The stakes are high as ministers from across the world will descend here to try starting Monday, December 7, to transform the draft into an agreement that can rein in emissions that trap the Sun’s heat, warming the Earth’s surface and oceans.
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Is this a good sign?
But the senior negotiators believe there will be a way through. While India has been targeted for expanding its coal usage, New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment said focusing only on coal and India was an “unnecessary distraction” and creating “bad blood” at the conference.
While there are plenty of other potential troublemakers – Saudi Arabia, in particular – India is regarded as the one country that might have a mind to bring down the talks, and be big enough to actually do it.
The document addresses deforestation, food security, poverty and a host of other issues, with chunks of the document focused on what developed countries can do to reduce carbon dioxide missions by a yet to be determined level by 2050. Sponsored by Pakistan and the Philippines, the 37-power text reaffirmed the solemn commitment of all States to fulfill their obligations to promote universal respect for and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He said it was about recognising what was already happening – China pledged US$3.1 billion in support to developing countries, when president Xi met president Obama at the White House – rather introducing any requirement he said. However, developed countries emerges from the whole situation as greedy ones that just want to enjoy manmade life luxuries and that contradicts with the fact that they must plan for ecosystem-based solutions for climate change to put the burden on someone else’s shoulders, which is something indecisive to their opinion on developing counterparts as inferiors. This was dismissed in some quarters as early talks positioning.
The final deal is likely to be a trade-off between the rich countries demands for monitoring and oversight of all countries’ efforts and the developing world’s need for financing.
A blueprint for a pact to cap greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming was delivered on Saturday by negotiators from 195 nations as India hoped for a “just and equitable” outcome at the climate conference.
The debate is how to include this goal in the agreement.
“I feel like the times are ripe for an agreement”, said report co-author Claudia Tebaldi, a project scientist in the climate change research section of NCAR’s Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory.
Whether a goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees from pre-industrial will be included in the agreement alongside a separate aim of a sub-two degree goal.
It has been an odd week for the Australian delegation, with a few wins, a few accusations and one near diplomatic death experience.
The most important event, in terms of the expectations of the people from all over the world, who are looking on, is the negotiations themselves.
Rethink the 2-degree target..
There is also intense disagreement over the agreement is worded in a way that would bind rich countries to specific continued investments, beyond the deal struck in Copenhagen for $100bn a year in public and private money to flow by 2020. And they got away with some light stories in the Australian media rather than a full outbreak in the conference hallways.
“It started out as a group of small, Pacific island nations, numbering about 10 or 11”.
“Negotiators today turn a draft text over to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who will then set the rules for week two”.
By all accounts there was some moderate progress, but the text is still expected to be in an unruly state by the middle of Saturday in Paris when it is due to be handed over to the French.
Chief US negotiator Todd Stern said attempts to draw up a draft deal acceptable to all sides were advancing, however.
There’s still much work to be done 6 days into the negotiations.
There is an enormous amount of work to be done.
In its 2012 report headlined “Climate protection between hope and despair” Greenpeace International confirms that UNFCCC member countries failed to live up to their promises under the Kyoto Protocol to cut down their emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.
France has been building for 18 months to this moment.
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In Paris, far from the jousting in Washington over climate change, Austinites are carving out time to eat some croissants and take in sights as they observe the talks.
