Eco Digital Blog

Searching for Equity

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 5, 2012 - 11:29pm

ECO wants to remind the Parties thatembedding equity in the climate regime is fundamental to any fair and ambitious outcome. While Parties have expressed their views on how to move toward operationalising equity, this aspect is reaching the vanishing point in the texts.

ECO thinks it would be pretty easy to measure, report and verify the disappearance of political will when Parties enter the negotiating rooms in the QNCC. That’s the real problem in these negotiations, as reflected in the weak language on equity in the latest texts from both the LCA and the ADP chairs. And that sends a very negative message to areas around the world struggling every day to survive against the adversities of climate impacts.

And yet, innovative and even transformative concepts are readily available.

Recently, Belgium and Sweden convened a rich and interactive meeting of experts and stakeholders in Brussels. Indeed, the ideas discussed in the Brussels workshop are immediately relevant and can be transformed into workable forms in the negotiations. Once again, the message from workshop participants was loud and clear: what we are facing is not a dearth of ideas or resources but instead a pervasive vacuum of political will.

One aspect of reviving momentum is to try out creative approaches. In Brussels, forexample, the open exchange of views under Chatham House rules provided a tool for creating trust and opening up space for dialogue.

Before leaving Doha, negotiators must ensure that a safe space for equity discussions is created in a work programme on equity. That is crucial for ensuring a fair, ambitious and binding outcome in 2015.

ECO has consistently expressed the need for taking up the equity issue with a view to unpacking and eventually operationalizing equity in the various elements. Let usremember COP 17, where India championed the issue of equity and took a central role in tying together the Durban Package.

But now, the progress made in the ADP roundtables in Bangkok has been set aside in the discussions to date here in Doha. To be clear, equity principles need to be discussed in order to move them forward in terms of populating the ADP with contentissues of operationalisation. Otherwise, equity will not move and we will yet again fall short of ambition. To say it clearly: there will be no ambition without equity – and no equity without ambition.

Tags:

LCA

equity

ADP

Topics:

Equity/effort-sharing

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Ministerial Manners

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 5, 2012 - 1:02am

Most developed countries came to Doha eager to move on to a new track of negotiations, even while several critical issues from recent years of the talks are left unresolved. It is vital these issues are addressed before the talks move on.

Like all good mothers, ECO wants to tell developed country ministers they can’t have their dessert before they have finished their mains, including all their vegetables. They need to eat up fast, because we won’t solve the climate crisis until everyone in these talks has finished their meal.

Developed countries have responsibilities under both the Kyoto Protocol and the LCA track that must be fulfilled in Doha. Chief among these are a second commitment period of the KP – and one that is worth the paper it is written on – raising their mitigation ambition, and showing how they are going to deliver their $100 billion per year climate finance commitment. Unless these things are delivered, the new Durban Platform (ADP) track will lack the solid foundation it needs to ensure a step change in climate action in the years ahead.

But with the resolution of these issues and this foundation laid, the ADP can and must kick start a new era of climate negotiations in a spirit of trust, solidarity and collective action. This must include actions taken with the upmost urgency under the ADP work track on raising pre-2020 mitigation ambition. No Party in these talks can afford to allow any delay in this endeavor.

ECO expects that developed countries have come to Doha with every intention of showing their best table manners. There will be nowhere to hide for countries that attempt to avoid their past commitments by shifting focus only to future plans. Success in Doha requires both of these things: that’s what makes for a balanced meal of ambitious and co-operative global climate action.

Tags:

Topics:

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

We Stand With Philippines

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 5, 2012 - 12:59am

As climate talks enter their second week, the reality of a changing climate is striking home. In the LCA Plenary session Monday, a delegate from the Philippines said “instead of getting ready for Christmas, we may be counting our dead”, referring to the impending landfall of Super Typhoon Bopha.

On Monday night, the storm caused over 40,000 people to flee their homes, and many wait to see the impact of the 16th extreme weather event to batter the Philippines this year.

Meanwhile, ambition remains off the table in Doha. The outcome on loss and damage lacks any mechanism necessary to address bigger issues. Policies limiting polluting industries' drive to blow past our global carbon budget are more than dreams of civil society and nations already bearing the brunt of a warmed world.

The time for talk has run out. Yet still the talks stagnate, and those responsible for this crisis stand in the way of justice. Blocking ambition and equity on the global scale is a criminal act. It is, at a minimum, the willful destruction of property and the knowing neglect of human life and loss. The parties who continue to defend business as usual are guilty, and history will judge them as such.

We stand with the Philippines and the millions of people around the world paying for the ignorance and arrogance of countries and fossil fuel corporations who put the interests of profits ahead of the needs of people.

On ne lâche pas – we won’t back down.

In solidarity,

The #ClimateLegacy Team and YOUNGO

Tags:

climate change

extreme weather events

The Philippines

Region:

South East Asia

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Which Way, Japan?

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 5, 2012 - 12:56am

ECO is concerned to hear that Japan may not keep up its 25% reduction target by 2020 compared to 1990, and instead is considering reducing it to around 5 to 9% (domestic reduction target).

Of course, Japan has already undermined the momentum of the negotiations by rejecting the Kyoto CP2. If Japan now lowers its voluntary pledge under the Cancun agreement, that reduces ambition and credibility.

ECO worries that perhaps Japan’s voice might be not taken seriously anymore.

To some extent, the country has already lost its credibility in the last two years. Now is the time for the Japanese Minister to step up and announce that Japan aims to do everything possible to keep the 25% target intact. It should also pledge appropriate funding for the period 2013 to 2015. This is the only way to regain its positive and constructive role for the global effort to tackle climate change.

Tags:

Mitigation

japan

ambition

Kyoto Protocol 2nd Commitment Period Negotiations

Topics:

Finance

Mitigation

Region:

South Asia

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Next Steps to Enhance the Review

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 5, 2012 - 12:50am

The start of the first periodic review (2013 – 2015) is approaching. This is intended to be a strong science-based instrument to increase ambition.

But still there is no decision on which body will conduct the review. Informal groups have ongoing meetings but there has not been much convergence. The most convincing solution would involve a review expert group which would preferably be established here in Doha and assisted by the Secretariat going forward.

This group would gather new scientific intelligence from the coming Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC and many other sources including the UNEP gigatonne gap overviews, biannual reports and reports from ICA and IAR.

Of course inputs and submissions from Parties are necessary. But ECO is perplexed: why is there no mention of observer participation in the draft decision, through submissions or otherwise? Surely those experiences, data and insights can add measurable value to this crucially important new initiative.

Tags:

ambition

IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report

review

Topics:

Mitigation

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Note to Self: This Week, Agree a Strong CP2

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 4, 2012 - 7:04am

Today's Thought for the Unwilling: why a strong CP2 is better for you...

ECO would like to remind Parties that hold large amounts of Kyoto surplus units: Insisting on lenient use rules and refusing to agree to cancellation at the end of 2020 may get you the opposite of what you want.

Why would developing countries agree to a CP2 with no ambition, no provisional application, no 5 year period, no finance . . . Why should these countries agree to such a miserable CP2 deal?

If the KP negotiations fail in Doha, it would mean your AAU surplus will vanish overnight, because it is only under a working KP that your AAUs have any meaning or value. So simply blocking progress on this issue may well turn against what you are hoping to achieve. ECO believes that there much more constructive ways out of this mess.

Please take notes!

Ukraine -- it is time to end yourtimid silence! How about joining the Kyoto family with an ambitious target and not selling any of your surplus? Such bold action may even be your ticket into the EU-ETS.

Belarus and Kazakhstan -- don’t get off to a bad start by supporting carryover of hot air owned by others!

Be bold! Be original!

Poland, Bulgaria and Romania -- why not work constructively with your fellow EU countries on an intra-European solution?

How about advocating for a proposal that 20% of the EU budget would be used for low carbon development and building climate resilience in the EU?

Or include a trading mechanism under the Effort Sharing Decision that includes a large Green Investment Scheme (GIS). Swap your worthless AAUs at a discount for EU trading units that are actually worth money. In return the GIS will allow you and others to decarbonize your economies. Seriously, this can work!

And you know that it will . . .

Russia -- why do you think you can sell your surplus without signing up to CP2, and to whom exactly? The KP is pretty clear, as you know: no QELRO noassigned amount, no carryover.

And to all Parties, never forget: Nature cannot be fooled by accounting tricks!

Tags:

AAUs

Kyoto Protocol Second Commitment Period

Topics:

Mitigation

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Fast Start Finance: Mixed Results

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 4, 2012 - 7:01am

Climate finance is not generosity or voluntary aid – it is a moral and legal obligation of developed countries, and an essential element of a solution to the climate crisis. But concrete commitments to financing are absent here so far.

Now ECO has heard some grumpy noises from developed countries that their fast start financing and transparency efforts are not sufficiently appreciated.

While not very sympathetic to the rich countries’ plight, ECO understands how hard it is pry any amount of money out of the hands of finance ministries, especially in difficult economic times.

Treasuries could well be lacking commitment to resolving the climate crisis, and don’t understand why it is absolutely essential to quickly scale up climate finance and meet all commitments transparently and responsibly.

That’s why ECO is taking this opportunity to recognize the fact that developed countries did in fact deliver some climate finance in the Fast Start Finance period, and that climate negotiators and ministers participating in these negotiations had to work long and hard to steer that financing through government budgeting processes and get it delivered.

Even Japan, faced with a devastating tsunami and a nuclear disaster, followed through on its plans, such as they were, which accounted for nearly half the FSF commitments.

And ECO also recognizes that developed countries have come under fully justified criticism for their failure to meet the commitment of $30 billion in new and additional public finance, as well as a series of other shortcomings.

In fact, while developed countries now claim they over-delivered to the tune of $33 billion, independent analyses show that less than one third of these funds are new and additional.

If those countries think they are being unfairly criticized now, they have no one to blame but themselves.

By rejecting any kind of common standards for assessing what financing counts towards this goal, and an independent tracking system, they set themselves up for failure.

And now some of them are compounding this error by insisting they have no need to provide any assurance or specific commitments to funding from 2012 onwards.

This is certainly the wrong lesson to take from fast-start. But that’s another story…

Tags:

climate finance

Fast Start Finance

Topics:

Finance

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Tarnished: Dirty Oil Smears Canada's Reputation

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 4, 2012 - 6:59am

Canada’s environment minister, Peter Kent, arrived in Doha yesterday under the long shadow of the tar sands.

Since Durban, his government has been working hard to dismantle Canada’s environmental protection laws to speed up resource extraction, an initiative that government has been promoting under the Orwellian slogan of “responsible resource development.”

ECO has warned over and over again about the creeping influence of Canada’s massive deposit of carbon intensive “unconventional oil”. Larger in geographic extent than the entire nation of Qatar, and generating more emissions than all of New Zealand, the tar sands have been called the planet’s largest “carbon bomb”.

Projections from Minister Kent’s own department show that the growth in tar sands emissions by 2020 (73 Mt) will virtually cancel out all other emission reductions in Canada’s economy (75 Mt). And yet Ottawa has done nothing to curb the sector’s exploding GHG pollution.

Quite the opposite -- government documents suggest that Canada has taken international climate policies to some of the largest tar sands corporations in Canada for vetting.

Great news for Canada’s Fossil trophy case: the CEOs love what they called Canada’s “elegant” approach. So now, a new report by the Canadian Youth Delegation, Commitment Issues, digs into the tar sands’ expansion blueprint, documenting the sector’s plans to blow past the production levels outlined in the IEA’s 450 scenario. Looking at how Canadian government is attached to its dirty oil, it's no surprise that current subsidies to the fossil fuel industry surpass those for climate finance by a ratio of 7 to 1.

Right now, Canada’s “drill baby drill” approach for tar sands is smearing the country’s reputation, keeping its climate policy hostage in the process. He supposedly wants to show the world that climate change does matter to his government. To do so, Environment Minister Peter Kent needs to start by unveiling some real “tough on tar” policies this week in Doha.

Tags:

Canada

Tar Sands

Topics:

Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Mitigation

Region:

Canada

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Heros and Zeros: Adaptation Fund Facts & Figures

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 4, 2012 - 6:55am

More and more countries seem to recognise the progress and achievements of the Adaptation Fund in recent years. Progress so far was featured at a side event last Friday, held jointly by the Adaptation Fund Board.

First the good news. Only two years after the first call for proposals, 25 concrete adaptation projects have been approved so far and USD 160 million has been allocated. Direct access is now approved for 14 countries, and many more have expressed interest.

The bad news is that the key funding source, the share of proceeds of CERs from the Clean Development Mechanism, has now almost totally dried up. At the end of 2010, it was estimated that revenues would come in as much as USD 400 million by the end of 2012, but only USD 180 million can actually be realised with the current all-time low CER price.

Some developed countries have made contributions to the AF to the tune of USD 120 million, and this is a very good thing. Spain and Sweden have been the heros in this, while UK and Germany have contributed only a tenth as much relative to their GDP than Spain or Sweden (roughly a tenth).

But lots of other developed countries have closed their pocketbooks despite the benefits for vulnerable communities addressed by the AF projects. We still have time for pledges coming through from ministers in the next days in Doha, taking their cue from the many individuals who have, once again, reached into their pockets to help build up the Adaptation Fund.

Tags:

Topics:

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

Time to #endfossilfuelsubsidies

Submitted by rvoorhaar on December 4, 2012 - 6:51am

Roaming in the halls of the QNCC, it’s not hard to hear the frustration from poorer countries lamenting the lack of climate finance. The only thing louder is the excuses from the richer ones, saying the money is nowhere to be found.

Well, ECO has a solution! A new analysis from Oil Change International shows that rich countries are spending more than 5 times as much on subsidizing fossil fuel companies than their climate finance pledges.

Just a quick perusal of the figures provides some shocking details. Australia, for instance, has subsidized fossil fuels at a rate of 40 times more than their climate finance pledge. The United States? Their climate finance pledge is mere 20% of what they spend subsidizing the richest corporations in the world. That favorite Fossil country, Canada, spends nearly eight times as much subsidizing their beloved fossil fuel industry than they do supporting the most vulnerable.

So, when you hear that there’s no money to be found, now you, dear ECO reader, know exactly where to look! Time to stop subsidizing the industry that is fueling the climate crisis and put that money to use fueling a safe future! (And one place to start would be including fossil fuel subsidy phase out in the pre-2020 mitigation work programme…)

Tags:

climate finance

fossil fuel subsidies

Topics:

Finance

Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Related Event:

COP18/CMP8 Doha Climate Conference

rvoorhaar's blog

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