22 SEPTEMBER
UN climate change summit
Negotiations last week at the UN climate change summit in New York saw global leaders assemble to press for action prior to the Copenhagen conference in December 2009.
101 world leaders attended the summit, which saw China and Japan break with their past positions on climate change policy – an indication of the growing international consensus on the urgency of a situation which can no longer be swept under the carpet. Speaking during the summit, Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warned that 'if we do not act on time, all of us will become the leaders and citizens of failed states, with the potential of conflict rising due to lack of food and other resources’.
One of the most striking outcomes was that many countries recognised the overall goal of limiting the global average temperature rise to a maximum of 2˚ Celsius, a target agreed earlier this by the G8. No country cited a higher figure while some of the most vulnerable countries argued for a maximum rise of 1.5˚ C.
Among the most important announcements was Japan’s confirmation that it would pursue a 25% reduction against 1990 emission levels by 2020, and that it would seek to create a national carbon market linked to an international one. China, which had to date remained opposed during international climate negotiations to taking on a quantified emissions limit, said it would “endeavour to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a notable margin by 2020 from the 2005 level” (though it remained vague on the measures). Unsurprisingly, it was the countries most vulnerable to climate change that unveiled some of the most ambitious plans. The President of the Maldives, for example, announced his intention to make the island carbon-neutral by 2020.
Financial support to help developing countries fight climate change – one of the main stumbling blocks to achieving an effective and equitable global climate deal at Copenhagen – was also discussed. Many leaders rallied around a proposal for supporting US$100 billion per annum over the next decade, and the European Union announced support for a ‘fast-track adaptation funding facility’, for which it would provide €5 billion to €7 billion between 2010 and 2012.
Click here to read an article by Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on ClimateChange, on the four key political essentials necessary for success at Copenhagen.
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