UN Climate Change Negotiations result in more clarity on 'bricks and mortar' of Copenhagen agreed outcome, but decisions on finance and mid-term targets remain outstanding
UNEP 9 Oct 09;
Bangkok, 09 October 2009 - The penultimate negotiating session before the historic UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December wrapped up Friday in the Thai capitol Bangkok with progress made on what needs to constitute the "bricks and mortar" of the Copenhagen agreed outcome, but a continuing lack of clarity on key deliverables to make a successful international climate change deal workable.
"A will has emerged in Bangkok to build the architecture to rapidly implement climate action," said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, "but significant differences remain. In December, citizens everywhere in the world will have a right to know exactly what their governments will do to prevent dangerous climate change. It is time now to step back from self interest and let the common interest prevail," he added.
Parties made progress on the issues of adaptation, technology transfer and capacity building. They also reached agreement on technical issues such as forests, which according to UNEP's Science Compendium 2009 released in September, play a critical role in emissions reduction.
Whereas the parties made headway on how to assess the global warming potentials of new greenhouse gases and the number of options for strengthening the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, there was little progress was made on the issue of mid-term emission reduction targets for industrialised countries. And clarity is lacking on the issue of finance that developing countries need to undertake additional actions to limit their emissions growth and adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change.
"A good example with regard to what industrialised countries can do to increase the level of their ambition in the context of an international agreement at Copenhagen is the minus 40% emissions reduction target announced by Norway today," the UN's top climate change official said.
The negotiations in Thailand will be followed by five days of pre-Copenhagen negotiations in Barcelona (2-6 November) before the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (7-18 December).
"Negotiators have three weeks back in their capitals to receive guidance from their political leaders to complete their work," said Yvo de Boer. "Bold leadership must open the roadblocks around the essentials of targets and finance that the negotiators can complete their journey," he added.
Heads of state and government meeting in New York in September identified five politically essential issues to a deliver a comprehensive, fair and effective Copenhagen agreement.
The climate change deal clinched in Copenhagen is to ensure enhanced action to assist the most vulnerable and the poorest to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Furthermore, world leaders have agreed that clarity must be provided on ambitious emission reduction targets of industrialised countries, as well as the need for nationally appropriate mitigation actions by developing countries with the necessary support.
A beacon to guide discussions is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's finding that an aggregate emission reduction by industrialised countries of between minus 25% and 40% over 1990 levels would be required by 2020, and that global emissions would need to be reduced by at least 50% by 2050, in order to stave off the worst effects of climate change.
The fourth essential identified by heads of state and government is that the Copenhagen agreed outcome needs to generate scaled-up financial and technological resources, with a mechanism put in place that would funds to be generated automatically over time.
Finally, they have agreed that the Copenhagen deal needs to create an equitable governance structure to manage funds for adaptation and mitigation that address the needs of developing countries.
