It's Getting Hot In Here » Zach Swank

Update: 10:37am – Session adjourns, developing countries convene

Zach Swank — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 02:47:36 +0000

Within the first few minutes of plenary, COP President Witoelar presented a draft decision on an Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention. While Portugal, on behalf of the EU, supported the text, India opposed the current language regarding national and international action, which currently calls for enhanced “measurable, reportable and verifiable nationally appropriate mitigation actions by developing country Parties in the context of sustainable development.” The plenary was suspended at the request of China and the G-77/China convened in consultations to agree on a position for the developing world on the matter.

BaliBuzz: And the Beat Goes On…

Zach Swank — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:33:38 +0000

It is the final night of the UN conference. All of the side events have ended and all of the displays have been taken down. Compared to the constant bustle of normal conference pace, the convention center feels like a ghost town.

Yet, the negotiations goes on.

It is now 2am and negotiations are continuing to take place behind closed doors. In the main hall, people are waiting, and some are sleeping, for the final report and close of these negotiations. As rumor has it, that time will not come until at least 5am at the current rate of progress. Outside in the halls, there are intense strategy huddles, camping outside of the negotiation rooms in hopes of catching a hint of how they are going, and finally outright partying complete with rum, wine, and music. Other than the fact that anytime is a good time for a party, there are no particular reasons to celebrate just yet.

While it is likely that a deal will be made, it seems like no major parties wish to see this negotiation fail, the quality of that deal is very much in the air at this point.

Many issues stay unresolved: emissions targets and reduction ranges, linkage between negotiations of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex 1 countries (AWG) and others processes outside of the Kyoto Protocol, such as the long term cooperative dialogue and the review of the Kyoto Protocol.

The European Union will not leave Bali without targets, while the US and Canada oppose talk of binding targets. Negotiations will go on for hours, and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will return in a few hours to put more pressure on ministers. At 2:30am, we have two options: a Bali breakthrough, or a Bali deadlock. History is being written before our eyes.

UPDATE: Negotiations have been halted for the night at will continue at 8am tomorrow.

BaliBuzz: The Conference Begins…

Zach Swank — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:08:29 +0000

Yesterday was the first day of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Bali. More specifically, it was the first day of the thirteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the third Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 3), the twenty-seventh sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 27) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 27), and last but not least, the resumed fourth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex 1 Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG 4). If that sounds like a lot and somewhat unintelligible, well, it is. Yet for such an official and confusing title, the experience of being at Bali Conference is one that swings between the ridiculously complex to the childish and impudent. The conference is perhaps best summed up by the way it started, with a music video. If a music video cannot insure the success of a conference, one has to wonder what will.
On the one hand you have the negotiations which you have to do a year’s worth of background reading just to understand; to unfamiliar ears, the negotiations may as well be in a different language. Then on the other you end up riding the free bikes in a suit to go between the conference centers; after arriving late to our first two events, we quickly discovered that walking was not a practical solution, nor was it pleasurable in the heat.

There are intense arguments over what a proposed policy point should be, then there is dancing to the “Its Getting Hot in Here” song. There was the recent shift in Australian leadership leading to a promise to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which would make the US the only industrialized nation not to do so, and the “Fossil of the Day Awards” which “celebrated” that very embarrassing fact with great pageantry and a ceremonious bag of coal.

Frankly, that dichotomy is really indicative of the whole climate change debate. On one hand, it is absolutely one of most serious challenges humankind has ever faced and on the other, nations still try to dance around it and fail to make strong changes that are required to insure our future. Today, among other things, Saudi Arabia called for compensation for any potential loss in revenue from decreased demand for oil and Canada stated that industrializing countries should be subject to the exact same standards as already industrialized countries, totally ignoring the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility. I share the high hopes of many at this conference, but if a Bali breakthrough is to be achieved, it is time to leave the absurdity to the side events and gimmicks rather than the actions of the negotiating delegates.