Procrastination in Poznan

Mon, 12/15/2008 - 7:31am

Even though the climate is already changing, the best that the governments could do in Poznan during the UN Climate Change Conference is come up with a schedule of negotiations leading up to the next ministerial meeting in Copenhagen next December. There a deal for post-2012 should be signed.

An agreement to finally make the Adaptation Fund operational was the other major outcome. This means that $200 million in funds (a drop in the bucket compared to the $50 to 80 billion per year aid agencies and the UN estimate is necessary) will be released to aid developing countries within the next few months. Currently, the primary source of funding for the Adaptation Fund is a levy on transactions from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). No agreement on further sources of funding could be made.

Other than that, little progress was made. Discussions surrounding controlling emissions from deforestation trampled on the rights of indigenous peoples, and procedural reform of the CDM has been tabled until the next intersessional meeting in March.

Major polluters such as Australia, Canada, Japan and the US did not commit to cutting emissions by 2020. The EU, the self-proclaimed leader on fighting climate, reached a weak agreement regarding emissions reductions earlier in the week in Brussels. They have agreed to cut emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels (less than the 25 to 40% that the IPCC reccommends), in which two-thirds of emissions reductions can be met through rip-offsets. To add insult to injury, concessions were made to dirty industries such as cement, chemicals and steel.

The negotiators have their work cut out for them in 2009 if they want to ensure a good deal in Copenhagen to save the planet. Or is no deal better than a bad deal?