Cancún (Mexico),
29 November 2010 - The United Nations Climate
Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico,
kicked off Monday with calls for commitment
and compromise.
In his opening speech,
Mexican President Felipe Calderón
cited last year's hurricane in Mexico, this
year's floods in Pakistan and fires in Russia
as examples of increasing incidences of
natural disasters brought about by climate
change and already affecting the poorest
and most vulnerable.
Calling on negotiators
in Cancún to make progress in the
interest of their children and grandchildren,
he said that the "eyes of the world"
were focused on the meeting.
"Climate change
is an issue that affects life on a planetary
scale," he said. "What this means
is that you will not be here alone negotiating
in Cancún. By your side, there will
be billions of human beings, expecting you
to work for all of humanity," he said.
The two-week meeting
is the sixteenth Conference of the 194 Parties
to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the sixth
meeting of the 192 Parties to the Kyoto
Protocol.
Mexican Foreign Minister
and newly elected President of the Conference,
Patricia Espinosa said: "It is time
to make a concerted effort before it is
too late. We can only achieve the results
if we commit to making progress."
According to COP President
Espinosa, governments meeting in Mexico
can reach a deal to launch action on adaptation,
technology transfer and forests; along with
creating a new fund for long-term climate
finance.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary
Christiana Figueres said in her opening
address that governments had revealed a
growing convergence that a balanced set
of decisions under both the Convention and
the Kyoto Protocol could be an achievable
outcome in Cancún. At the same time,
a number of politically charged issues need
to be resolved in order to reach such an
outcome.
Chief among these is
how to take mitigation actions forward.
In the course of 2010, all 37 industrialised
nations and 42 developing countries, including
the largest emerging economies, submitted
targets and voluntary actions to reduce
or limit greenhouse gas emissions. These
mitigation promises need to be formalised
as a matter of urgency.
Following up from Copenhagen,
the UN's top climate change official Ms.
Figueres said that developed countries had
in the course of 2010 revealed a commitment
to live up to the fast start finance pledged
in 2009. Developed countries have announced
pledges totaling US$28 billion and many
of them are now making information available
on the disbursement of these funds.
Last week, a report
complied by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) showed that the world's
nations have the chance to deliver almost
60 percent of the emissions reductions needed
to keep global temperatures under a 2°C
rise - but only if the pledges made in Copenhagen
are fully met.
The Emissions Gap Report,
which was jointly authored by 30 leading
climate scientists, found that in order
to have a 'likely' and cost-effective chance
of limiting global warming to 2°C or
below over the 21st Century, global emissions
will need to have peaked within the next
10 years and be around 44 gigatonnes of
CO2 equivalent in 2020.
Under a 'business-as-usual'
scenario, annual emissions of greenhouse
gases could be around 56 gigatonnes of CO2
equivalent by 2020. Fully implementing the
pledges and intentions associated with the
Copenhagen Accord could, in the best case
identified by the group, cut emissions to
around 49 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent by
the same date. This would leave a "gap"
of around 5 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent
that needs to be bridged over the coming
decade - an amount equal to the emissions
of all the world's cars, buses and trucks
in 2005.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"The results indicate that the UN meeting
in Copenhagen could prove to have been more
of a success than a failure if all the commitments,
intentions and funding, including fully
supporting the pledges of developing economies,
are met."
"There is a gap
between the science and current ambition
levels. But, what this report shows is that
the options on the table right now in the
negotiations can get us almost 60 per cent
of the way there. This is a good first step."
Under the Kyoto Protocol,
politically charged issues include the need
to avoid a gap after the first commitment
period and the importance of having clarity
on the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol,
along with the continuation of engaging
the private sector through the Kyoto Protocol's
market mechanisms beyond 2012.
Under the Convention,
the unresolved issues include the accountability
for implementation of mitigation targets
and actions; the mobilization of long-term
finance, the creation of a new fund for
this and the accompanying accountability
of its delivery, along with the understanding
of fairness that will guide long-term mitigation
efforts.
"When the stakes
are high and issues are challenging, compromise
is an act of wisdom that can unite different
positions in creative ways. I am convinced
that governments can compromise to find
their way to a concrete outcome," Ms.
Figueres said. "That outcome needs
to be both firm and dependable and have
a dedicated follow-on process for future
work," she added.
Close to 15,000 participants,
including government delegates from the
194 Parties to the UNFCCC and representatives
from business and industry, environmental
organizations and research institutions,
are attending the two-week gathering in
Cancún.
About the UNFCCC
With 194 Parties, the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership
and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified
by 192 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the
Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly
industrialized countries and countries undergoing
the process of transition to a market economy,
have legally binding emission limitation
and reduction commitments. The ultimate
objective of both treaties is to stabilize
greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere
at a level that will prevent dangerous human
interference with the climate system.
