Is it just mere involvement in shaping the future of global sustainability, in the face of anthropogenic impact on climate change, or is it real commitment, from those who contribute to the status quo, with enough resources to support the poor nation states?- How much do vested interests contribute to the lack of leadership commitment?
Cancun Calling: One small step
Giles Parkinson
The thorny issue of a legally binding agreement raised its ahead again in Cancun on Wednesday, threatening to disrupt the collegial nature of the talks that the UN and Mexico are trying so hard to foster.
Centre stage was once again Ian Fry, an Australian environmental lawyer representing the island state of Tuvalu, whose insistence that a legally binding treaty be discussed at Copenhagen brought sharp divisions to the surface and caused a walkout of island states and the temporary suspension of the plenary sessions.
“We don’t have time to discuss whether we have legally binding agreement,” Saudi Arabia said. “We see this as threat to the KP. The most important question is how to maintain the status of the KP.”
The major players have been determined to maintain a positive spin on proceedings. UNFCCC secretary Christiana Figueres said she was confident that the six-pack of agreements that is the key ambition for a “balanced outcome” for Cancun, can be achieved.
Pershing also said it was possible to achieve the six-pack although he recognised that the toughest task would be in transparency and how to lock in the Copenhagen pledges. And he would not comment on whether a failure to reach agreement on all six items would imperil agreement on any. That remains a crucial question.
Unenlightened
It remains something of a mystery why so many countries – and businesses for that matter – have been slow to pick up on energy efficiency. The UN Environmental Program today highlighted the potential savings from replacing incandescent lamps with energy-saving lightbulbs, saying it could reduce energy costs for 100 mostly developing countries by $47 billion and avoid the need to construct $120 billion of new power infrastructure.
UNEP has launched the en.lighten program, in partnership with lightbulb manufacturers Osram and Phillips, to try and unlock funding to implement the program in developing countries. One of the mechanisms might be the type of “programmatic CDMs” pioneered by Australian company CoolNrg. UNEP is also looking to future technologies such as LEDs and solid state lighting, which it says can avoid some of the concerns about mercury levels in CFLs and achieve even greater efficiencies.
Look out overhead!
One of the hot topics among official parties on the endless bus trips to and from the COP16 venues has been the cost of this business. Anyone who thought that a country that offers a basic wage of $5 a day to its own population, and $40-a-day-all-you-can-drink holidays to US college students, might be less costly than the notoriously expensive Copenhagen, has been mistaken.
Another delegation lamented it would have been three or four times cheaper to buy their own printers than to hire them. “It’s just price gouging,” said one. “Even the sandwiches are $8 each and there’s no chips.” Others said the prices were not much different from Posnan and Copenhagen. “Prices have a habit of going up just as you arrive,” said the head of one of the larger delegations. At least the hosts are not insisting on serving organic food as the Danish did, although in my experience, refried beans have much the same effect.
The first demonstration was held inside the Moon Palace today, with a dozen or so waste collectors from South American countries, India and Africa protesting against waste projects funded by the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism. The CDM is designed to bring investment in emissions abatement projects in developing countries, but the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and Allies complains that its members were losing their jobs because of the emergence of huge landfills and waste incinerators, and families that made their living – or even lived – on large rubbish tips were being moved and disenfranchised.
It was suggested today that Qatar had been selected ahead of South Korea to have the honour of holding Cop18 in 2012, the one that will follow Cancun and Durban next year. That means that the cost of attending the event might not go down. Perhaps Australia could consider a bid for COP19 if the Frank Lowy-sponsored bid for the 2022 World Cup misses out later today. The Westfield COP has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
*Giles Parkinson will be filing daily from COP16 in Cancun for the duration of the conference. To read the previous dispatch, click here.
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