Climate talks intensify; Bolivian cites `ecocide'

Charles J. Hanley, Associated Press Yahoo News 10 Dec 10;

CANCUN, Mexico – Delegates from almost 200 nations worked Thursday to clear away a host of disputes and take small steps forward in easing the impacts of climate change, at a conference whose limited goals drew an accusation of "ecocide" from Bolivia's president.

Once again this year, as they near an end, the annual negotiations under the U.N. climate treaty will not produce an overarching, legally binding deal to slash emissions of global warming gases. From the start, the talks focused instead on secondary areas, including setting up a "green fund" to help poorer countries cope with global warming.

But in that and in a half-dozen other areas, as they approached Friday's final gavel, world environment ministers and other delegates still haggled over the wording of texts. Environmentalists accused the U.S. of holding the green fund hostage until it is satisfied on other items.

Christiana Figueres, U.N. climate chief, nonetheless struck a hopeful note.

"I see a willingness of parties to move positions. I see active and open exchange in the ministerial consultations," she said. "But more needs to be done. I call on all sides to redouble their efforts."

Brazil's environment minister, Izabella Teixeira, told The Associated Press she was optimistic.

"There are political difficulties but that's part of the process," she said.

As for a comprehensive deal, the European Union joined with small island states and Costa Rica in proposing that parties commit to taking up a "legally binding instrument" at next year's climate conference in Durban, South Africa.

As some 15,000 delegates, environmentalists, business leaders, journalists and others met at this Caribbean resort, carbon dioxide and other global warming gases, byproducts of industry, vehicles and agriculture, continued to accumulate in the atmosphere, barely abated by modest emission reductions undertaken thus far.

Scientists say temperatures could rise by up to 6.4 degrees Celsius (11.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in this century without deeper cuts, leading to serious damage to coastlines, human health, agriculture and economies in general.

Bolivia's President Evo Morales, addressing the full conference, cited families already being deprived of water because of warming and drought, and islanders facing the loss of homes from seas rising from global warming.

If governments move away from strong, mandatory emissions reductions, "then we will be responsible for `ecocide,' which is equivalent to genocide because this would be an affront to mankind as a whole," he said.

Reflecting Morales' passionately delivered address, the Bolivian delegation submitted a proposal — with no chance of adoption — for eliminating all greenhouse emissions by industrial nations by 2040.

Last year's climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, was supposed to have produced a global pact under which richer nations, and possibly some poorer ones, would be required to rein in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted by industry, vehicles and agriculture.

That agreement would have succeeded the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which mandated modest emissions reductions by developed nations that expire in 2012. Alone in the industrial world, the U.S. rejected Kyoto, complaining that emerging economies, such as China and India, should also have taken on obligations.

The 2009 summit produced instead a "Copenhagen Accord" under which the U.S., China and more than 80 other nations made voluntary pledges to reduce emissions, or at least to limit their growth.

In a sign of the sensitivity of even voluntary pledges, the U.S. and China are squabbling in Cancun over an effort to "anchor" them in a fresh U.N. document. The Chinese want separate listings to maintain a distinction between developing and developed countries, and the Americans want a single integrated list.

The U.S. delegation also seeks detailed provisions for monitoring, reporting and verification, called "MRV," of how China and other developing nations are fulfilling those voluntary pledges. A leading environmentalist here accused American negotiators of blocking a decision on the green fund in "the kind of brinkmanship that costs lives."

"The United States continues to hold these important decisions hostage in an effort to get what they want on transparency and MRV. This is unacceptable," said Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International.

The green fund would help developing nations buy advanced clean-energy technology to reduce their own emissions, and to adapt to climate change, by building seawalls against rising seas, for example, and upgrading farming practices to compensate for shifting rain patterns.

Developing nations consider inadequate the goal set in the Copenhagen Accord for the fund, of $100 billion a year by 2020, and propose instead that richer countries commit 1.5 percent of their annual gross domestic product — today roughly $600 billion a year.

Developed nations have resisted such ambitious targets, and also objected to language indicating most of the fund's money should come from direct government contributions.

A U.N. high-level panel last month said the greatest contributions to long-term climate financing should come from private investment and from "carbon pricing," either a direct tax broadly on emissions tonnage from power plants and other industrial sources or a system of auctioning off emissions allowances that could be traded among industrial emitters.

Either route would make it economical for enterprises to minimize emissions, and would produce revenue.

UN climate talks on knife edge, Bolivia slams rich
* Cancun outcome uncertain - Britain, India say
* Bolivia's Morales sticks to hardline demands
Timothy Gardner and Russell Blinch Reuters 9 Dec 10;

CANCUN, Mexico, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Talks on a 190-nation deal to fight global warming were on a "knife edge" on Thursday as Bolivia stuck to hardline demands and accused capitalist climate policies of causing genocide.

A deadlock between rich and poor countries on whether to extend the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol, which obliges almost 40 rich nations to curb greenhouse gas emissions until 2012, continued to overshadow the two-week meeting in Mexico, which is due to end on Friday.

"It's on a knife edge, we could well have a good outcome but we could also have a car crash," said Chris Huhne, Britain's energy and climate change secretary, who is co-leading talks on Kyoto at the two-week meeting in the Caribbean resort of Cancun.

If they solve the dispute over Kyoto, negotiators are aiming to set up a new fund to help developing countries cope with climate change, work out ways to preserve tropical forests and agree a new mechanism to share clean technologies.

Bolivia's left-wing President Evo Morales reiterated calls for radical cuts in greenhouse gases under Kyoto to protect the earth, saying capitalism was the root cause of financial, energy, climate and food crises.

He said 300,000 people die annually from droughts, floods, desertification, storms and rising seas caused by greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution. He described the deaths as "genocide" caused by capitalism.

"If we here in Cancun throw out the Kyoto Protocol then we will be responsible for eco-cide, which is the equivalent of genocide," he said, calling for creation of a new court to try climate "crimes."

Bolivia's demands, including that rich nations cut in half their greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2017, go beyond those even of the poorest African states and small island states that are among the most vulnerable to a changing climate.

Some diplomats fear that Bolivia's position could derail the entire conference, where any deals require unanimity.

MODEST AMBITIONS

Ambitions for Cancun are already modest after the U.N summit in Copenhagen last year failed to agree a binding deal, partly because of oppostion from a handful of nations including Bolivia and Sudan.

Japan's Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto reiterated that Tokyo will not sign up to new cuts under an extension of Kyoto, a position that has angered the developing nations.

He said Tokyo wants instead a new U.N. deal that binds Kyoto countries and all big polluters including the United States, China and India to limit their emissions.

The developing nations say Kyoto members, most responsible for emitting greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution, must show the way and unilaterally agree to extend Kyoto into a second period.

"The outcome is still very uncertain," Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told Reuters.

"The Japanese are clearly signalling that they don't want to be the people who brought the conference to failure, I hope that we are going to make progress there, but it's not a done deal," said Huhne.

"We're not going to get a complete resolution of the issues around the legal form of what ultimately emerges, the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," he said, adding that Venezuela and Cuba also want faster progress on the second commitment period.

"The real question is whether people recognise we won't get that here and that we have to have a balance that preserves people's positions to fight another day ... and enable progress on all the other areas."

(Writing by Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn; Editing by Kieran Murray)

Climate talks make progress as Bolivia calls for more
Shaun Tandon Yahoo News 9 Dec 10;

CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) – The world's climate negotiators on Thursday inched toward compromise on fighting deforestation and assisting poor nations as Bolivia's firebrand leader demanded more aggressive action.

With one day left for the UN-led talks in Mexico, South African President Jacob Zuma urged the more than 190 nations to set up "the building blocks" for a comprehensive climate deal when he leads next year's meeting in Durban.

"We dare not lose this opportunity," Zuma told reporters at the talks in resort city of Cancun.

The negotiations are working on a framework for fighting climate change after 2012, when the requirements for wealthy nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol run out.

China, while toning down its public statements, opposes a treaty that legally binds it to fight climate change. Japan has led opposition to EU calls to extend the Kyoto Protocol, saying it is unfair as it does not include top polluters China and the United States.

In late-night talks, conference watchers said the European Union, Costa Rica and small island states vulnerable to climate change offered a joint compromise under which the Cancun talks would agree to work toward a binding deal but leave discussion of its form -- Kyoto or a new framework -- to Durban.

Amid the deadlock on a treaty's form, negotiators reported progress on several other key areas including how to assist poor countries worst hit by climate change and on curbing deforestation, a leading cause of climate change.

But Bolivian President Evo Morales, who has emerged as a leading critic of the UN-led talks, demanded more far-reaching action.

"If we here throw the Kyoto Protocol into the garbage dump, we would be responsible for economy-cide, for ecocide -- indeed, for genocide -- as we would be harming humanity as a whole," Morales said from the podium of the conference, receiving loud applause.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous leader, called for an agreement that protects native populations and called for climate assistance to poor countries at a level "equivalent to the budget that developed countries spend on defense, security and warfare."

Wealthy economies -- including the European Union, Japan and the United States -- have pledged to help provide 30 billion dollars in near-term assistance to poor nations, along with 100 billion dollars a year in the future.

Negotiators said they saw steady progress in setting up the architecture of a future climate fund. A remaining sticking point is whether to include a role for international bodies, such as the World Bank, in administering aid.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of the anti-poverty movement Oxfam International, praised the proposal under discussion, including its mention of a role in protecting the rights of women.

"There is still plenty to improve," Hobbs told reporters. "But at least it was negotiated in good faith and there has been progress."

Hobbs hoped that the final proposal would require that 50 percent of aid go toward helping developing nations adapt to climate change. Nations may otherwise be able to meet pledges in other ways such as offering technical know-how on green energy.

Another area of progress is on deforestation, with the talks finalizing guidelines on how wealthy nations would assist developing nations in preserving tropical forests -- which play a vital role in the ecosystem by counterbalancing industrial pollution.

The Cancun talks have focused on incremental progress, one year after the ambitious Copenhagen summit ended in widespread disappointment.

China, which was stung by foreign criticism over its role in Copenhagen, has taken a fresh public approach in Cancun by pledging flexibility.

But its stance apparently has limits. Norway, a major player in climate negotiations, said Beijing has refused to negotiate with it in Cancun due to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

China on climate charm offensive
Shaun Tandon Yahoo News 9 Dec 10;

CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) – Haunted by the criticism it endured after the Copenhagen climate summit, China has launched an image makeover as it recasts itself as a team player in global talks, observers say.

In the latest UN-led talks underway in Mexico, China's negotiators have cast aside a sometimes shrill past approach and repeatedly said they seek a compromise, including on Beijing's past refusal on outside verification of its climate efforts.

The shift extends to public diplomacy, with China setting up a prominent pavilion in the heart of Cancun city and distributing glossy magazines to delegates' hotels highlighting action by the world's largest carbon emitter.

"We are seeing a significant change in negotiation strategy by China here in Cancun," said Ailun Yang of environmental group Greenpeace's China branch.

"It is encouraging to see that China is focusing on what you can offer instead of just responding to provocations from other countries."

The turnaround may be more a matter of appearances, as negotiators said China was still holding out on a deal over verification after a compromise led by India.

But the atmosphere is palpably different than in Copenhagen, attended by more than 100 heads of state, including US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Participants said China put its foot down against any hint of subjecting itself to international requirements.

"I think China is sensitive to the criticism that they got, whether that criticism is justified or not," said Duncan Marsh, director of international climate policy for The Nature Conservancy.

"I also think, however, that they are acting from a position of greater confidence. China is doing a lot in terms of domestic action to control greenhouse gas emissions and they know they are a world leader in many of their initiatives."

Faced with severe pollution and a predicted surge in urbanization, China has inscribed plans to reduce carbon emissions in its last five-year plan. The Asian giant is building the world's largest high-speed rail network and has aggressively pursued research on cleaner coal and vehicles.

"I don't think that an international agreement or pressure is the dominant factor for China to take action. It is in China's own interest," said Zou Ji, a professor of environmental economics at Renmin University and China country director for the World Resources Institute.

Zou said China had a choice between developing like the United States, where the average person produces about 20 tonnes of carbon each year, or like Japan and the European Union, where output is half as much.

"Today, many young Chinese consumers share the so-called American dream. They want a very big house and an SUV. But we should avoid that," he said. "The environment cannot take that. China has 20 percent of the world's population."

But some negotiation watchers said they also felt a political dynamic at play, with China seeking to smooth out relations with the United States that have been rocky on issues ranging from trade to human rights.

US President Barack Obama's administration came into office pledging that climate would be one area on which the world's largest developed and developing countries could work together.

"I think China felt stung at Copenhagen after so much of the finger-pointing," said Barbara Finamore, director of the China program at the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council.

"I think China has indeed learned from that and clearly made a concerted effort at the highest levels to turn the tide and take a very positive and constructive attitude" on climate, she added.

Before Copenhagen, the United States was usually on the receiving end of criticism at climate talks as former president George W. Bush was a staunch opponent of the Kyoto Protocol.

While the Cancun talks have been striking for their amity, the spotlight now may have turned to another country -- Japan. The Japanese bluntly rejected an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, saying the treaty is unfair by not including the United States and China.

China needs new place in climate talks -Zoellick
* Emerging economies want space to grow economies
* China is world's biggest carbon emitter
Gerard Wynn Reuters AlerNet 10 Dec 10;

CANCUN, Mexico, Dec 9 (Reuters) - China and other big emerging economies must find "some place" between rich and poor countries to help in the global fight against climate change, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Thursday.

Disputes over sharing the burden of emissions limits between developed and developing nations have hobbled a two-week meeting in the Mexican resort of Cancun that is due to end on Friday.

Developing countries want to end poverty by growing their economies partly by burning fossil fuels, and refer to a 1992 climate convention which places most of obligation for tackling global warming on about 40 industrialized countries.

But rich economies now want all major emitters to share in curbing carbon emissions under a new deal to reflect shifting influences.

"China is a developing country, so is India," Zoellick told Reuters.

"It's understandable that they don't want to be treated as an industrialized or developed country. On the other hand people see that they're the biggest emitter," he said. China has surpassed the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

"People will have to find some place in between. The world doesn't fit easily into two different categories," Zoellick said.

Talks on a 190-nation deal to fight global warming were on a "knife edge" on Thursday, said Britain, as Bolivia stuck to hardline demands and accused capitalist climate policies of causing genocide.

A deadlock between rich and poor countries on whether to extend the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol, which obliges almost 40 rich nations to curb greenhouse gas emissions until 2012, has overshadowed the meeting.

If they resolve the dispute over Kyoto, negotiators are aiming to set up a new fund to help developing countries cope with climate change, work out ways to preserve tropical forests and agree a new mechanism to share clean technologies.

U.N. decisions have to be agreed by consensus, and Zoellick said countries should not be fazed by agreeing more limited deals among a majority of countries, for example to save forests, or reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation -- REDD -- in U.N. jargon.

"If you get 150 countries which make progress on REDD, you know, if Bolivia objects then so be it, let's move ahead with 150," Zoellick said.

The United Nations should remain the main forum, he added, to avoid a "political firestorm." But countries may choose to break out specialized issues, for example among small island states or big emitters.

China's stance had moved through 2010, for example becoming more willing to discuss the reporting its emissions, something the United States has insisted upon as a way to formalize China's climate pledges, Zoellick said. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)