AOSIS lose fight to get technical analysis of the social and economic impact of climate change

By Makereta Komai for Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany

10 June 2010, Bonn, Germany --- A showdown between the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) supported by over 110 countries against Gulf States closed Wednesday’s session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).

AOSIS had proposed that SBSTA request the United Nations climate change secretariat to prepare a technical paper on the social and economical impacts of the mitigation scenarios of 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius of average global temperature.

The proposal was shot down by representatives of the four Gulf States of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

“The necessary pledges required to achieve the scenarios mentioned would require a great deal more than the capacity of the secretariat to undertake and will therefore not accept a compromised text, said Saudi Arabia.

The four Gulf States questioned the need for technical paper given that the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had already released its 4th Assessment Report. 

“How can the secretariat produce such a report in just a few months before Cancun? I don’t think we should proceed in that direction and come with a half baked view in 2-3 months, argued Saudi Arabia.

Barbados and Grenada on behalf of AOSIS clarified that the technical paper hopes to pool together all the sciences available in the public domain to assist vulnerable states address climate change.

Adding its voice to the AOSIS proposal, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) reiterated the importance of the technical analysis of the social and economic impacts of the mitigation scenarios to small and vulnerable states.

“For us the impacts of sea level rise are of enormous importance. This technical paper could provide information to help us with policy decisions. It’s a tool that we could have in some short months.

“It’s puzzling to see objections from the floor, said FSM.

On Thursday, a quick diplomatic intervention brokered by Venezuela resolved the impasse which remained unresolved from Thursday night.

Venezuela introduced a compromised text which required the secretariat to prepare a technical paper, on its own will, before the Cancun meeting.

Discussions spilled over to Thursday when the chair ruled to postpone debate until the next meeting of the scientific body in Cancun.

A disappointed AOSIS chair, Grenada diplomat, Ambassador Dessima Williams said the responses of the ‘few countries’ that opposed the AOSIS proposal ‘borders on alarming.’

“I find it incomprehensible that our simple request has been met with much opposition.  But I find comfort in the fact that the opposition is only limited and look forward to a return of this issue in Cancun."

Ambassador Colin Beck of Solomon Islands was disappointed but didn’t want to let the decision of SBSTA affect other important issues for small island states at the negotiations here in Bonn.

“In these negotiations, when we fall, we get up again and look for another window to keep pressing our issue. While the 1.5 degrees is central to our negotiating position, we need Parties to understand us and we understand them. We need to continue with the spirit of reaching out to each other that has begun here in Bonn", said Ambassador Beck.

When SBSTA resumed Thursday morning, young people carrying banner with 1.5 degree messages lined the corridor leading to the conference centre to remind delegates of the kind of future they are giving to them if they oppose the AOSIS proposal.

“This message is directed at Saudi Arabia especially said a 20 year old German student who was part of the 350.org group of young people holding placards.

“We want a safe and secure future for us, said another.

112 countries, including the powerful G77 group, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand supported small island states call for a technical paper.

Ms Makereta Komai will be covering the Bonn Climate Change negotiations from 31 May – 11 June 2010, thanks to support from Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She will provide daily coverage of the negotiations via PACNEWS and the SPREP website www.sprep.org, the climate pasifika blogspot, http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com and the PINA Green page http://green.pina.com.fj/  

Solomon Islands prepares to host a major UN meeting for LDC and AOSIS negotiators

  

By Makereta Komai for Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany

10 June 2010, Bonn, Germany --- The European Union has lived up to its promise to support vulnerable countries combat climate change through a financial assistance to the Solomon Islands Government to host an international meeting of Least Developed Countries and members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

 It’s providing US$1.1 million to bring to Honiara nearly 200 climate change negotiators from 91 countries that are Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to discuss key climate change issues before the Conference of the Parties in Mexico in December.

Rence Sore, the permanent secretary for environment, conservation and meteorology, who is spearheading Solomon Islands bid to host this meeting, said this is the biggest ever international meeting to be hosted by Solomon Islands.

“We are finalising the dates, it may be at the end of September or the first week of October, said Sore.

Solomon Islands has played an active role both with the LDC and AOSIS negotiating groups within the UN climate change body.

Sore is chair of one of the LDC’s influential decision making group while Solomon Islands permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Colin Beck is one of the key negotiators for the Pacific and the AOSIS group.

“The purpose of the meeting is to consolidate the positions of all vulnerable states, which incorporates both the LDCs and small island developing states (SIDS) or AOSIS countries.

“AOSIS is talking about 1.5 degrees ceiling for global temperature and a limit of 350 parts per million in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. We want these positions to be accepted by LDCs too, to strengthen our voice in Cancun, said Sore.

Sore said the aim of the Honiara meeting is to provide a platform to unite all the negotiating positions of LDCs and AOSIS.

“There is a general support for the AOSIS position amongst the 48 LDC countries but we need to convert that support to become unanimous support before Mexico.

“While there have been some compromises here in Bonn on some other key issues like adaptation, mitigation technology transfer, capacity building and financing, we want to ‘cement’ those positions in Honiara.

The Solomon Islands head of delegation to the Bonn talks assured the proposed meeting is part and parcel of the UNFCCC climate change negotiations.

“The LDC Unit within the UNFCCC will provide technical support for our meeting in Honiara. In that way, we are seeing his meeting as part of the negotiation process. We don’t want to isolate this meeting from the UNFCCC process.

“We want this meeting to contribute positively to the outcome of COP16 in Cancun. We don’t want this meeting to be done outside of the UN process and not recognised by the negotiation process, said Sore.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) will assist the Solomon Islands Government with administrative and logistical support.

Sore attributed Solomon Islands success in bringing this major United Nations conference to the Pacific to the support of the government, paying tribute to both the former minister for environment, Gordon Darcy Lilo and the current minister responsible for environment, conservation and meteorology, Clement Kengava.

“This is credit to the support of the Solomon Islands Government and the contributions of the country’s negotiators at the UNFCCC climate change meetings.

“Since my minister came into office, he has established a climate change division with support from the United Nations Development Programme and other stakeholders. There is ownership by the government on climate change.

Sore said nationwide consultations are going on now with all stakeholders to come up with a climate change policy before the LDC/AOSIS meeting towards the end of the year.

At the same time, Solomon Islands is waiting for final approval from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on the implementation of its national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs).

“The process normally takes time but we are hopeful that funds through the implementing agency, the World Bank, may come in next year, after almost two years of waiting.

Under the least Development Fund (LDCF) allocation for NAPA funding, Solomon Islands is entitled to US$6 million - $11 million short of what is required to implement its national adaptation projects.

“That is why LDCs have raised their concerns that there is not enough money in the LDCF to cater for our immediate adaptation needs. We need developed countries to replenish the LDCF.

As of May 2009, the LDCF had US$176 million and needs at least $2 billion to finance all the national adaptation plans of its 48 members.

Another major concern is the turn-around time for GEF to approve NAPA plans submitted by LDC countries.

“But, we have been assured that GEF will begin streamlining its process from July this year.
“If that happens, then it will be good news for Solomon Islands because we will not have to wait for long like some LDC countries.

Sore said, Samoa had to wait for five years for GEF’s approval.

NAPA proposals are prepared based on a country’s immediate needs.

“This is in line with the European Union’s criteria for fast start financing. The financial assistance is based on immediate needs, said Sore.

The EU has made it clear that 60 percent of its €2.4 billion fast start finance promised for 2010 will disbursed through bilateral channels and only 39 percent through existing multilateral institutions.

Ms Makereta Komai will be covering the Bonn Climate Change negotiations from 31 May – 11 June 2010, thanks to support from Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She will provide daily coverage of the negotiations via PACNEWS and the SPREP website www.sprep.org, the climate pasifika blogspot, http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com and the PINA Green page http://green.pina.com.fj/ 

Figueres hails new climate of optimism, NGO’s disagree

By Makereta Komai for Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany

09 June 2010, Bonn, Germany --- There is a mood of optimism here in Bonn as negotiations reach the mid way mark of the final week of the climate change talks.

One of the achievements, according to the incoming executive secretary of the UNFCCC Secretariat, Christiana Figueres, is the ability to get opposing Parties to ‘reach out’ to each other and talk.

Figueres, a Costa Rican with 15 years of distinguished career in climate change negotiations, said political will has been the key to advancing some of the ‘difficult’ issues.

“Nothing happens without political will. We have had important demonstrations of that political will in April and in this session.

“There is already a process underway here of rebuilding trust and constructive conversations are taking place. Negotiators are reaching out to each other to not only understand each other but to understand the interests behind that position.

“I call this process the miracle of negotiations. We welcome this process and we will certainly build upon it in Cancun, said Figueres.

She was addressing a media seminar for journalists from developing countries attending the Bonn climate change talks.

The new UN climate change chief is however apprehensive about the emissions reduction commitments of some Annex 1 (developed) countries.

“Certainly, the pledges we have on the table now are not sufficient to either meet the 2 degrees pledges in Copenhagen Accord as it will not guarantee the survival of those who are most vulnerable and the poorest.

And, she assured these rich countries understand their responsibility to improve on their commitments.

“I would not put a date on it but I would see it as a gradual incremental effort. I see it in the context of countries being aware of their responsibilities and living up to them in a timely fashion, Figueres said.

But civil society organisations following the negotiations here in Bonn hold a different view point.

Its joint assessment of the negotiations suggests that there appears to be widening gaps with developed countries working towards the dismantling of the Kyoto Protocol (KP), to escape a second commitment period.

“Rather than honour the Bali bargain, they are now seeking to move favoured elements of the Protocol (e.g. markets) into a new agreement under the ad hoc working group on long term co-operative action (AWG-LCA).

Under the Bali Roadmap, it was agreed that negotiations under the Kyoto Protocol would continue and developed countries (Annex 1) would adopt a second commitment period, commencing in 2013.

In addition, developed countries including the United States, which is not party to KP, would undertake comparable commitments under the AWG-LCA.

After more than three years of negotiations under the Protocol, the current pledges by developed countries would result in a reduction of only 17-25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, according to the UNFCCC Secretariat. This is far lower than the 40-50 percent cuts demanded by developing countries.

Another ‘loophole’ exploited by developed countries is the ‘surplus allowance’ (earned by some countries, especially Russia, for emitting less than their allocated share) and land-use accounting rules, according to the international NGO’s assessment.

“So while foot dragging on their targets, developed countries are pushing aggressively in the AWG-KP to finalise weak rules on land-use, land-use change and forests (LULUCF).

Developed countries are also proposing that accounting for forest management remains voluntary thereby allowing the developed (Annex 1) countries to simply not account for any emissions increases.

Ms Komai will be covering the Bonn Climate Change negotiations from 31 May – 11 June 2010, thanks to support from Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She will provide daily coverage of the negotiations via PACNEWS and the SPREP website www.sprep.org, the climate pasifika blogspot, http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com and the PINA Green page http://green.pina.com.fj/

Climate negotiators farewell Yvo de Boer, rich nations exhorted to show leadership

By Makereta Komai for Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany

09 June 2010, Bonn, Germany ---- After close to four years at the helm of the United Nations climate change body, Yvo de Boer has completed his term, six months after the failed talks in Copenhagen.

And before leaving Bonn on 01 July, the Dutch national shared his final thoughts with negotiators Wednesday at special joint session of the two technical subsidiary bodies.

Using what he called a World Cup imagery, de Boer said, “We got a yellow card in Copenhagen and the referee’s hand will edge toward the red one if we fail to deliver in Cancun and beyond.

A red card is definite if rich countries fail to commit to stringent pledges – an 80 percent goal for the middle century is not enough.

“I hope that I have not lost too many friends with this statement and will not lose more.

De Boer said deciding what each and everyone will contribute to this requires more than one round of negotiations. 

The current pledges from industrialised countries are not sufficient to bring us into the 25-40% range that the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects in its most ambitious scenario.

“Having said this, we cannot afford to postpone more stringent action much longer. As things stand now we will not be able to halt the increase of global greenhouse gas emissions in the next ten years.

With the 2 degree, the world is in danger, and as a result the door to a 1.5 degree world is rapidly closing, said de Boer.

There is strong consensus that a legally binding agreement is the preference of all the Parties but the outgoing climate change chief reminded negotiators that ‘legally binding’ mean different things to different people.

“This is good, because it offers an opportunity to define the concept in much broader terms than internationally binding rich country targets alone.

“Legal rigour and ambition are, in and of themselves, not a sine qua non. Rigorous sanctions combined with a lack of clarity on tools and incentives are more likely to engender caution than bravery.”

De Boer exhorted Parties to allow for room for discussion to complement negotiation.

“More often the focus is on interpretation of stated positions rather than debate to understand the nature of underlying interests.”

On the expected outcome for Cancun, the departing climate change diplomat said there needs to be clarity on ‘what is technical and what is political, what political decisions are needed to make technical work possible and how technical talks should be effectively organised.”

“These are not issues you can agree on with 15,000 people in the room. A clear mandate to work in a smaller setting and report back to the Conference of the Parties (COP) is enough. 

Maintaining his confidence in the UNFCCC process, de Boer told over 1,000 delegates that packed the conference room at the Maritim Hotel that, ‘I am confident - You did it in Rio. You did it in Kyoto. You did it Bali. You will do it again in Cancun.’

His departure takes effect July 1, five months before 193 nations are due to reconvene in Mexico for another attempt to reach a binding worldwide accord on controlling greenhouse gases. He is known to be deeply disappointed with outcome of the last summit in Copenhagen.

He is being replaced by long time Costa Rican climate change negotiator, Christiana Figueres.

Ms Komai will be covering the Bonn Climate Change negotiations from 31 May – 11 June 2010, thanks to support from Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She will provide daily coverage of the negotiations via PACNEWS and the SPREP website www.sprep.org, the climate pasifika blogspot, http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com and the PINA Green page http://green.pina.com.fj/

New Zealand and U.S spearhead opposition to loss and damage provisions in negotiating text

By Makereta Komai of Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany

07 June 2010, Bonn, Germany --- New Zealand has joined the United States in opposing a proposal from many countries including the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) for the establishment of an international mechanism to address loss and damage under the United Nations climate change convention.

Also supported by Norway and Canada, our Pacific neighbour reiterates its position that it’s difficult to prove the link between climate change and any specific extreme event.

But recognising the importance of the issue to AOSIS, Norway said it’s open to discussing them, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).

ENB follows the negotiations daily and publishes a four page summary for delegates, NGO’s and the media.

The United States, while acknowledging that all countries face adaptation challenges said an insurance mechanism is not appropriate to address loss and damage.

The U.S however, gave a proviso, saying ‘it would be willing to discuss a suite of risk management procedures and mechanisms to address loss and damage.’

This position runs contrary to the AOSIS position, said a Pacific Island delegate attending the negotiations here in Bonn.

Australia, on the other hand, reiterated its position saying that any institutional arrangement on adaptation must focus on co-operation, shared information, trend and gap analyses, technical advice and capacity building.

Bangladesh speaking on behalf of least developed countries (LDC) and supported by Cook Islands urged Parties to consider the establishment of an institutional structure to facilitate the implementation of adaptation actions.

AOSIS, which groups all islands in the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean, is lobbying for an adaptation body under the Convention with a new funding window, similar to the Adaptation Fund under the Kyoto Protocol.

While Pacific countries are fighting for recognition of their special vulnerabilities as a result of climate change, countries that belong to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are also lamenting their economic loss from the erosion of fossil fuel.

“Fossil fuel will be one of the victims of climate change and we should be included in any response measure in the Convention or any new agreement, said Saudi Arabia.

“Our countries should also be compensated for our loss.”

But Barbados supported by Grenada argued that ‘patients suffering from a common cold should receive a different kind of attention than those with a serious illness” implying that the needs of AOSIS are more urgent than those of other regions.

Outgoing UN climate change chief, Yvo de Boer agreed that the demands of OPEC countries are also legitimate.

“Their interests are just as legitimate. They are afraid that aggressive action on climate change is going to decrease the amount of oil they are producing and hurt them economically, said de Boer.

At the same time, the small island countries are saying if there is too little action on the part of industrialised nations and emerging developed countries, it will result in near extinction of some island countries.

“That will mean low level of ambition, which translates into the extinction of some island countries, de Boer added.