Race against time to hammer out deal

Arti Mulchand, Straits Times 7 Dec 07;

Delegates, regional blocs trying to reach consensus before next week's ministerial meetings

BALI - NUSA Dua's palm-fringed beaches are mere steps away, but leisure is no option for hundreds of delegates at a two-week UN conference as they try to hammer out agreements on how to tackle climate change.

Holed up in windowless rooms for informal meetings away from the gaze of the media at the Bali International Convention Centre (BICC), they are racing against time to bridge their differences before high-level ministerial meetings begin next week.

By yesterday, at least five contact groups were trying to reach unified stances on single issues. These include how to kick-start a fund to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, and deciding on what, if any, incentives to offer countries to reduce emissions from deforestation.

By all accounts, things seem to be going well - for now. One delegate told The Straits Times countries were 'treading cautiously...and reserving their ammunition...for when hard talks begin'. The groups have to report to Indonesian Minister Rachmat Witoelar, who is presiding over the talks, tomorrow and on Monday.

And United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Yvo de Boer said it is important that the 'huge challenge' of reaching agreements is achieved by then, clearing the decks for ministers to tackle the key task when they meet on Wednesday. That is when they will try to finalise the road map guiding proceedings to 2009, when a successor to the Kyoto Protocol will hopefully be born, he added.

Meanwhile, by far the most crowded and most contentious of the meetings is the one trying to pin down what comes after Bali. While some countries want formal negotiations on a framework to start right away, others think talks should stay informal, said Mr de Boer. And that is just one of several sticking points.

There is also a 'particular sense of urgency' for the group trying to reach agreement on compensating nations for not chopping down their forests, an issue which has been on the negotiating table for almost two years. There is little consensus on who should provide the funds, how countries should be given the money and even how to calculate the level of emissions avoided.

Yet more meetings are being held by negotiating blocs, like the Least Developed Countries group and the Alliance of Small Island States, to try to align their stands on the issues.

It is no easy task for some, like the G77 and China - a grouping of about 130 developing countries, including Singapore - which meets twice daily to try to agree on a common stand for countries at different stages of development.

Away from the venue, there will be more meetings ahead of the high-level segment, with trade ministers discussing trade-related climate change issues, and finance ministers talking about investments and funding for low-carbon technologies. But even as they meet, perhaps the real heat of global warming will be most felt back at the BICC as the contact groups attempt to finalise their positions and put them in black and white.

As one delegate put it: 'Now it's cordial because people are just testing the ground. But when they are trying to reach a written stand, that's when you'll get your late-night sessions and fierce debates.'