What does it look like? (COP 15)

18 Dec 2009 – Gary Kendall

A government official from a Scandinavian country kindly photocopied me a draft text of the Copenhagen Accord, which I am now absorbing. The first thing I notice is that it does contain 2°C language, as well as a very clear reference to the different circumstances of developed and developing countries. Paragraph 2 of this draft text is as follows:

2. We agree that deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science, and as documented by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report with a view to reduce global emissions so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees C, and take action to meet this objective consistent with science and on the basis of equity. We should cooperate in achieving the peaking of global and national emissions as soon as possible, recognizing that the time frame for peaking will be longer in developing countries and bearing in mind that social and economic development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of developing countries and that a low-emission development strategy is indispensable to sustainable development.

The text refers to Annex I Parties committing to emissions targets for 2020 “as listed in appendix I before 1st February 2010” – appendix I of the current draft comprises a table with three column headings: (i) Developed Country; (ii) Emissions reduction in 2020; (iii) Base year. Aside from these column headings, the table has been left blank.

Developing Countries Respond!

A delegate from a Himalayan country has just passed me a copy of a formal response to the UN from some South American nations, and it is less than complimentary! The crux of their complaint is that this text was developed in an exclusive and non-transparent fashion that does not respect the very basic principles of the UN. The countries who have signed this response – Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela – write that they “wish to express in the most emphatic terms” that the only agreements they will recognise are those arrived at through the UNFCCC process, specifically through AWG-KP and AWG-LCA. In other words, what we all came here to do.

It’s late, and I’m knackered, but I do think they have a valid point.