Frustration, and maybe progress, as Paris climate talks near
With an international summit on climate change in Paris only a few months away, the talks-before-the-talks are gaining increasing importance as negotiators struggle to refine language and craft a coherent agreement that the world鈥檚 nations can all agree to sign at the December conference.
The Paris meeting runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, and negotiators just finished a week of talks in Bonn, Germany. The two lead negotiators in Bonn were given the green light to present a streamlined version of the 83-page draft agreement in October.
There is only one more negotiation session before the Paris conference: a four-day meeting, also in Bonn, starting on Oct. 19.
There are also signs that negotiators may have made progress on the thorny issue of loss and damage resulting from extreme weather events. The issue has long divided rich and poor nations, with poor nations demanding compensation for extreme weather events they link to the effects of climate change 鈥� like typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2013, causing over $5.8 billion in damage, The Guardian 聽鈥� and rich countries fearing the such an agreement could saddle them with endless liabilities running into the billions of dollars.聽
In the wake of typhoon Haiyan, the World Bank 鈥� citing multiple reports 鈥� noted that weather-related losses and damage have risen from an annual average of around $50 billion in the 1980s to almost $200 million .
鈥淲eather-related disasters are most crippling for smaller and lower-income countries that are least able to cope,鈥� the World Bank wrote.聽
The United States has now agreed to discuss extending and making permanent an agreement forged at climate negotiations in Poland in 2013.
Julie-Anne Richards, manager of International Policy for the Australia-based Climate Justice Programme, that the Bonn talks have resulted in some 鈥減ositive moves,鈥� including the progress on loss and compensation.
鈥淚 think [they] give us hope that loss and damage [negotiations] can be successfully concluded and we can agree a successful climate agreement in Paris,鈥� she added.
Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the BBC that he thinks there鈥檚 enough time left to have a deal ready for the start of the Paris conference.
鈥淭his is their shot to get it right,鈥� he added.聽
But many sticking points remain 鈥� including nation-specific plans to limit carbon emissions after 2020, and a timeline for a global phase-out of fossil fuels 鈥� and others are concerned that negotiators will arrive in Paris with lots of work left to do鈥攁nd less than two weeks to do it in. With a group of protesters standing outside the Bonn negotiations singing 鈥淚t鈥檚 the final countdown,鈥� negotiators voiced frustration with the process in the media.
Perhaps the most prominent was UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who has recently criticized the negotiations as moving at a 鈥渟nail鈥檚 pace.鈥�
The Algerian negotiator co-chairing the Bonn meetings, Ahmed Djoghlaf, fired back at the United Nations chief. From his office on the 38th floor of the UN building in New York, he said, 鈥測ou don鈥檛 see what is going on in the basement.鈥�
鈥淲e are making progress,鈥� he told a news conference. 鈥淲e will be on time in Paris.鈥�
海角大神a Figueres, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, also said negotiators are 鈥渙n track鈥� to have a global agreement concluded in Paris this year.
鈥淥f course we are all impatient, of course we are all frustrated,鈥� she told a news conference. 鈥淲e all would want to see this baby born.鈥澛�
This report used information from Reuters.
