Island Pavilion: a taste of the Islands in Durban

Dr Netatua Pelesikoti addresses the room during the Question and Answer session 

Durban, South Africa, 1 December 2011 - There’s a corner office at the UN Climate Conference that has brought a taste of the islands to Durban, South Africa. Decorated with a bright sign and a poster of the Pacific, the Island Pavilion opened yesterday to a full room for the very first side event on climate change mitigation in the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS).

The Island Pavilion is a partnership between the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC).

Pacific delegates outside the Island Pavilion

Over the course of the week side events have been planned during the lunch breaks of the conference. At 1.30pm each day different people will present on the different themes of the day.

Yesterday the Island Pavilion opened to a full room for the first side event on climate change mitigation in the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS).

Dr Joeri Rogelj, contributing author to the UNEP Emissions Gap Report presented on the Gigatonne Gap and the implications on Small Islands Developing States. This set the scene for the following presentations which included the release of the Pacific Renewable Energy DVD Series by SPREP.

Delegates showcasing the Pacific Renewable Energy DVD Series

The Pacific Islands Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy Project (PIGGAREP) aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the Pacific region by 33% by 2015. There are 11 Pacific islands that are taking part in the event for which documentaries have been made outlining lessons learnt and achievements made.

Mr. Joseph McGann of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre made the final presentation on the background on mitigation actions within implementation.

Mr Joseph McGann

Over the course of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to the Framework on Climate Change, the Island Pavilion will be the venue to showcase the climate change work undertaken by the SIDS.

On Thursday the theme is Climate change mitigation in the SIDS, Friday it is Climate change adaptation, Saturday is the ‘marketplace’ day where there will be a sharing of different ideas. Each day the event starts at 1.30pm.

If you are attending the 17th Conference of the Parties and would like to visit the Island Pavilion, make your way to the country delegation offices beneath the main ICC building on lower level three. The venue holds free giveaways including flowers for delegates to wear to raise island visibility amongst the 20,000 delegates.

Pacific fights for survival at COP 17

ilNewslink:  http://www.acp.int/content/pacific-fights-survival-cop17

Deputy Director-General of SPREP, Mr Kosi Latu, delegate at ACP COP 17 Preparatory Meeting

 Brussels, 29 November 2011/ ACP Newsdesk: On an international scene fixated with the global financial crisis and the tangle of creating effective and sustainable development policies, Pacific nations join the UN’s COP17 climate change summit this week in Durban, South Africa with a very clear and basic focus – the survival of their peoples.

At a recent technical meeting in Brussels, delegates from Africa, Pacific and the Caribbean called for a “bold and innovative” approach to the global talks, looking towards a united ACP position on climate change.

For some Pacific members in particular, the issue is especially critical. The outcomes of COP 17 - convening 28 November to 9 December - could spell significant implications on their future as independent nations.

“It is true we have to look at with development, poverty reduction and building green economies. These are very important in addressing climate change. But for us in the Pacific it’s more than that,” said Deputy Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) Mr Kosi Latu, who presented the region’s position in Brussels mid-month.

“I’m talking about the survival of our peoples in the sense that due to climate change impacts, we stand to lose our land, our histories and cultures, our nationalities.”

The evacuation of entire seaside communities in Pacific countries due to climate change impacts have been widely publicised by local media, such as the cases of the Cateret Islands in Papua New Guinea and Tegua Island in Vanuatu, dubbed as the world’s first “climate change refugees”.

The governments of Tuvalu and Kiribati have also considered the bleak option of relocating their populations to neighbouring countries, even as increased flooding and storm surges across the region have cause damage to crops and infrastructure, as well as loss of life.

“It gives us the chills,” Samoan representative Josephine Stowers Fiu told ACP peers. “We’re talking about the lives of our people – what is going to happen in the next five, ten, twenty years. We need to push forward with a more stringent approach to seeking a legally binding agreement [on the global reduction of green house gas emissions].”

But selling the urgency of this message has been easier said than done, even amongst regional partners that make up the 79 members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. While all agree on the need for a global binding agreement to be finalised in Durban, key differences have also emerged on a specific priority focus on the climate change debate.

“Sustainable development and poverty eradication are the priorities to Africa,” stated Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Chair of the African Group.

Representing the largest sub-group in the ACP including 33 Least Developed Countries, the African region is primarily concerned with equitable resource sharing, climate change financing, capacity building and technology transfer.

Meanwhile in the Caribbean, the focus has been on improved disbursements of the US$ 100 billion in climate change funding pledged by developed countries by 2020. While the region shares geographical similarities with its Pacific partners, concerns tend to focus on economic growth, rather than actual survival.

To compound this, new challenges have emerged with recent key geopolitical developments since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The global economic crisis is likely to dampen the push for more assistance. Meanwhile, emerging economies such as China, India, Russia, and South Korea are climbing the ranks as top ten global emitters. Yet under current agreements, they do not have the same emission obligations as those placed on developed nations.

“My big fear is that the financial crisis will negatively impact on the assistance we receive from developed countries. In fact, the question still remains whether these pledges will come as new funds, or simply the countries’ Overseas Development Assistance repackaged as climate change funds,” continued Mr. Latu.

While Pacific remains under threat of climate change effects, he has modest expectations for the outcomes of the Durban talks:

“Of course the aim for the Pacific region is to get a global binding agreement that will commit everyone to cut global emissions, but I am skeptical. At the very least however, we should at least finalise a concrete date for this to happen.”

The ACP climate change meeting in mid-November compiled a number of shared concerns to raise at COP17, including the need to limit the rise of the global surface temperature to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels by 2100 and for all Parties work to ensure that global greenhouse gas emissions peak by 2015.

ACP negotiators also called for disbursements of climate change funds to be resolved and mechanism in place for post-2012, when the first Kyoto Commitment Period ends.

"Climate change has been accepted as a reality - now we need the political will to make the necessary changes," added Mr. Latu. “We need radical solutions, and for us who are particularly vulnerable in the ACP Group – we need to be speaking with one voice.”

- Josephine Latu, ACP Press Attache

Climate Fund Board must get going: EU

Newslink:  http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/11/30/climate-fund-board-must-get-going-eu

The EU wants the Green Climate Fund board to start working as soon as next year, a union representative said on Wednesday.

"In the context of a satisfactory outcome on the green climate fund as well as the overall package from Durban, we want to see the board start as early as 2012," said the chief climate negotiator for the EU and Poland Tomasz Chruszczow.

He was addressing the media on the Cop17 climate talks taking place in Durban.

Countries agreed to form the fund during climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico, and a transitional committee was formed.

The next step would be the composition of a board to run the fund, which is meant to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

Chruszczow said the report compiled by the fund's transitional committee would be tabled and discussed on Wednesday afternoon.

"We believe that the committee involving high level experts who have real understanding and knowledge of how to make the fund a success, has proved to be a valuable one and enable a real progress since Cancun," he said.

The EU believed the fund would play a huge role in furthering mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.

It would also help with issues such as technology co-operation and transfer.

He said the EU welcomed the report compiled by the transitional committee, saying that it was "inevitably a compromise".

"There are probably points that we and others would have preferred to see handled differently. However we believe that it should be possible to agree the draft as it stands."

It would be counter-productive to undertake further technical discussions on the instrument, he said

Finding strength in numbers - Pacific stands firm with AOSIS

AOSIS meeting

Durban, South Africa, 30 November 2011 - Pacific delegations present at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP17, currently underway in Durban are standing firm with the Alliance of Small Island States on key positions under negotiation.

“We must be solid in what we do and continue to advocate that on climate change issues we should remain together,” urged the President of Kiribati from his island home at the forefront of the impacts of climate change in the Pacific.

Fourteen Pacific island countries are represented at COP17 under the banner of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). They are the Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The Kyoto Protocol must live on

In collaboration with other island nation members of AOSIS from Africa, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea, the Pacific joined the grouping in consolidating the call for strong decisions around the Kyoto Protocol.

“We must adopt a decision that establishes a 5-year second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, to run from 2013 to 2017, with a single, legally-binding, base year of 1990, as part of a two-track outcome,” said a statement from AOSIS.

“This two track outcome must include the adoption of a mandate to negotiate a legally-binding instrument under the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) with negotiations to be concluded by December 2012.

“This timeframe is needed to ensure legally-binding commitments and actions from all major emitters commencing on January 1, 2013.”

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the five-year period 2008-2012.

“Durban must deliver an ambitious outcome with three essential elements,” said the AOSIS statement, including “certainty that there will be a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol with an enhanced set of rules to strengthen its environmental integrity.

“We must have a “Durban Mandate” to capture the work of the AWG-LCA in the form of a new, legally binding protocol next year at COP18.”

AOSIS called on the new instrument to complement the Kyoto Protocol with binding mitigation commitments for non-Kyoto Parties and mitigation actions for developing countries, as well as address all other elements of the Bali Action Plan.

Tokelau targets 100% renewable energy

Delegation from Tokelau with Faipule Foua Toloa (middle)

Durban, South Africa, 30 November - By September next year, the 1,500 residents on the island nation of Tokelau will be 100% renewable energy efficient. That’s the strong message the Faipule Foua Toloa, the Ulu or titular heard of Tokelau is sharing far and wide in Durban South Africa. 

A delegation of three from Tokelau are at the UN Climate Conference, attending the different events and meetings that take place alongside the climate negotiations which has brought together over 20,000 delegates.

“People are amazed by our strong message that we are sharing with the world,” said Toloa.

“Although we are the smallest of the small we have a great vision with leaders in our community such as our elders and our fono are committed to this. It is a very expensive project but we are doing it.” 

The total project will cost Tokelau 8.5 million dollars that will result in a 93% photovoltaic system with coconut oil hybrid as a reserve. Tokelau is borrowing funds for this project, but is still seeking support to help the island nation reach their target. 

“When we looked at the costs we learnt that we spend so much money to buy fossil fuel that we’ll be recovering these costs in the next five years and we can use those funds in other development areas.” 

The population of Tokelau resides on three atolls which make up the nation that is currently under New Zealand administration. The delegation of three from Tokelau are attending the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework to the Convention on Climate Change under the New Zealand badge.

Tokelau declared a state of emergency in October this year after six months without substantial rain. It lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and it is understood that the highest point for the island nation is 5 meters. In the face of this climate change adversity, Tokelau is persevering to make a difference.

“We are challenging the world with our renewable energy targets. We cannot sit and pity ourselves that we are amongst one of the first countries to go under water – the smallest and the lowest. We can make a difference and begin to do something.”

The Green Climate Fund: Pacific urges action – no renegotiation

Samoa's Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Aliioaiga Feturi Elisaia at the Pacific strategy meeting for UNFCCC COP 17

Durban, South Africa, Tuesday 29th November 2011 - Pacific delegations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference currently underway in Durban, South Africa, are pushing for agreement on the Green Climate Fund.  

It is anticipated that the Green Climate Fund will channel a significant portion of the US$100 billion a year promised by developed countries by 2020 to help developing countries effectively responding to Climate Change. 

"We have spent quite some time trying to design the new Green Climate Fund,” said Samoa’s ambassador to the United Nations, Aliioaiga Feturi Elisaia. Ambassador Feturi is also the Pacific SIDS representative on the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund, tasked with developing the modalities of the fund for consideration at the Climate Change Conference this week.

"It’s important that in Durban we reach agreement to progress towards operationalising the Fund,” stressed Ambassador Feturi.

But keen observers of the Climate Change Conference say that powerful developed countries may utilize the Fund as a bargaining chip to seek gains in other areas of negotiation. 

The United States, for instance, announced last week it did not support the Green Climate Fund proposal from the Transitional Committee, seeking more clarity on private sector involvement in the Fund. Saudi Arabia has also voiced its opposition to the proposed Fund, calling for response measures to be included in the scope and objectives of the fund. Response measures as currently argued by Saudi Arabia include compensation for oil-producing countries for revenue lost due to climate change actions. 

“It is important for us to capture some of the gains that are already in the report to try and resist any renegotiation,” said Ambassador Feturi, maintaining that for the Pacific, accessing the fund is critical. 

“We acknowledge that for us in the Pacific, accessing those funds will be a challenge due to our island countries’ limited resources to deal with these procedures,” said the Ambassador. “That is why we (the Transitional Committee) purposely included reference to utilising regional organisation resources for those who have capacity constraints. Everybody should have access to the Fund, whether through national means or regional organisations.”

Ambassador Feturi added that the report of the Transitional Committee looks at simplifying some of the procedures to access the Green Climate Fund. It also seeks to strengthen the ability of countries to access the Fund, including through providing support for planning and for project proposal development.

I think it is important for submissions to the Fund to be aligned with countries’ own national development plans – it’s the countries themselves who need to determine that, and they need to develop their skills to do this effectively.

If the Transitional Committee report on operationalising the Green Climate Fund is approved in Durban, its Board will be setup as soon as possible. The Board will review expressions of interests and make recommendations on the selection of the host country for the Fund for endorsement at next year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar.

“It will be important for the Pacific to be represented on the Board, for we, as a climate change vulnerable region, obviously have a vested interest in this important process,” said Ambassador Feturi.

The Climate Change Conference, UNFCCC COP 17, opened on 28 November and will close 9 December, for more information on this please visit: http://www.unfccc.int/

The Pacific in Durban - COP 17

Seeking urgency and effective outcomes

Durban, South Africa, 28 November 2011 - At the forefront of climate change impacts, the vulnerable islands of the Pacific remain a critical influence at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) that opened today in Durban, South Africa.

Some 20,000 delegates from around the world are attending the COP17 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Fourteen Pacific island countries are represented at COP17 under the banner of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) which is an intergovernmental organisation of low-lying coastal and small Island countries from around the world.

 

Pacific members of AOSIS include the Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

“Climate Change will be the dominant feature of our future development, or our future demise,” said President of Kiribati, HE Anote Tong, from his island home of low-lying atolls struggling against the rising tides of the Pacific. 

“I think a lot of countries do not understand that the impacts of Climate Change range over a very wide spectrum, from the most immediate and the most urgent, to those who do not feel it at the moment,” said President Tong. 

“We are at the end of the spectrum which means that we are facing the problem today, yesterday, and our communities are being threatened.”

Financing – key issue for the Pacific

President Tong stressed that an agreement on financing in Durban will be vital for the Pacific.

“We must have that financing. I’m not raising the question of our future here because it’s virtually unthinkable. The problem is here - we are facing the problem today.”

Samoa’s ambassador to the United States, Aliioaiga Feturi Elisaia, echoed President Tong’s sentiments.

“We are at the frontline of the impacts of climate change in the Pacific, so for us it is not something that is theoretical,” said Ambassador Feturi.

“Our people are living through the real impacts of climate change –increased severity of tropical cyclones, significant coastal erosion, threats to fresh water supplies and food security.”

Ambassador Feturi was the Pacific representative on the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund presenting its report on the design of the fund to COP17 for consideration. It is anticipated that the Green Climate Fund will channel a significant amount of the US$100 billion a year promised by developed countries by 2020 to help developing countries deal with Climate Change.

The UNFCCC COP 17 opened on 28 November and will close 9 December, for more information on this please visit: www.unfccc.int

AOSIS Rejects Delay Until 2020

Demands Urgency for climate agreement: AOSIS Press Release

Ambassador Dessima Williams with Pacific delegates

Durban, South Africa, 28 November, 2011 - The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) says it will not accept outcomes at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP17 that propose to delay any new binding agreement or more ambitious emissions reductions until 2020, as these cannot safeguard the livelihoods and guarantee the survival of our nations.

On the eve of the opening of the Durban Climate Conference, Ambassador Dessima Williams, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations and Chair of AOSIS cautioned that if Durban puts off a legally binding agreement and closes the door on raising mitigation ambition before 2020 many of our small island states will be severely threatened.

"AOSIS is calling on the Durban conference to deliver agreement on a second five-year commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, a process to rapidly ramp up mitigation ambition, and a mandate to quickly conclude a new parallel legal agreement in 2012 to cover those not bound by the Kyoto Protocol," she said.

“After a year of record emissions growth and the hottest temperatures on record, the push by the world’s biggest carbon polluters to delay flies in the face of the overwhelming evidence in support of immediate action and represents a betrayal of the people most vulnerable to climate change and the world.

“To fulfill our moral and ethical obligation to protect our people, AOSIS will here in Durban reject any outcome that cannot ultimately safeguard our livelihoods and guarantee the survival of our nations. Why would we ever agree to a deal that has as its ultimate and inevitable consequence our own demise? If Durban puts off a legally binding agreement and closes the door on raising mitigation ambition before 2020 many of our small island states will be literally and figuratively doomed.

“As noted last week by the International Energy Agency, delaying action until 2017 would close the door to any hope of keeping warming below 2°C, and put humanity on a course to the devastation of 4°C of warming and many metres of sea-level rise. The proposed 2020 timeline would also leave more than five years between the next report of the IPCC (due in 2014) and a new round of emission reduction commitments.

 

“It is a betrayal not just of small island nations, many of whom would be destined for extinction, but a betrayal of all humanity. There are no plausible technical, economic or legal impediments for not taking the actions required by science – we need to act now!”

Gender talk at the Climate conference in Durban

Ulamila Wragg front left

Durban, South Africa, 28 November - The Pacific Gender Climate Coalition is bringing to the Climate Conference in Durban a message that gender responsiveness in any climate change work should be fundamental.

“Gender is not only about women but both men and women as we all have to respond to the impacts of climate change and for any project or activity addressing adaptation or mitigation must be gender responsive,” says Ms. Ulamila Wragg, the Pacific Coalition Coordinator.

“Apart from negotiations I am also hoping to forge partnerships that to further gender work in climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

She added that the Cook Islands now have a gender policy with Climate Change as one of its outputs and their Gender and Development Division has done a mapping on how these outputs should be furthered.

Wragg hopes to seek support to develop gender indicators to monitor the impacts of climate change and disaster preparedness on women and men, as well as build the capacity of institutions involved in Disaster Risk Management and Climate change to mainstream gender.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 17 Meeting began today on 28th November and ends on 9th December bringing together over 20,000 delegates from around the world.

PACC prepares for COP17

L - R Setaita Tavanabola (PACC), Casper Supa Solomon Islands, Paula Taufa Tonga

Durban South Arfrica 26 November 2011 - The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project will be showcased at the 17th Conference of Parties from 28 November to 10 December in Durban, South Africa that will bring together over 15,000 delegates.



Paula Taufa, Tonga



Two years since its inception the PACC Project brings with it on-the-ground climate change adaptation experience and lessons learnt and hopes to share this with the global community.

 “PACC is here to inform the global community what the project is and the achievements to date," said Project Manager Taito Nakalevu. 

“This will help contribute to the climate change debate and discussions – particularly in Finance on the issue of additionality and operationalizing the guideline on the Special Climate Change Fund. It’s important we share our experiences with the global community.”

Three national PACC coordinators will be sharing their lessons learnt under the project at a side event on Saturday 3 December in the Rio Conventions Pavilion from 12.00 – 1.30pm; Samoa under the Coastal Zone Management Sector, Tonga under the Water Resource Management Sector and Solomon Islands on the Food Production and Food Security Sector.

Moira Faletutulu, Samoa

The PACC Project has 14 member countries under three development sectors - Samoa, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tokelau and the Federated States of Micronesia under the Coastal Zone Management Sector; Fiji, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea under the Food Production and Food Security Sector; and under the Water Resource Management Sector is Tuvalu, Niue, Nauru, Tonga and Republic of Marshall Islands.

The Project is implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with SPREP. It is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) with support from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

Pacific at International climate conference

Pacific delegates in a working group

Durban, South Africa, 23 November 2011 - Pacific survival is what the region is negotiating for during the Climate conference in Durban over the next three weeks.  The 17^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework to the Convention on Climate Change is hosted in South Africa.

Preparations for a strong Pacific voice included a one day Pacific strategy meeting coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Durban.  This is followed by a two day preparatory meeting with the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) which the Pacific is part of, to form a stronger negotiating block during the discussions with over 190 parties.

“These negotiations are crucial for the survival of the Pacific region,” said Espen Ronneberg, SPREP’s climate change adviser.

SPREP's Diane Mcfadzien and Espen Ronneberg

“Many pacific communities feel the impact of climate change now and we can’t sit by and let this happen to us, by being here and arguing our case we take every step we can for Pacific survival.  Our one day meeting was to help strengthen our united Pacific ‘asks’ and strategically plan our way forward for the next three weeks.” 

For the Pacific, climate change has impacted upon the lives of many people.  In October this year Tuvalu and Tokelau declared a state of emergency due to drought conditions with the Cook Islands and Samoa experiencing several water shortages.  In the Solomon Islands and Federated States of Micronesia, traditional food crops are now difficult to grow because of salt water inundation.

L - R: Delegates from Palau and Marshall Islands

Climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions; AOSIS is asking for countries to commit to deeper emission cuts.  Science shows the Pacific region currently contributes to less than 0.03% of the World’s total greenhouse gases however we are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. 

“This is just one of the issues that the Pacific is negotiating at the Conference of the Parties we have many other negotiating agenda issues to follow over the next three weeks.”

Quick information on the Gigatonne gap

Total annual emissions must be reduced to no more than 44 gigatonnes by 2020 and continue to fall thereafter to avoid a temperature increase of over 2.0 degrees Celsius.   An even steeper decline is needed to keep warming well below 1.5 degrees to avoid devastating impacts.

Last year emissions pushed 48 gigatonnes.

To learn more about the Gigatonne Gap, visit:  http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com/2011_10_05_archive.html

For more information on the UNFCCC COP 17 in Durban, please visit: http://www.cop17-cmp7durban.com/

Climate change ministers meet in Beijing ahead of Durban summit

02 November 2011 Beijing (China Daily) --- Climate-change ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China, also known as the BASIC countries, have reached a consensus on a range of issues - including the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol - a month in advance of a conference in Durban, South Africa.

 

"There must be a Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol," said Xie Zhenhua, China's top climate change official, after the Ninth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change in Beijing on Tuesday.

"Countries should take action and put their promises into practice before 2020 and then further discuss the issues after that date on the basis of scientific analysis," Xie said.

The extension of the Kyoto Protocol became a major focus of climate change negotiations after some countries opposed the Second Commitment Period at talks in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010.

According to the protocol, developed countries are subject to binding targets on greenhouse gas emissions, while developing economies make their cuts on a voluntary basis. Japan, Russia and Canada have rejected an extension of the Kyoto agreement.

Xie said all countries are able to make proposals and suggestions, according to the principles of openness and transparency at the talks, but that all decisions should be based on the common understandings that the countries have reached in the past 20 years and the principles of equal, common, but differentiated, responsibility.

There is disagreement among the parties on whether or not to replace the Second Commitment of the Kyoto Protocol with a new protocol, a new instrument or a new system, said Alf Wills, South Africa's Conference of the Parties chief negotiator.

"What we hope to achieve, I think, is a common goal of all the BASIC countries and we hope to achieve a Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol," said Wills.

"It's the view of the BASIC countries that the rule-based system of the Kyoto Protocol provides the benchmark and the cornerstone for the future of a climate change regime or system that we would want to see," said Wills.

"We believe very strongly that there should be an extension of the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol," said Jayanthi Natarajan, the minister of state, environment and forests of India.

Ministers agreed that the Durban talks should achieve a comprehensive, fair and balanced outcome, according to a joint statement from the BASIC countries.

A Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol is the "essential priority" for the success of the Durban conference, the statement said.

The ministers emphasized that financing will be another pressing priority in the negotiations when they meet in Durban.

They agreed that the conference should decide to initiate the operation of the Green Climate Fund, thereby ensuring adequate financial support for developing countries, and they urged the developed countries to capitalize the fund from their public resources.

The developed countries have already committed to provide a combined $30 billion as "fast-start" funding for the project and then to increase that figure to $100 billion annually between 2013 and 2020 to avoid a funding gap.

Interview with SPREP's Climate Change Adviser, Espen Ronnerberg

Espen Ronnerberg, SPREP’s Climate Change Adviser has been exclusively following adaptation negotiations here in Panama. Here are his comments on the outcome of the adaptation negotiations.

Espen Ronnerberg

Ronnerberg:  After one week of talks here, we have resolved a lot of issues on adaptation. There are still a few issues that need to be fixed up and activities for the adaptation work to be decided on. But at least we have a draft text and we know what we will be dealing with. It’s a lot easier for us to prepare for Durban, at least on adaptation. We also resisted a suggestion to try and link everything together but we decided to move ahead with the positive spirit now adopted here in Panama. It’s a positive signal to other areas of negotiations here where I understand have been facing a lot of resistance from some Parties. We have to keep the big picture in mind. 

Q; So a draft text on adaptation is ready to be taken to Durban?

Ronnerberg: We will have a draft text decision presented at the plenary. Off course we never know for sure what can happen at the plenary, somebody may object but at least the working group has approved the draft decision text, for further negotiations off course. There are a number of key areas that have not been fully resolved but what we have done is clarify some of the underlying issues – the methods of work for the committee and the functions. Now that this is clear, we can all quickly look at the actual activities that the adaptation committee will be undertaking. What will be their short term tasks after Durban and what will be their long term tasks. And having that clarity in the discussion makes it a lot easier to push for things that are important for the region.

Q: What is going to be the work of this adaptation committee?

Ronnerberg: The adaptation committee is an advisory committee group aiming at improving the delivery of adaptation action at the national level. So it will be doing that particularly through guidelines to the finance committee, guidelines to the countries on how to form their plans and programmes and also to develop a yearly report on the state of adaptation work, which will then give us as Parties, information that we can utilise to direct financing to a particular region or to a particular sector because it will give us an overview of what is actually happening. If we can identify that some countries are not getting some assistance or some sectors aren’t getting any help, ten we take remedial action to address that. We need to have this logical framework that we can work with and hopefully the proposed adaptation committee will be able to do that. It’s a welcome that we are getting this committee now.

Q: Apart from some good progress in adaptation, other issues don’t seem to enjoy the same level of progress in the talks here.

Ronnerberg: It is positive that we are making some progress in some areas we do need to step back and look at what the overall package look like for us. For example we may have a good framework developed for adaptation but if the resources are not going to be forthcoming, then it is not much of a victory. Similarly we need a lot of capacity building in the region so the eventual decision relating to capacity building will also have to be taken into account. We need to step back a bit and reflect on what we have on the table and see where we need to do more work and where we need to put more pressure.

Interview with Solomon Islands Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Colin Beck

The resumed climate change talks in Panama has recorded some progress in the lead up to the 17^th Conference of the Parties in Durban, South Africa in December. While little progress has been made, the Pacific is happy with movement of a number of issues important for the region. Ambassador Colin Beck, Solomon Islands Permanent Representative to the United Nations explains to PACNEWS Editor and Climate Pasifika Journalist, Makereta Komai.

Ambassador Colin Beck (right) with Solomon Islands delegate, Chanel Iroi

Ambassador Beck: I think there is some progress made here in Panama considering what happened in Bonn and Bangkok. There was some progress in Bangkok on the Convention. The Cancun decisions left out some of the Bali Acton Plan, so it required just a whole session to go through what has been agreed in Cancun and what has been left out. Here in Panama we built on that work left out in Bangkok. Some texts have been produced here but I describe the talks here as ‘baby steps’ in the Kyoto Protocol.

On finance, there is also some movement on the draft text. Depending on where one looks at it, there is progress but it’s not even across the board. Certainly one of the most important aspects is the refusal by some Parties not to take a second commitment period. Disappointing is an understatement to say the least. It’s a concern to the Pacific and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and something that what we have said in Cancun is ‘an attack on multilateralism.’ If we believe in multilateralism then we must work on it. I think we should not use multilateralism at our convenience and discard it when it does not suit our interest.

Q: If that is the case, where consensus is hard to achieve, should voting be considered to get results? I learnt that Mexico is considering this option and canvassing Parties views.

Ambassador Beck: I think the issue of voting has always been on the table. If we vote right now, we can win because G77 and China have the number. We might win the vote but lose the battle on climate change and that is why need all the 194 Parties to support a global climate regime that is legally binding. Consensus is important. While off course we have voting at the back of our mind, the question is when do we apply it and in what area do we wish to use it? But I think there is some consideration on the issue. In the past, the rules of procedures have not been formally applied but i think it stems from the Annex 1 countries on finance when it was earlier looked at but things have changed and evolved.

Q: Even with the difficulty of getting a consensus, is voting the best option given that Parties have not been able to agree to an agreement, from Copenhagen to Cancun and then onto Durban?

Ambassador Beck: Everything that the UNFCCC has done has always been by consensus. Like I said, we can easily vote on second commitment and win but what do we do with those who do not wish to take that second commitment. How do we deal with them? Unless the vote is mandatory, then you will need to comply. This is similar to the United Nations where decisions by the General Assembly are not legally-binding, only resolutions by the Security Council are mandatory and legally binding.

Secondly, we might be politicising the issues at hand. If voting is done, it will take a lot of issues away from the hands of negotiators. Diplomatic pressures will be placed on capitals to vote and the job of negotiators will be just be like ‘pressing the button.’

Q: Back to Japan – what are its reasons for not committing to a second commitment period. How is it justifying its decision?

Ambassador Beck: I think the unfortunate aspect is that Japan has not said anything and is burning its bridges with so many countries. Sometimes silence does not mean we accept everything that Japan is doing. In the Pacific this week, coast guards are trying to ship water to Tokelau and NZ trying to assist Tuvalu. What we did in Copenhagen, we battered multilateralism. Trust and confidence was restored in Cancun but it remains fragile if Durban will not be able to deliver on a number of issues, especially the second commitment period, and multilateralism will take another hit.

Q: Mitigation remains a sore point here, any movement or middle ground achieved?

Ambassador Beck: There are talks of trying to increase the ambition level of the current pledges on the table. I think negotiators have presented options to Ministers to consider in Durban. Personally, I think a lot of these issues require no political decisions because if we say that what we do is driven by science, then we must all act and keep our temperatures lower.  An important issue for Small Island Developing States is the Review of the below 2 degrees by 2015. This is something the IPCC will be releasing its report in 2014. We are hoping that report will be out in time to have a decision going forward by 2015.

Q: So that means for now until 2015, industrialised nations will not have to adhere to the below 2 degrees goal?

Ambassador Beck: At the moment, it’s not even 2 degrees. It keeps on increasing beyond 2 degrees. We are trying first of all to maintain it to below 2 degrees as agreed in Cancun, with a view to reviewing it to see how close are on science on whether 2 degrees is sufficient

 Q: Is 2015 okay for AOSIS?

Ambassador Beck: AOSIS wants to see a procedural discussion in Durban and then a technical study at the next COP and a decision taken by 2015. So we should not be seen to be trying to do everything in 2015.

Q: On financing

Ambassador Beck: One of the sticking points was long term financing. During the discussions there have been debates on how the Green Climate Fund will be financed. We want these funds to be operational.

Q:  AOSIS speaks with support of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the African Union (AU). Do you think collective diplomacy works in climate change negotiations?

Ambassador Beck: To get a common voice in multilateral negotiations, we need the numbers. This is where the growing collaboration between small island developing countries and LDCs have really put on the front burner a lot of our issues, otherwise we will be working in isolation. We need to come together to push our agenda. And we find in AOSIS that it has worked in our favour here at the climate change negotiations.

Deadlock on key political issues at Panama climate negotiations threatens success in Durban, says WWF

07 October 2011 Panama --- Governments have failed to make important progress at a crucial preparatory meeting ahead of a major climate change summit in Durban, South Africa next month, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

While the Panama talks, Oct. 1-7, saw some technical areas advance, the key political issues, namely ambitious global emission reduction commitments, the future of the Kyoto Protocol and long-term finance, were left unresolved.

Tasneem Essop, WWF Head of Climate Strategy and Advocacy said the climate change talks are in trouble.

“It appears the lines have hardened on key political issues without much willingness by countries to compromise. There is still so much work to do and now very little time left to do it. Ahead of COP17, heads of state and ministers must urgently resolve these issues in order to lay the foundations for collective action to tackle the climate change crisis.

“In Durban it is essential that countries recommit to the Kyoto Protocol and for all governments to begin formulating a roadmap towards a fair, ambitious and legally binding treaty that prevents the worst consequences of climate change.

“Finance is a key issue for Durban, and for the long-term success of the climate negotiations. The United States is now the main obstacle to constructive discussions on how long-term financial pledges will be met to help the most vulnerable countries cope with increased floods, droughts and sea-level rise. WWF calls on the United States and other governments to make progress on this issue before Durban, or at least to allow others to do so.

“Failure is not an option, but it will become a real possibility if these deadlocked issues are not addressed before COP17.

“A positive outcome in Durban is still within sight, but it will take an all-out sprint to get there. With a surge of political will from country leaders, a path forward is still very possible. Their citizens expect nothing less, said Essop.