With just a few negotiation days left and the high-level segment of the COP 16 in Cancun now officially started, ministers and their teams face a stark choice in deciding what kind of global climate fund they should throw their support behind – one that will largely continue the traditional donor-recipient relationship between industrialized countries and developing countries and mimic development aid flows (model of the World Bank climate investment funds) or the one which puts that relationship on a new footing and restores developing countries’ faith in the seriousness of the developed countries commitments (a larger scale and improved Adaptation Fund model). Given this introduction, it is not difficult to figure out which of the two strongly opposing options I personally favor…. (more…)
A Stark Choice — Two Opposing Models for the Global Climate Fund
Climate Talks in Tianjin: Will China Assume a High or Low Profile?
On the road from Copenhagen to Cancun, climate negotiators from around the world will meet in Tianjin, China, from October 4th to October 9th for a last round of negotiations prior to the next COP in Mexico at the end of November.
ClimatEquity asks Chinese climate expert Yu Jie, who has participated in UNFCCC negotiations and COPs since 2004, about her expectations for Tianjin and Cancun.
CLIMATEQUITY: What do you expect will happen during the UNFCCC talks in Tianjin? Will we see any progress? Will climate finance be one area where there might be some high expectation for Tianjin and Cancun? What is the Chinese position on climate financing resources?
YU JIE: At the last session in August in Bonn, the parties in the working group on long term cooperative action (AWG LCA) finally agreed on the new chair’s text to work on. Currently, this text with 70 pages will have to be cut down to more manageable size, although it will be an extremely though job to remove hundreds of brackets, particularly when the thread to connect these pieces is missing. This missing thread is strong political will which in reality, seems to have been sapped by the domestic legislative process in the United States. Therefore, I agree with the view that climate finance could be an area where a substantial result in Cancun seems possible. Tianjin will then be one of the stops to build consensus towards Cancun.
The Chinese government holds the same position as the G77 on finance, but in contrast to many developing countries, it is pretty neutral on issues related to finance such as the debate who should govern a Global Green Fund. On providing resources for financing, China thinks they should come from a global carbon tax, rather than from carbon market proceeds. (more…)
Bonn Climate Talks: Basically, Busted from the Beginning…
On Monday, the climate negotiations go into their next round toward the COP 16 in Cancun, when UNFCCC delegates come together in Bonn. But the hopes of those expecting a boon in talks for a 2012 post-Kyoto climate regime are likely to be busted. Already before the meeting starts, it seems certain that the results will be minimal — at best. Turnout of negotiators, in the midst of vacation season, is expected to be low. Even lower are observers’ expectations: Basically, the only joint approach currently thinkable is one blockading further progress in emissions cuts, in which the industrialized countries and the largest emerging market countries operating as BASIC group (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) seem to be, sadly, in agreement….
US Billionaires — the Real Innovative Climate Financing Source?
The real innovative climate financing resource that everybody is looking for might have a name. It 
could be Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, George Soros or Oprah Winfrey. Forget about carbon taxes, airline levies and cruise line surcharges which a UN High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing – including billionaire George Soros — is currently mulling over in an increasingly desperate search to find new finance sources to pay for mitigation and adaptation effort in developing countries. They are controversial and politically hard to implement. For the real feel-good and quick solution, the 20-member expert panel should look no further than, lets say Seattle, Omaha or New York. 
Especially now that both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are appealing to their fellow US billionnaires to follow their lead and to donate at least half of their wealth for good causes. It could be done with a simple stroke of a pen (or keyboard, nowadays). In fact, this is probably exactly how those enormous fortunes have ballooned in the age of unfettered financial speculation…
American Power: YES, American Responsibility: NOT REALLY…
Source: http://kerry.senate.gov
After months of haggling, praying, fearing, hoping, threatening and cajoling, the Senate version of a comprehensive climate and energy bill was finally released just yesterday by US Senators Joe Liebermann (an Independent from Connecticut) and John Kerry (a Democrat from Massachusetts). The draft bill — no doubt close to the outer limit of the politically feasible in the current US domestic political climate and carefully calibrated to reconcile many diverging domestic views and competing lobbies — is nevertheless a disappointment, particularly for those hoping for a significant commitment of the United States to contribute to international adaptation efforts.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U04UOwkX2r4[/youtube]
Aptly named the American Power Act (APA), the 987-page behemoth only in a short section and one subtitle in few words mentions international adaptation and instead underscores national interests over international cooperation. Indeed, a 4-page summary of the main sponsors reads more like a glossy sales brochure intend on convincing the American voter that the far-reaching climate and energy legislation proposal will benefit the American consumer, secure American leadership in global climate policy, increase American energy independence and overall ensure the continuation of the American way of life — no word about American responsibility (if one believes in the polluter-pays-principle) to help those people and countries most severely affected by global climate change. (more…)
Nuclear in the US: A renaissance looks different
The biggest renaissance we are experiencing in terms of nuclear power is the political debate about it. Conservatives in Germany such as Norbert Röttgen, Federal Minister of Environment and Nuclear Safety, view nuclear power as a dead-end technology and even newspapers as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), historically right-leaning, report on the disastrous finance of the construction of new power plants.
Unfortunately, the debate in the US is not quite as frank, but instead characterized by ideological half-truths, political tactics and a poorly informed public. Even Barack Obama, until now the main savior of the climate in the US, argues for the construction of new nuclear power plants in the US (e.g. in his State of the Union address). Consequently, the budget proposal of the White House contains more than $50 billion in loan guarantees for new plants in 2011. Do we face a renaissance of nuclear power in the US? (more…)
Post-Copenhagen: Swing time in the United States, Europe plays the Blues
Photo: pidjoe, License: iStockphoto
What becomes obvious for a European working on climate change in Washington DC is the completely different perception of the Copenhagen outcome on both sides of the Atlantic. While European governments are frustrated and disappointed, most climate advocates in the United States define Copenhagen as a success and an important step forward towards tackling global climate change. Why is it Swing time in the US and Europe plays the climate Blues? (more…)
It’s crunch time!
It is quite amazing how many different negotiation texts and informal working groups one could see in the first week of the COP. This is a stark contrast to the last two COPs I have visited, Bali in 2007 and Poznan in 2008, where the talks started very slowly and only in the Bali-COP had a dramatic finale. Copenhagen definitely brings a stronger dynamic and a higher speed – even before Ministers and heads of States have arrived. It’s crunch time in global climate diplomacy!
Copenhagen brings more direct confrontations, new proposals and immediate rejections. Todd Stern, the US key negotiator, laid out the perspective of his administration, including “I don’t envision public funds, certainly not from the United States, going to China” in this press conference. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister he Yafei responded by calling Todd Stern “extremely irresponsible” and challenged the rich countries to live up to their historic responsibility. At a later briefing, Stern said his comments about the public funding issue and China were “a bit unfortunate.”
The question of responsibility was also adressed to US Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) in this BBC-interview. His only response when asked if the US shouldn’t take into account that that the average American emits 20 tones of CO2 per person, Europe-10, China-5, and Africa-1, was that, “There’s no way this is gonna pass the Congress.”
Climate Change Diplomacy in India
US Secretary of State is in New Delhi on her State Visit with lots of agenda to be discussed between two countries and one important agenda being Climate Change. In her speech in presence of Indian Environment Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh, she advised India to take up ‘legally binding targets’ to make Copenhagen Deal a success. US is vigorously carrying out ‘Climate Diplomacy’ in India and China for last few months and pressurising these countries to be ambitious in their commitments. (more…)
