Bonn: new perspectives for the climate challenge
The cycle of climate negotiations that just ended in Bonn led to constructive results. In fact, the advances that have been made will serve as a basis for the negotiations during the Cancun Conference. This Accord is meant to contain a package of concrete, balanced measures. Nonetheless it will be necessary to speed up the pace of the negotiations in order to achieve them.
Concrete measures 2010
The Cancun Conference will be held in Mexico from 29 November to 10 December 2010. The results of this conference should make it possible to establish a number of concrete, balanced measures concerning, in particular, the following themes:
- the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation = attenuation),
- a system of ‘measurement, reporting and verification’,
- adaptation to the consequences of climate change,
- the architecture for support to countries in development in adapting to the consequences of climate change and making the transition to low-intensity carbon use (funds, technologies, capacity strengthening),
- the promotion of technologies for mitigation and adaptation
- the reduction of emissions from the forestry sector and protection of the forests (REDD+ programme),
- market mechanisms that are meant to make it possible to reduce the costs of the fight against global warming, to give a pricing signal to innovation and to promote the transfer of technology and financial flows to developing countries
Global Accord in 2011
The Cancun Conference is also meant to establish a road map stipulating the steps toward the finalisation of negotiations on a global accord that is ambitious, is legally restrictive and limits warming to 2°C.
This limit of 2°C is widely recognised by the scientific community as making it possible to avoid the most extreme effects of global warming. This global accord should be completed in the course of the year 2011.
Negotiations
The negotiations under way are following two parallel tracks. On the one hand there are negotiations on the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, and especially the commitments to be made by the developed countries after 2012 and the conditions that have to be fulfilled. From this point of view, the negotiations are progressing at a good pace and are leading to concrete options.
On the other hand, negotiations are also distinguished that are intended to establish a global accord into which all the members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change would enter. The negotiations on this track have not yet arrived at the stage of the identification of compromise options that would make it possible to lead to an ambitious and legally restrictive global accord.
The role of the EU and of the Belgian Presidency
For the European Union it is essential to re-establish the balance between these two negotiation tracks. This implies in particular that the States that are major emitters of greenhouse gases that are not yet being forced to limit their emissions must firmly commit themselves to this path, while respecting the different circumstances of the developed countries and the countries in development.
The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, which is taking on the coordination of the position of the Member States of the EU within the Council, hopes to work in a constructive way in order to maximise the results of the Cancun Conference.
According to Minister Schauvliege Cancun must produce a balanced, ambitious and realistic package of substantive decisions that responds to the urgent desire of many countries to step up their action. "This needs to build on the progress made in Copenhagen, reflect the interests and priorities of the different parties and provide a solid basis for reaching a global agreement."
