A climate agreement is concluded!
The final plenary session got underway at 9.30pm in a hall packed to capacity. The President of the conference, Patricia Espinosa, in response to emotive calls from outside the hall, allowed far more people into the room than was probably safe – but we all wanted to be there, not just watch on a screen outside! She herself received a standing ovation as she came into the room.
We expected some countries to be negative about the new text, which was evidently a huge compromise in some areas – for us NGOs as well as for countries. And, true to form, Bolivia spoke passionately and at length about how the text did not recognise the need to keep global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees, and that current pledges on emissions cuts nowhere near achieve this.
But after Bolivia, every other country spoke out to say that yes, they had compromised, but the process to reach this text had been open and transparent, and of course negotiations mean compromise.
Speaker after speaker said the same, to loud applause. And the text was finally gavelled through around 3 am, with Bolivia still very unhappy. I
I feel so different from the numbness after Copenhagen – but very tired, and ready for a few days off – before I attend the meeting in Cancun of the Adaptation fund Board next week.
Rachel Berger
No Comments » | Add your commentUN Climate talks – what a difference a day makes …
Just 24 hours ago civil society, press pundits and a number of
negotiators were anticipating the failure of the UN climate talks (and
no hopes for a deal to meet the needs of the worlds poorest people).
There was talk of “the death of multi-lateralism” and yet, at (quite
literally) the last minute the Parties took a gamble.
All bets were off … The stakes were incredibly high … And the
unexpected winners look to be developing countries …
It may not be the “jackpot” ( no fair and binding global deal was
reached) but there were some real winnings to be shared out.
Perhaps the biggest prize is the new global climate fund which has
been announced- it will have a board made up of more developing
countries than developed countries (hurrah!) and should be the one
stop shop for climate funding.
Now we just need to make sure it doesn’t end up as an empty fund and that a large amount is earmarked for adaptation – the need of poor
women, men and children right now.
So we leave Cancun with restored faith in the process and a renewed
energy that change (not just climatic) can and must happen.
Adios amigos!
Helen
Campaigns
Last night in Cancun!
This has been an unreal day. We arrived by 8.30 this morning for a plenary session to review the progress during the night towards a last-minute agreement on tackling climate change; the plenary session didn’t happen then, and is now scheduled for 8 PM! after a short meeting with some of the UK government delegation, who felt that ‘luck and skill (on the part of the Mexicans)’ in diplomacy would be needed to get an outcome here. Then – what to do, except get out of the soulless conference centre, and go, for the first time, to the pool and beach beyond the conference centre hotel. It was swarming with delegates, people in suits with their shoes off, trying to get a little sleep, and a few people paddling in the calm sea. A bit of a break before what promises to be a long night of meetings. At 5pm a proposed text of an agreement was released, and delegates reconvened to discuss it. Those of us from NGOs following adaptation are surprised and pleased with the new text: it doesn’t have everything we hoped for, of course, but more than we expected. If it goes through, there is much that we can work with in the months and years to come. But it’s a big IF. Let’s hope by morning we will still be smiling!
No Comments » | Add your commentMichael Gove take note – Sustainable development education IS important!
There is real concern that sufficient progress is not being made at the UN climate change talks in Cancun. If things don’t take a serious turn for better we coudl reach the situation where by 2012 (when the first period of the Kyoto Protocol ends) there will be no international, binding agreement with regard to climate change.
One thing that has been agreed upon however was put through with the help of over 100 young people around the world from various youth groups including the UK Youth Climate Coalition. Their slogan ‘No decisions about us, without us.’ must have hit a chord.
Article 6 ensures that ‘education for sustainable development is supported, especially outreach by youth nongovernmental organizations. The policy also ensures equity, sustainability and opportunity to young people and women from all backgrounds and cultures’.
Helen Marsh, Practical Action’s climate change campaigner is at the talks
‘It’s fantastic to see real progress on the issue of climate change education here in Cancun. In fact, this is the one area where Parties are showing real ambition and flexibility – accepting all of the asks put forward by the youth delegation and achieving a decision in a record-breaking 90 minutes! Let’s hope this sets 
a strong marker for other areas of the negotiations in the remaining few days’.
So Mr Gove, when you sort out the details of the new curriculum please do take note of your colleagues in the UN and ensure sustainable development has its rightful place at the heart of our British education system.
No Comments » | Add your comment
UN climate talks – UK – 60 by 30?
Yesterday though, I felt relatively proud to be a ‘Brit’.
- Firstly, the UK Committee on Climate Change called for the UK to raise the global bar – by setting the target of reducing UK emissions by 60% by 2030. It’s bold and ambitious but let’s hope our government listens to the advice from the Committee set up to … advise them on climate targets.
- Secondly, having attended a session with the UK’s Sir Nicholas Stern – an inspiring tour de force in the field – I’m more clear than ever that the neccessity to cut carbon emissions is also hugely desirable.
In his words,’ … we are talking about a new industrial revolution, transforming the way we see and do things. It’s time we started looking at the opportunities rather than the costs’.
The task is huge – essentially to almost halve the carbon emissions of each person in the next decade (from 7 tonnes to 4) - but it’s this change of spirit, focusing on the positives, which will be the power behind the new industrial revolution.
A day at the negotiations…Monday December 6th
6.20 alarm goes off. I get up for a bit of yoga; I pack my bag with computer and relevant papers, before going to the beach for a quick swim. Last week strong winds meant the waves were very rough. Now it’s calm, and a 15 minute swim in the sea sets me up for a day in gloomy air conditioned rooms.
7.30 I grab a quick breakfast, pack some fruit for lunch, and walk briskly to catch a bus for the 10km ride to the conference centre transport hub is, with meeting rooms and exhibit space for NGOs.
8.45 I grab a reasonable looking sandwich and salad for my lunch and a coffee and rush off to the first meeting
9.00 As a coordinator of the NGOs working on adaptation, I attend a meeting to strategise the network’s activities for the day. We get news of sessions closed to observers from friends on delegations, and hear political analysis and discuss the key messages we want to get out to ministers.
10.00 A group of us from the UK meet to prepare for a meeting with Chris Huhne – planned for this morning, but he has been called to chair important negotiations, so it will be tomorrow.
10.45 I catch a bus for the 8km ride to where the negotiations are happening. I print off some documents I need for the rest of the day,
11.30 I chair a meeting of the NGO group on adaptation. We agree key points, and given the urgency of getting them to ministers, we disperse to prepare these points.
12.00 An hour getting up to date with the latest info from emails, and then a bus back to the Cancun Messe
14.00 To the daily meeting of the Cliamte Action Netowrk. Usually attended by well over 100 people. I report to the meeting on our meetings of earlier in the day.
15.00 I meet Helen, to work out a list of people we want to meet up with here, and what we want to talk to them about.
15.30 We meet up with Petr from a Czech NGO, who is one of our partner organisations, to discuss arrangements for him hosting the exhibition we have organised, called Adaptation Against the Odds, in Prague, and also to talk about some training for local NGOs that we are planning with his help.
16.30 I grab some more food, as I will be in a meeting until late, too late for a meal at the hotel. I write a quick article for the daily overnight newssheet published to give strong messages to delegates, sharing our key messages.
17.15 A bus to the negotiations centre again, for a meeting of a forum of a wide range of organisations all trying to assist governments to understand adaptation. The one positive aspect of all these bus rides is that there is usually someone I know on the bus that it is really useful to talk to. This time it is someone from a research institute who has done some great work on adaptation and is well respected. We talk about how the financial downturn is affecting our respective organisations, and the meeting we are both going to.
18.00 The meeting is useful, but too long! Hard to stay focused at the end of the day. I get a couple of chances to share what Practical Action can contribute. The chair of the meeting knows me and likes our work, so I get brought into the discussion. Then a couple of us offer to organise the next meeting in June, using more creative ways of getting people to talk to each other and share information – and that’s welcomed.
8.30 I rush out, to catch the first of two buses to get back to the hotel, and am able to have a useful conversation with Ian from the World Bank who wants to ask me about work we are doing to get local government involved in disseminating information.
21.45 Back at the hotel, I check my emails, upload the blog and then to bed, where I allow myself to read a few pages of my novel to unwind.
UN Climate talks – ‘if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with’?
I’m a romantic and an optimist.
I don’t believe you should settle for second best and I hold the same principle for the UN climate talks.
We all desperately want Cancun to be a success – it’s in the best interests of every one of the 6 billion of us on the planet.
So, Practical Action, with over 200 other NGOs is pushing to ensure that, at the very least, a fair ‘Global Climate Fund’ is launched during the negotiations. A tangible sign of progress.
However, in the rush to see the Fund established it’s crucial that it delivers in the best way possible for poor communities. The spirit of ‘if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with’ cannot apply here.
The Fund has to be fair and should therefore cover the following:
1) The Fund needs to be managed under the UN process
2) It should be the ‘one stop shop’ for the vast majority of funds for climate change
3) 50% of all money through the Fund must be for climate adaptation
4) Its Board cannot be donor dominated – developing country voices must be heard
A fair Fund is overdue. Now is the time to deliver for the world’s poorest people.
Helen
Campaigns
No Comments » | Add your commentA weekend in Cancun
Here at the UN climate conference, the negotiations continued on Saturday with some open and other closed sessions. But I had other work, representing Practical Action at several events, and welcomed a break from the long bus rides and dreary conference venue, and the awful plastic food! On Saturday morning I had a leisurely start – with a meeting at 10, just 10 minutes walk along the beach at another hotel. This meeting was about support for community groups to get together and present their expert knowledge on preparation for disasters in international conferences. Practical Action is committed to supporting local groups to get together to be a stronger voice. The majority of the people at the meeting were from local groups, many from Guatemala, also from Mexico and Peru – a good chance to listen to Spanish, and speak a little.
I left to reach a conference on Agriculture and Rural Development Day at another hotel a few kms up the beach road. Here there was a panel discussion on supporting small farmers to scale up effective agricultural practices to help adapt to climate change and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. In contrast to the previous event, there was no representation on the panel from either NGOs or farmers groups! And questions and comments after the presentations showed the strong feelings from the audience on this matter. Then I had lunch, while being interviewed by a consultant on Practical Action’s views on using the carbon market to support certain farming practices. (We don’t think that will really benefit small scale farmers). Then I rushed off to another conference at another seaside hotel (no time to get to the beach though!) This was about development and climate, run by the International Institute for Environment and Development. Here I met up with Practical Action colleagues from Kenya, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka who are also here in Cancun as well as many friends in development. Two of our colleagues presented at this event on our work. After an interesting afternoon session, back to the hotel to catch up by email from what has been happening in the negotiations: some new proposed text, ministers arriving, negotiations still going on… but this is our one night off, and there’s a party at a local night club just for the conference participants – so off by bus to that!
On Sunday I returned with colleagues to the IIED conference, where Practical Action staff sat together over coffee to brainstorm on what our future work on climate change should focus on, before joining a session on adaptation. After lunch, off to a 4 hour meeting with NGO colleagues in Climate Action Network to discuss progress this last week, and how we can work this week to try to influence progress in this very complex process. A quick visit to a reception to network with people (soft drinks only!) before dinner, emails and an early night.
No Comments » | Add your commentUN climate talks – dont go Zombie …
Zombie films are scary.
So are zombie negotiations.
As we enter the second, and crucial, week of the UN climate talks we need to see a step-change in the ambition and commitment of all 192 countries here in Cancun.
If not, there are fears that we could see a ‘zombie scenario’ – where talks continue but are effectively dead.
We can’t afford for this to happen. Nor can the millions of women, men and children living uncertain futures on the front-line of climate change.
We need to encourage and applaud those groups and countries, such as the EU, Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand, openly showing their support for a second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol (setting binding emission targets).
And we need to cast a light on countries such as Japan, Canada and Russia who are unlikely to do the same, effectively meaning that after 2012 (when the first period of the Kyoto Protocol ends) there will be no international, binding agreement with regard to climate change.
Just like in a zombie movie, failure to make real progress this week will ultimately result in death and devastation.
It’s time for negotiators to wake up and put their politics to one side, for the sake of the world’s poorest people.
Helen
Campaigns
No Comments » | Add your commentUN climate talks Cancun – matrimonial bliss?
For many, Cancun is the ultimate honeymoon destination.
Well, for the next two weeks, Cancun will be home to the UN climate change negotiations – 192 member states, the world’s journalists and the NGO community – but the prospect of a honeymoon period seems slim.
That’s because the ‘wedding day’, where binding and solemn vows are made, has never taken place. The world’s poorest women and men have been jilted and are still waiting at the aisle.
Copenhagen, the home of last year’s climate talks, promised to deliver the ‘fair and binding’ global deal on climate change. But we all know that it never materialised. The job in Cancan is in many ways harder – whilst expectations are lower (much lower), these negotiations have to rebuild faith that the multi-lateral process can deliver for the world’s poorest people.
Practical Action will be focusing specifically on ‘adaptation’ throughout the talks – more funding, more fairly delivered, more focused on the most vulnerable.
Why? Because our work on the ground, from the pastoralist lands of Kenya to the floodplains of Bangladesh, makes a compelling case for adaptation (providing people with the skills, tools and opportunity to adapt to their changing climate).
In fact, the future of whole communities depends on the exchange of meaningful and lasting commitments, right now.
Helen
Campaigns
P.s Keep up-to-date with the progress of the negotiations by following my daily blog …
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