Many delegates who attended the recent UN climate talks held at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha returned home disillusioned. The two weeks long conference held from November 26 to December 07, and extended by a day, failed to deliver any substantial outcomes in addressing climate change. As the delegates walked out of the conference venue, confusion reigned over how the future course of negotiations leading to an international climate deal in 2015 would proceed.
At this 18th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), developed countries, especially United States, Canada, Japan and Russia, let down poor and vulnerable countries. They made every attempt to block the best possible outcomes, and took full advantage of the inexperienced Qatari presidency of the COP. In the end, president of the COP Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah gavelled the inadequate outcomes.
PHOTO: CNN.COM
As climate change impacts continue to increase worldwide, international actions to address this crisis are negligible, and the world is heading towards a catastrophe. UN climate talks are delivering too little, and are gradually losing trust and confidence that they can broker an international climate treaty. Rich and developed countries have shown least respect to the process by declining their responsibilities and backtracking from their previous commitments. Doha talk was able to deliver very little, and the reason was the adamant behavior of developed countries.
In 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio, then US President George Bush had made the infamous comment that “the American way of life is not negotiable.” Twenty years later, when 194 countries gathered in Doha for the 18th COP, the majority of the nations still found themselves on the same page. In fact, not much has changed in the developed countries’ lack of commitment to tackling climate change, or their attitude towards developing countries.
In Doha, as a concession victory, a second commitment period of eight years to the Kyoto Protocol was agreed upon, but it still left out the biggest polluter, United States. It further prompted countries like Japan, Canada, Russia and New Zealand to opt out of Kyoto framework, leaving only 15 percent of the global emission under the purview of this regime.
Since major polluters are getting a free ride, this agreement is unlikely to deliver the much needed reduction in greenhouse gas emission. A recent World Bank report indicated that global mean temperature is on the track to rise four degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, which would mean glaciers retreating faster, sea-levels rising higher, and extreme weather events happening more often. With the current emission trajectory, meeting the UNFCCC goal of limiting the rise in temperature to below two degree Celsius from pre-industrial period looks unattainable.
Finance was another important issue that did not make any significant headway. The commitment by wealthy nations to support developing nations with US $100 billion per year by 2020 was rescinded, as developed nations declined to commit to midterm finance. The fast start finance, funds amounting to US $30 billion (2010-2012) for assisting countries most affected by climate change, ends this year. Other than vague wording, nothing concrete has been committed in support of the developing countries.
Nauru’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kieren Keke, who represented the Small Island Developing States in the Pacific, made repeated pleas for an international mechanism to address loss and damage (permanent and irreversible loss caused due to climate change). He stated that small islands’ demands for mitigation actions had gone unheard in the past by developed countries, which resulted in their seeking support for adaptation measures. But when that too was ignored, the only option they had was loss and damage mechanism. Until the very end, US kept blocking the progress, but finally gave in and agreed to put this request in writing, pending decision until next year.
For a least developed country like Nepal, not much of significance was achieved in Doha. As a small fish in a huge ocean, Nepal will have to continue to battle huge sharks and deadly predators. The problem of climate change is surely not going away very soon, but the fight is increasingly becoming an exercise in political and economic power rather than an attempt to combat climate change.
From Doha, Nepal comes back with the additional responsibility of chairing the 48 nations of Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group under the UNFCCC for 2013 and 2014. Of course, many opportunities lie with this responsibility, but it does not come without its challenges. Nepal will have to exert extra efforts to make this divergent group cohesive and functional. The majority of the members of this group are poor African countries, and having to coordinate with their agenda itself is an enormous challenge for an Asian LDC. But this challenge is dwarfed by that of fighting groups of richer and more powerful nations.
Climate talks have failed time and again, mostly due to the inaction of developed countries. Last year in Durban at COP17, rich nations stalled the process by promising to agree to an international climate treaty by 2015 to be implemented by 2020. This is the second major timeline put forward after the failure to produce an international treaty in 2009. But even this time around, there are no positive vibes from Doha to signal that the timeline will be successful.
In the coming days, much more serious thinking will have to be employed by progressive developing countries and broader civil society alliances if they want climate change to be addressed. Poor and vulnerable countries should unite to put much needed pressure at UN forums, as this is the only way for their voices to be heard. Civil societies need to engage in concerted but responsible grassroots movement and campaigns. Losing this fight means accepting the take-over of corporates, which is not in the interest of our socio-economy and environment.
The author had attended the Doha UN climate talks held in Qatar
rajupc80@hotmail.com
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