Climate talks in Barcelona end with threats of summit walkout

[ej510]

Source: guardian.co.uk,


AVAAZ organization's activists in a performance during the closing day of Meeting on Climate Change in Barcelona, Spain, 06 Nov 2009. Photograph: Toni Albir/EPA

The last formal negotiation before the global summit on climate change in Copenhagen concluded in acrimony today , with developing countries threatening to walk out of the December conference unless rich countries commit themselves to greater cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

While the countries officially remain optimistic that a strong global warming treaty can be struck, they are privately braced for a weak outcome that heads of state will sign, but the public and scientists will condemn as much too little to prevent catastrophic global warming.

In addition, the US and Europe put themselves on a collision course with the world's poorest countries, by repeating demands that the existing Kyoto treaty be scrapped in favour of a single new international treaty.

The UN announced that more than 40 heads of state have now agreed to go to Copenhagen, including Gordon Brown and others from Europe, Africa and South America. It is a recognition that the only way a legally binding deal will be concluded is with the highest-level political involvement.

Ironically, the involvement of the heads of state will give negotiators much less time to bridge what appears to be near-insurmountable gaps between positions, thereby forcing talks to continue well into 2010. Earlier this week, the EU and UK accepted an enforceable deal would take at least six months to a year to finalise.

"Little progress was made on the key issues of emission targets and finance that would allow developing countries to limit their emissions and adapt to climate change," said Yvo de Boer, the UN director of the talks. "Without these two pieces of the puzzle in place we will not have a deal."

The 130 developing countries represented by the G77 group said todaythey would walk out of Copenhagen if rich countries did not offer far deeper emission cuts and more money.

"If there are no ambitious targets and timetables in the first few days, then there will definitely be a reaction," said Lumumba Di-Aping, chair of the G77.

Jonathan Pershing, the US chief negotiator, denied the US was holding up the talks by not naming a figure for its cuts. He refused to say whether the US would go to Copenhagen with a figure. "If we were to do a 17% reduction or a 20% cut, I'm not sure it would make a difference to the talks," he said.

The UN, EU and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said the US was endangering years of negotiations and hopes of tackling global warming, if it did not have firm targets.

"It is important for a deal to have the biggest emitter there with a concrete figure, which should be legally binding," said Anders Torrson, the Swedish chief negotiator.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/06/barcelona-climate-summit-walkout-copenhagen

[ej510]

1. Corporations run the world.

[starmaker]

2. Beware of legally binding?

So whose authority over whom and just who is going to be makin the rules.
What kind of authority/ organization is to be established-
Just who has authored this big document of which
creates an entity not set in stone.
It always looks good when your being sold
This is one treaty which can affect the lives of
every human and it has nothing to do with
with saving the world from ourselves.
The devil is always in the details.

[Imajika]

3. Oh please...

The US Senate will never pass a serious climate change treaty that requires real CO2 reductions. We might, which I doubt, get the Senate to approve a treaty one day which has voluntary targets. Cap and Trade is dead for the year, and if they cant get it through in 09' there is no chance it makes it through Congress in 10' during an election year. Think about that, a US President and Congress with overwhelming Democratic dominance (the party that supposedly cares about Climate Change) can't even get a watered down version of Climate Change legislation through. Further, the American public is probably not going to be FOR giving money to developing countries in some sort of Climate Change deal when unemployment rates in the US are as high as they are now. And even when the unemployment rate stops increasing, the projections of a very slow rate of hiring for as far as the eye can see is a pretty good indicator that the US public will not get on board with this. It's just not going to happen.

This whole thing is nothing but feel good smoke and mirrors. Even the Europeans aren't going to be willing to do much. These governments in places like Germany and France pay lip service to it to appease their public, but at the end of the day it isn't going to matter because they know the US won't be on board.

Things like BTU taxes and Cap and Trade are absolutely toxic to voters. People say they want to do something about Climate Change, but the vast majority aren't actually willing to sacrifice anything to take real action.

A slow burn crisis like this that takes place over a lifetime is just a very difficult thing to get the public to focus on in a serious way.

[ej510]

4. By the time we get serious about this issue it will be way too late.