Krittivas Mukherjee and Pete Harrison, Reuters 16 Dec 09;
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Environment ministers faced grueling negotiations on Thursday, to salvage a climate pact from half-finished draft texts after two years of talks ran out of time.
Dozens of heads of state are descending on Copenhagen to address the Dec 7-18 conference, hoping to sign on Friday a new pact to tackle global warming.
They will find draft texts littered with incomplete choices, exposing long-running rifts between rich and poor countries on how to split the cost of fighting climate change.
Some ministers warned that slow, often stalled talks during the summit meant it was staring at failure.
"We may not get there on the substance, it is quite possible we'll fail on the substance, but at least let's give it a try," said Britain's energy and climate minister Ed Miliband.
"At the moment the problem is we're not giving it a try."
Denmark said it was trying to simplify several complex draft negotiating texts to help about 120 leaders attending a high-level summit on Thursday and Friday to agree on a deal.
Access to the conference center, which until now has been bustling with activists, lobbyists and journalists, will be tightened to protect more than 120 heads of government.
Speakers are lined up to address the summit until the small hours of the morning, and the day is packed with political heavyweights including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Developing nations rejected Denmark's effort to select small negotiating groups to storm through the labored draft texts, saying the process had to be fully inclusive.
Developed and developing nations are at odds over who should cut emissions, how deep the cuts should be, and how much funding should be provided to poor countries to help them shift to greener growth and adapt to a warmer world.
SOME PROGRESS?
While the overall picture is bleak, there has been some progress in areas critical to reaching a deal.
Africa dramatically scaled back its expectations for climate aid from rich nations, and Japan pledged about $11 billion in public funds to 2012 to help poor countries adapt to a warmer world and cut their emissions.
Talks on a U.N.-backed system to pay poorer nations to curb deforestation have advanced, and the United States pledged $1 billion in short-term funds to conserve tropical forests.
A major sticking point between the world's top emitters, the United States and China, has been the question of how they will prove they are sticking to emission-curbing plans.
China signaled it might have found a way to end the stand-off, dropping previous hardline language and suggesting "national communications" on emissions that the Kyoto Protocol already requires of developing nations could be a key.
"The convention has a very clear stipulation as to the operation of a national communication system," Su Wei said.
"It will not be difficult for us to find a solution to this problem (verification), as long as we adhere to the principles of the convention, it is not a crucial problem," he said.
Su added China was in regular contact with the U.S. delegations, and had held several high level bilateral meetings.
(Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison, editing by Gerard Wynn)
UN climate negotiators look to US for fresh ideas
Arthur Max, Associated Press Yahoo News 17 Dec 09;
COPENHAGEN – U.N. climate negotiators looked Wednesday to the United States to bring fresh ideas — perhaps in the form of extra billions of dollars — to try to salvage a bare-bones political agreement by the end of the week on controlling global warming.
The U.S. must find ways of meeting demands by a suspicious world on reducing greenhouse gas emissions without exceeding what Congress will allow. It must also find the cash in a tight budget.
"The United States is back and President Barack Obama is coming to Copenhagen to put America on the right side of history," said Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was on her way to Copenhagen as negotiations over a draft agreement effectively came to a halt after an all-night session that broke up at dawn Wednesday with a confused text leaving most issues to be decided by ministers or heads of government. Obama is scheduled to arrive Friday.
Left unresolved are the questions of emissions targets for industrial countries, billions of dollars a year in funding for poor countries to contend with climate change, and verifying the actions of emerging powers like China and India to ensure that promises to reduce emissions are kept.
Denmark, presiding at the conference, said it has drawn up a text that it would present when ministers resume talks, but delegates were undecided on the format to hold the negotiations, whether in a full plenary or in small groups.
Formal discussions were suspended before resuming at 10 p.m. local time, met briefly, then adjourned for the night.
"I still believe it's possible to reach a real success," said the U.N.'s top climate official, Yvo de Boer. "The next 24 hours are absolutely crucial and need to be used productively."
British Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC that the climate change talks were "certainly on a knife edge and in real grave danger. ... It now needs leaders, unfortunately, to come in and move this process forward."
The U.S. delegation objected to a proposed text it felt might bind Washington prematurely to reducing greenhouse gas emissions before Congress acts on the required legislation. U.S. envoys insisted, for example, on replacing the word "shall" with the conditional "should" throughout the text.
Veterans of these conferences said such stalls were not unusual. "I know that often negotiations reach the halfway point about an hour before an agreement," said Jennifer Haverkamp, a former trade negotiator and a climate analyst for the Environmental Defense Fund.
In one sign of progress, six countries pledged a total of $3.5 billion over three years — $1 billion from the U.S. — to protect the world's forests. It will be channeled to developing countries that produce plans to slow and eventually reverse deforestation.
But that was just a fraction of a U.N.-proposed three-year package of at least $30 billion for poor countries to prepare defenses against rising seas, drought and other severe effects of global warming, including economic and physical security.
Japan said it would it would contribute half the needed funds, $15 billion, in public and private finance, "on condition that successful political accord is achieved" in Copenhagen.
Dozens of presidents and prime ministers — the early arrivals among 115 leaders — called for a sweeping agreement to rescue the planet from climate-related devastation. As the conference stretched into the night, the audience dwindled to a handful.
Among Clinton's first scheduled meetings Thursday is a private talk with China, America's protagonist in a dispute over whether developing countries will be required to report and verify their actions to reduce emissions.
"The key is China and the United States," which together emit half the world's greenhouse gases, said Indonesian delegate Emil Salim. "The key question is what the U.S. will do and the U.S. problem is the Senate which hasn't passed a bill that will allow the government to take action."
The U.S. has offered a 17 percent reduction from 2005 emissions levels by 2020. That amounts to a 3 percent to 4 percent cut from 1990 levels — the baseline year used by many other countries. China has pledged to cut "carbon intensity" — a measure of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of production — by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels.
China says it has no obligation to report how it achieves that pledge, while the U.S. says Beijing must allow others to review the report to understand the basis of the carbon calculations.
The U.S. delegation argues that the United States is taking a variety of other actions to control carbon, from requiring more fuel-efficient vehicles by 2016 to promoting clean energy development, to more tree planting and environmentally friendly agricultural practices. These climate friendly activities are reflected in the 17 percent commitment being made in Copenhagen, although Washington argues this will have the effect of producing greater emission reductions in the U.S.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the White House sees the state of the talks the same way it did several days ago: that "a number of outstanding issues" have to be worked out. He emphasized the need for a final deal that allowed for transparency so that when countries making pledges, "we know people are living up to those agreements."
Gibbs said the appearance of leaders from around the globe, including Obama, creates the opportunity for a "breakthrough to happen."
Obama, like most world leaders, is constrained by tough politics at home.
"To pass a bill, we must be able to assure a senator from Ohio that steelworkers in his state won't lose their jobs to India and China because those countries are not participating in a way that is measurable, reportable and verifiable," Kerry said. "Every American — indeed, I think all citizens — need to know that no country will claim an unfair advantage."
Obama can "use the power of the presidency to strengthen the U.S. has on the table," said Annie Petsonk, international counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund.
Administration officials could be looking to see what other ways, not in congressional bills, that Obama could make big decreases in carbon dioxide emissions, including presidential orders that affect big federal government polluters, she said.
He can also bring more money for poor nations by redirecting aid already in the pipeline and can promise to use some of the funds raised from emission credits to help reduce deforestation in developing countries. He can also use the cap-and-trade process to push a certain percentage of caps to be used on reducing deforestation, Petsonk said.
Outside the hall, police fired pepper spray and beat protesters with batons as hundreds of demonstrators sought to disrupt the 193-nation conference, the latest action in days of demonstrations to demand "climate justice" — firm steps to combat global warming. Police said 260 protesters were detained.
City roads were chaotic and public transport was disrupted as authorities coped with the unexpected presence of more than 100 leaders who wanted to be part of one of the most complex international deals ever negotiated.
___
Associated Press writers Charles J. Hanley, John Heilprin and Michael Casey in Copenhagen and H. Josef Hebert in Washington contributed to this story.
Climate talks resuming after row
Richard Black, BBC News website 16 Dec 09;
Formal negotiations have reopened at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen after a delay of nine hours.
The hold-up was caused by wrangles over the texts to be used as the basis for the talks.
Beneath the dispute lies a long-running accusation from developing countries that the Danish hosts are trying to sideline their concerns.
New funds have been pledged, notably by Japan which will provide $5bn a year to poor nations if a deal is reached.
Earlier, police clashed with protesters who stormed barricades around Copenhagen's Bella Centre.
Campaign groups have been angered about restrictions on access to the talks, and by the glacial progress of negotiations.
But Japan's pledge ramps up significantly the amount of "fast start" money on the table.
Its $5bn per year - payable from 2010-2012 - adds to the £3.5bn per year commitment made by EU leaders at their summit last week.
But it will only kick in "on the condition that successful political accord is achieved... that is a fair and effective framework with participation of all major emitting countries and agreement of their most ambitious targets".
Japan has been especially determined that emission curbs from major developing countries should be legally binding.
China, its big regional economic rival, is adamantly opposed.
Another pledge came from a six-member group - Australia, France, Japan, Norway, the UK and US - which will collectively commit $3.5bn over three years to combating deforestation - again, "in the context of an ambitious and comprehensive outcome in Copenhagen".
The UK commitment will come from its component of the EU's $3.5bn per year.
Columbian Environment Minister Carlos Costa, whose country would benefit from such an initiative, said: "We welcome initiatives such as this one that provides prompt start finance that will allow developing countries, and their communities, to start work on the ground."
Continuing divide
The formal negotiations, which were due to start at 1300 local time, eventually got underway at 2200 - a delay caused by the Danish hosts angering developing countries by trying to introduce new documents as the basis for negotiations.
Developing countries insisted on using documents that have come out of negotiations that have been going on for most of the year.
The new Danish texts were reportedly shown to a few key delegations and rejected out of hand. Delegates waited in the conference hall with no information about when the session would begin.
The issue illustrates the continuing divide between rich and poor blocs here, with developing countries repeatedly accusing the Danes of trying to impose a shape on the summit that will lead to the outcome desired by developed nations.
Towards the end of the evening, a group of about 30 protesters were preparing to spend the night in the centre, apparently with the blessing of security guards.
During the day, police detained more than 240 protesters during the clashes, which led to injuries on both sides.
In the main hall, meanwhile, a succession of presidents and prime ministers made set-piece speeches.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, on behalf of the African Union, gave some details of a proposal - drawn up with substantial French involvement - aimed at breaking the impasse here.
"Every one of us knows that Africa has contributed virtually nothing to global warming but has been hit first and hardest," he said.
Mr Zenawi related some elements of his proposal, including that the sum of $50bn per year by 2015 and $100bn per year by 2020 should be raised for poorer countries through "creative financing mechanisms" such as taxes on financial transactions and aviation fuel.
He acknowledged that he knew his proposal "would disappoint those Africans who from the point of view of justice have asked for full compensation for the damage done to our development prospects".
It certainly infuriated the African group of negotiators, because it also endorsed positions that most African countries oppose - notably, a target for maximum temperature rise of 2C (the G8 and EU target), whereas most African governments are committed to 1.5C.
It is not clear whether his proposal has support from other African leaders, however, or from further across the community of poor vulnerable countries such as small island states.
Lord Stern, who has had a strong hand in developing the proposal, said it was "strong and reasonable".
"The rich countries should give their strong support to the Meles plan, which has been put forward by an African leader with the interests of developing countries at its heart."
Worst impacts
Other speeches exemplified the fault lines running through the process.
While EU delegates spoke of achieving the 2C target "if everybody is now ready to overcome the procedural obstacles", developing countries made clear that they viewed the continuing chaos over texts as a matter of principle, not procedure.
And Nauru's president, Marcus Stephen, demanded proper legal negotiations on the lower temperature target.
"The science tells us that we must limit the rise in global temperature to well below 1.5C to preserve the chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.
"To accept anything less would mean the destruction of our marine ecosystems, shortages of food and water, and the relocation of our communities. Please tell me - how is this practical?"
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown conceded that a deal might not be achievable here.
But, he added: "If you don't get an agreement this week, people will doubt whether you can get an agreement at all."
