Not From the EU, not This Time...

24 hours at the Climate Conference in Poznan – and I am still struggling to make the shift between the real world and the world of acronyms. Back home in Berlin, I saw the climate conference in big picture terms: commitments to fight climate change, yes or no? But here, even after just 24 hours on the ground, I am immersed in the technical language, the nitty-gritty details, already climate-acronym-literate. CDM, shared vision, negotiating mandate, mitigation – developed, mitigation – developing, adaptation, finance, tech transfer, LULUFC and last but not least REDD are all no longer strangers to me.

At the start of the big Climate Action Network strategy meeting this afternoon, all the NGOs present were asked to indicate their country’s position on shared vision, negotiating mandate, LULUFC, etc. and to identify where their country could be moved in the next week.

And yes, everyone understands what LULUFC means and understands that even the term “shared vision” refers to a negotiating strand, and not a philosophical concept. You want to know the shared vision of the EU? At least 50% by 2050/1990, peak 2020!!!

I ask a campaigner who is scribbling down the adaptation position of Japan, where he thinks his country could be moved in the next week. “I don’t know where they can be moved.” I am not surprised. Nobody has indicated any area where their country could be moved in the next week. Movement is not the thing to expect from Poznan, rather, loopholes seem to be the fashion of the day. This climate conference suffers from bad timing: the US is currently a lame duck administration, and the EU is negotiating their climate package in Brussels. The EU is likely to weaken their climate package considerably, ready to make all sorts of exemptions for all sorts of industries and countries. Here in Poznan, there is nothing left of the EU’s traditional role as a frontrunner on climate change. Financial commitments to fund renewable energy in the South? Not from the EU, not this time.

For other voices on the weak position of the EU in Poznan, read the excellent blog Klima der Gerechtigkeit, in German.