consensus on a common cause. They have shown that consensus in a transparent and inclusive process can create opportunity for all," she said in a statement.Media agencies