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CLimATE nEgOTiATiOns BAngKOK sEPTEmBER-OCTOBER 2009 ngO nEwsLETTER CLimATE nEgOTiATiOns BAngKOK sEPTEmBER-OCTOBER 2009 ngO nEwsLETTER
Celebrate Public Fossil of the Day
9
Participation 8 October 2009
OCTOBER
AssignmEnT
The
The Conference of Parties (COP) 15 in of the Convention. issUE
Copenhagen will be like no other COP we ECO demands that Parties recognise
have seen. The stakes are higher than ever transparency and public participation as
European
before and public attention to the conference key prerequisites to achieving a successful
will be unprecedented. As observers we have outcome in Copenhagen. We specifically
seen, historically, that as the stakes are raised note the need for NGO access to be ensured
Union
the doors are more often closed than opened in upcoming sessions as the stakes get
higher in the lead up to Copenhagen. This Eco has been published by Non-Governmental Environmental Groups at major international conferences since the Stockholm Environment
to our input and participation.
Conference in 1972. This issue is produced co-operatively by CAN groups attending the climate negotiations in Bangkok, September-October 2009.
ECO believes that observers play a should include preserving and enhancing
Homework for Barcelona
critical role in these negotiations. We repre- opportunities for civil society input through
n
sent millions of citizens in countries around official interventions, submissions and con-
the world. Our goals are simple: to listen to sultations.
the people we represent and advocate for We observers in return will take on the
what they see as important. In this case, it difficult task of trying to tie the intense,
is the urgent need for a fair and ambitious focused and often surreal world of the nego-
agreement that avoids catastrophic impacts of tiations to the hard facts of science and the Many countries came to Bangkok with their age to be wrapped up into something you 2020 to something that actually reflects the
warming approaching 2oC, and puts us on a reality of the outside world where the impacts homework done. Witness star pupil, Indone- could bring to the UNFCCC. The Council science. Find out about this strange thing peo-
The EU is awarded the first place sia, which brought in strong commitments meetings this month give you an opportunity ple keep calling “finance” to figure out how
path towards a sustainable future. of climate change are forcing their way into
and only Fossil for blocking text that to cut its emissions well below business as to bring the EU’s fair share of the minimum you can contribute your “fair share” (yes,
Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and the lives of ordinary people. The seriousness
would safeguard against the conver- usual. Other countries turned in their home- US$160 billion of public finance needed per the BAP has 4 pillars). In addition, stop dig-
Chapter 27 of Agenda 21 state that the best of the issue, the urgency of the situation and
sion of natural forests to plantations in work here in Bangkok. Norway, for example, year to meet developing country needs for ging Kyoto’s grave and listen to other coun-
environmental decisions are made when the the importance of the upcoming COP is a
REDD. This occurred at the Contact committed to cutting its emissions 40% be- adaptation, clean technology and REDD. tries that actually care about legally-binding
public is included and civil society partici- reason to increase, not decrease, the level
Group on 1b3 Thursday morning. This low 1990 levels as part of a global deal. instruments.
pates. Accordingly, NGO participation is fun- of NGO participation in the climate change
damental to the spirit of Rio and the success negotiations.
demonstrates a lack of concern about However, many countries clearly did not United States
forest protection by the EU and fur- do their homework. To help these countries Tell your President that his next priority New Zealand
ther threatens the integrity of a REDD focus, ECO offers the following assignments after health care has to be working with the Increase your target to 40% below 1990
mechanism. Natural forests are far so that everyone is clear about what needs to leadership of the Senate to pass comprehen- levels: a range of 0% to 20% is not enough
more valuable than plantations. The be done. sive climate and energy legislation including and you know it. Stress domestic mitigation –
EU failed to recognise this. (See article significant emissions cuts by 2020 and sub- without it your pleas for changes to the rules
on Page 3.) Australia stantial dedicated funding for tropical forest on LULUCF, target setting and markets just
Please take this note to your Prime Min- protection, international adaptation and clean look like wriggling out of a responsibility.
ister, asking him to give you the mandate to technology. Also, come to Barcelona with Make some decisions on financing and come
agree to sufficient new and additional public greater willingness to take on legally binding to the table in Barcelona with significant new
funding for international climate finance, commitments both on emissions reduction finance additional to overseas development
through multiple mechanisms under the and finance, and lose your irrational allergy to assistance. Stop using agriculture as an ex-
authority of the COP. Bring it back signed a meaningful compliance regime. cuse for inaction. Drop your efforts to weaken
to Barcelona. Try to give yourself space to the emissions trading scheme by making it
take mitigation action at home, and push Japan intensity-based with no absolute cap
Major industralised country, feeling iso- yourself to take the harder challenges – like Develop HATOYAMA INITITATIVE.
lated, seeks new friends. No commitments. reducing emissions from energy – rather than Include substantial, additional and predictable G77 & China
Box US. cheating your way to meet targets through funding and its supporting financial mecha- You put forward constructive proposals
Beautiful tropical island, all amenities incl. LULUCF offsets. Indeed you should make a nisms. Make clear that your 25% below 1990 on technology and finance last year. But it
abundant running water. For rent, short-term stronger effort to reduce logging emissions in levels reduction target for 2020 will be met has been a while since we have seen your
only. Box AOSIS. LULUCF and use them to take a higher over- primarily through domestic action, and will detailed, joint proposals. Your stance in Bang-
Location sought for very large quantity all target. be linked only to other Parties moving ahead kok was more reactive than proactive. You
bunker fuels. Current position untenable. Box on the agreements made in the Bali Action are rightly demanding a lot from this process
ICAO/IMO. EU Plan (BAP), and not conditioned on mandato- in terms of mitigation, technology, finance
Grand bracket sale, thousands of matching Two years ago you assumed a leadership ry emissions reduction commitments by ma- and adaptation. And the minimum threshold
pairs, everything must go! Sale extended to role and put a conditional -30% target on the jor developing countries. Come to Barcelona for real negotiations has yet to be met by
18th Dec. Box LCA/KP. table. Since then it has become ever clearer with detailed negotiating positions that enable Annex I as a whole. But in response to Annex
Will do anything for money. Shame not an that your target, although bold at the time, you to fully engage in negotiations. 1 proposals on finance and mitigation, you
issue. Box OPEC. is no longer sufficient. You should follow resorted to (the laudable role of) defending
Lost – shared vision. Disappeared under large Norway’s lead of 40% emissions reduction Canada past commitments. The question is: How can
pile of national interests. Do not know what below 1990 levels by 2020. We have been Get your act together. Strengthen your you turn your common and well developed
Source: seppo.net (Climate cartoonist) to do without it. Please help. Box UNFCCC. waiting for some time for your finance pack- laughably weak target of 3% reductions by – continued on page 2, col. 1
issUE nO11 VOLUmE CXX FREE OF CHARgE issUE nO11 VOLUmE CXX FREE OF CHARgE
Norway Saudi Back-to-Office Report EU Blocks Scared of
Adopts After returning from these negotiations, every delegation will have to write a Back-to-Office
Green Deal on Forests Commitment?
40%
(BTO) report for their superiors. As some may find this task time consuming, ECO has de-
cided to fill in the BTO template for the Saudi Arabian delegation in particular. This we hope
will give them more time to rethink their positions here and make them more constructive in On Thursday, a new text on REDD left out objection to changing text in response to ECO is sure many delegates here have
Barcelona and Copenhagen. vital wording on protecting natural forests statements made in plenary on the contents worked long into the night preparing an
Finally, a country has stepped up to adopt a
in the section on principles – safeguards. A of text. In fact, ECO is in general deeply important paper for their political bosses.
target approaching the scale needed to avoid Saudi Arabia BTO Report for UNFCCC Bangkok Session
host of nations from Ecuador and Brazil to disturbed by the EU’s behaviour on for- And we are sure many have also seen that
dangerous climate change. Congratulations Submitted to Ministry of Petroleum – October 2009
India and the Philippines asked for its re- ests over the past two weeks. As a result of same paper sit in in-trays for months without
Norway; your coalition Government’s target Objective (Obj.) 1: Hinder the adaptation discussion instatement on the grounds that protecting their failing to reach internal agreement anyone doing anything about it.
to reduce emissions by 40% below 1990 Achievement: We continued to link response measures to adaptation and to then equate natural forests is what REDD is meant to be on forest management in LULUCF, Well, imagine how you would feel if you
levels makes you the leader amongst Annex Saudi Arabia to Least Developed Countries. But somehow the GDP difference undermined all about. the EU has allowed the worst possible ac- are the IPCC facing a six-year wait after
I countries. our argument. As Brazil said, if there is a single environ- countancy options for forest management to all that hard work to finish the crucial Fifth
This announcement has made ECO very
Obj. 2: Exaggerate Saudi’s vulnerability to response measures mental safeguard that is required for REDD, be on the table for consideration. On REDD, Assessment Report (AR5) in 2013/14, and
happy. To be honest, we have been getting
Achievement: We were making good progress, but an unexpected release of an International it is to prevent the conversion of natural the EU has blocked the inclusion of the the beginning of a third commitment period
glum lately. Endless meetings – driven to the
Energy Agency report proved that OPEC would actually make four times more money by 2030 forests to plantations or other land use most basic principle required to make REDD in which countries will actually be able to
verge of pointlessness by negotiators con-
under a 450ppm scenario (see table below). We tried to refute this in an interview but the jour- in order to avoid huge emissions environmentally effective. So much for respond. It is like asking a doctor for a full
strained by a lack of political will back home
nalists just did not buy it. and biodiversity loss. The facilita- environmental integrity! check up even if you have no intention to take
– were taking its toll. Now, we finally have an
tor considered that the point was well ECO wonders if the EU plans to insert the medicine or change your diet, no matter
example of the political will needed to move Obj. 3: Stall the process on procedural issues made and asked for permission to something into the response measures text what they say.
these negotiations forward. The big step up in Achievement: We blocked an extra informal negotiation session between Barcelona and Co- reinsert the text on conserving natural for- as their concern seems to be that the tim- None of us has a monopoly on knowledge
Japan’s target from 8% emissions reduction penhagen. It was tough, since we were the only country that objected. ests. He was opposed by the EU with the ber and oil palm industries might be badly and we all need to seek the best advice avail-
below 1990 levels to 25%, even if not quite
Obj. 4: Make sure the level of ambition is low fuzzy explanation that this would create great hit by a REDD regime that seeks to con- able. ECO reminds delegates of the core mes-
enough, is also cause for hope.
Achievement: Under Shared Vision, we said there was no need for a figure for the global goal. instability in the negotiations. serve forests instead of converting them sage of the IPCC in its last report – developed
Norway’s target is an example of real
Unfortunately, we were the only country to promote this and it did not get picked up. ECO does not understand this to plantations. countries need to cut emissions by 25-40% by
leadership and a breath of fresh air. Even so,
2020 from 1990 levels for a chance to keep
ECO urges Norway to make a strong com- Obj. 5: Undermine the climate change science
Dating and the Kyoto Process
warming to 2.0 to 2.4oC.
mitment to domestic reductions and not just Achievement: We said in a media interview that “developed countries are only using the guise In this regard, ECO hopes AR5 will create
continue offsetting. But today is not the day of protecting the planet as a way to get at oil producers and reduce their dependency on oil im- pathways for the world to keep global warm-
to quibble. ports.” Nevertheless, we REALLY need to stop doubting climate science, since there is almost ing under 1.5oC and greenhouse gases under
So to the rest of Annex I countries, the total consensus on it and we did actually sign the Convention. In her blog entry on Wednesday, young Negotiator Tracker from India, Leela Raina, specifies 350ppm. The world must be ready to respond
challenge to your leaders is this: Are you 10 reasons why dating a male from an Annex I country does not appeal to her. A closer read
Number of Fossils Earned: Only two (but both in first place) quickly.
going to match Norway’s target? You have will find some uncanny resemblance between her decision and the ongoing climate negotiations.
Comment: On this issue, we have performed below average due to the low level of ambition Surely a six-year gap between the IPCC
less than a month to prove your calibre and
of developed countries which created fierce competition for fossils. 1. He is not willing to commit report and response is unacceptable. ECO
bring a new, much stronger national target
Translation into negotiation language: Wants to shift emissions baseline from the year 1990 to 2005. hopes those Parties pushing for an eight-year
to Barcelona. Overall Evaluation: The chances to reach an agreement in Copenhagen have been reduced
commitment period – including Switzerland,
substantially but mainly due to the low ambition of developed countries. This had double ben- 2. He takes more space in the relationship
Canada, Iceland and Saudi Arabia – will
– Homework for Barcelona efits for us. It helped us achieve our objectives and removed the spotlight from us. Translation: Has a massively higher proportion of pollution.
go home and rethink their position before
positions on finance and mitigation action Suggestions for Future Steps: We received positive remarks from Climate Action Network 3. He refuses to finance dinners Barcelona.
into a more proactive role in Barcelona? It (CAN) members when we opposed nuclear energy and it actually felt good (although this was Translation: Can fund local solar projects but needs my help to scale up activities.
is now high time for you to take the lead by not our intention). Maybe in Barcelona we can bring our positions closer to CAN’s. 4. He hates my mother
spelling out your vision of how nationally ap- Translation: Does not like principles and conditions imposed, and will not ratify them at any cost.
propriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) should
Cumulative OPeC Oil exPOrt revenues by sCenariO 5. He does not let me use the TV remote or the computer
work, and submit them as textual amendments.
Translation: Makes it difficult to transfer technology
South Africa has provided a useful exam- 28
trillion dollars (2008)
ple with its “Life-cycle of NAMAs and MRV 24 6. He would not save me if earthquakes or flash floods take place
process” proposal circulated last night in 20 Translation: Not reaching out with support for adaptation.
16
Non-paper No. 20. As a constructive response 12 7. He does not follow through and is indecisive
to the divisive proposal on mitigation from 8 Translation: Has different views all the time?
the US, this has opened negotiating space and 4
0 8. He is possessive and wants daily reports
helped turn the tables. By elaborating details
Reference Scenario 450 Scenario Translation: Wants MRV on NAMA.
of the “NAMA machinery” – (How will emis-
1985-2007
sions cuts be expressed? How will proposed 2008-2030 9. He has such a consumption-oriented lifestyle
cuts be matched with funding? – that will OPeC production in 2030 in the 450 Translation: Has an unsustainable lifestyle.
be required for a fair and ambitious deal in scenario is 11 mb/d higher than in 2008
10. He would not make a good father
Copenhagen, you will lose nothing and gain Translation: Does not care about protecting the environment for future generations.
important leverage in these talks. The home- Though slightly lower than in the Reference Scenario, OPEC revenues in the 450 Scenario
work for you is to study South Africa’s sub- are over four times as high as in the last 20 years For Leela to gain interest in Annex I men, their countries first need to play a more
mission, and develop a proposal on NAMAs positive role in the negotiations. She asks: “So what do you say, dear Annex I
consistent with the Bali Action Plan that can negotiators? Are you willing to change, or not?”
propel real negotiations in Barcelona. Source: World Energy Outlook 2009 Climate Change Excerpt Source: Adapted from adoptanegotiator.org
issue 11 – OCTOBeR 9TH 2 3 issue 11 – OCTOBeR 9TH
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