COP 15 Daily Summary

The fourth day of the conference started with the CMP’s 4^th plenary meeting and various contact groups discussing issues that were brought up in previous plenary meetings and needed more detailed deliberations.

TOP NEWS ITEM

In an echo of the previous day’s proceedings Tuvalu and AOSIS (Association of Small Island States) again asked for the creation of a contact group, this time to discuss amendments to the Kyoto Protocol. Not happy with the compromise suggested by China, Brazil and OPEC countries, that only certain topics will be discussed in the contact group, Tuvalu once again called for a suspension of the proceedings and the chair, COP15 president Connie Hedegaard, had no option but to comply. The day ended therefore with both the COP and the CMP discussions suspended.

This is continued evidence of the rift within the Developing countries (or the G77+China), where the most vulnerable countries – AOSIS and poor African nations – are calling for much tougher targets and demanding that the COP15 ends with a legally binding treaty ready to be signed. AOSIS claims that more than 100 countries have signed on to a goal of limiting rise in temperatures to only 1.5 degrees Celsius, instead of the more commonly cited 2 degrees. Today, Friday, AOSIS Ambassadors will present their draft for a treaty text.

ADAPTATION

On the day the US President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize, the G77+China pointed out his obligations as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and member of the multilateral global society. These are to join the Kyoto Protocol, adopt targets that are comparable to Annex 1 countries, and provide enough resources for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Ambassador Lumumba stressed out that the IMF currently holds USD200 billion in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) that are not being used, saying that “these resources should be available also to climate change adaptation and mitigation.” He also mentioned the importance of the Adaptation Fund and the increase of its funds through agreeing on deeper emission cuts. The governance of this fund should be under the UNFCCC.

The need for predictable and substantial funding for adaptation projects was reiterated by AOSIS, which are already struggling with the effects of climate change. AOSIS is negotiating for a legally binding agreement that honours the commitments and responsibilities laid down in the Bali Action Plan.

The European Union (EU) noted that Ambassador Lumumba’s request for USD200 billion is possible in the long term. EU already committed to a fund of EUR100 billion by 2020 for developing countries for adaptation. However, the Chief Negotiator for Sweden, holding the Presidency of the EU, Anders Turesson pointed out that the developing countries need the capacity to take up such funding and implement the adaptation projects. A system needs to be set up that will ensure that the resources are spent in an efficient way for adaptation. This system has to be negotiated together with the negotiations on the amount of funding.

REDD+

REDD+ moved forward in the closed contact group on SBSTA (Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technical Advice) during Day 4.  While no official report was made, or is expected on REDD+ until the close of the AWG-LCA next week, rumours are starting to circulate in the hallway as to what the final text will include.  Text on the need to address drivers of deforestation, which would essentially require demand-side measures, is being refuted by China, who wants the text left out.  Plenty of political manoeuvring is expected on this topic over the next several days, and the fate of the ultimate REDD+ text, including important questions such as whether plantations will count as forests, rests upon this.

FINANCE

During the day, a Swedish government spokeswoman revealed that Prime Minister Reinfeldt will pledge 800 million euro (1.2 billion USD) to the EU’s “fast-start” financing fund during the European summit in Brussels. No confirmed sums have yet been revealed, as talks are to resume on Friday, but a French official claimed that Europeans governments committed a total of 1.8 billion euro (2.6 billion USD)

DEVELOPING NATIONS

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, chair of the Group of 77 have – on the day Barack Obama received his Nobel peace prize – renewed the Group’s criticism of the US, noting that it is the largest historical emitter, and calling on it to join the Kyoto Protocol and take on Annex 1 responsibilities. He made a direct appeal to Obama to rise up to the challenge, as Nobel Prize winner and as “an advocate of a multilateral global society”.

Late at night though, Di-Aiping apparently walked out in anger from a consultation meeting with UN representatives telling the Danish TV2 News that “Things are not going well, this conference will probably be wrecked by the bad intentions of some people”.

Bernarditas Muller in the mean time, coordinator for G-77 and China in relation to the AWG-LCA, stressed that funding for adaptation in developing countries should not be considered as development aid, and that the two should be kept separated. He declined to remark on the rift within the G77 (see ‘Top News Item’)

CDM

On Thursday 10 December, the UNFCCC held a session entitled “Energy Efficiency Under the CDM: Lessons Learned, Opportunities and Challenges”.

During contact group meetings and informal consultations, the EU discussed issues of improving regional distribution of CDM projects, standardized baselines, understaffing of the mechanism’s Secretariat, and the possibility of a full-time executive chair for the CDM executive board. Grenada and Brazil were opposed to the proposal for a full-time chair, as they feel that a full-time secretariat is sufficient, and implementing a chair position would favour countries that can afford to support such a position.  China suggested improving transparency, as well as fairness and efficiency in decision making. Standardized baselines were also supported by the International Emissions Trading Association.

The Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center (Japan), the Institute of Energy Economics Japan, and the Global Environmental Centre Foundation held a session to discuss methodological proposals for facilitating CDM in developing countries, especially LDCs. The session also focused on achieving co-benefits of development and mitigation.

The Project Develop Forum held a session in which members of the Forum presented case studies to demonstrate the advantages of CDM, and to discuss necessary reforms to the mechanism.

The executive board of the UN CDM has been examining a proposal for the creation of a new independent panel, which would accelerate approval for project activities. This panel would function independently of the executive board. Presently, approval may take up to two years. If this panel were created, the executive board would be afforded more time to undertake policy-related activities and issues. Finally, if a case approval was rejected by the panel, it could be appealed to the executive board.

The CDM Executive Board’s position on the mechanism has been that it effectively contributes to emissions reduction. Lex de Jonge, chairman of the board, said that “reductions under the CDM are real, because they are checked and cross-checked and monitored”.

Presently, the CDM deploys approximately USD 6 billion per year in projects to developing nations. Some countries are now advocating for that amount to be raised to between USD 100-300 billion. Additionally, many project developers argue that the standards by which they must prove emissions reduction are too onerous.

The Centre for European Policy Studies presented its report entitled “The Clean Development Mechanism and Beyond”. Delegates stated that new mechanisms “should be judged according to their environmental integrity, the way they enhance public and private investments, and institutional strengths”. Additionally, the Centre recommended that baseline setting should remain a responsibility of the host country, and the process should be simplified. A delegate from Climate Change Capital said that an incentive to explore diverse mitigation options is created by imposing a cost on carbon by carbon markets. A delegate from Caisses des Dépôts argued that JI should be made more attractive to non-Annex 1 countries.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

In a press brief held during the fourth day of the conference, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, said that there is an emerging agreement that there will be a new technology mechanism that will include an executive body, which will be responsible for accelerating progress on technology development and transfer, and a new consultative network for climate technologies compromised of regional technology centres. This will also include support for developing countries to take action on technology for both adaptation and mitigation.

Other Daily Updates

• Day 1: 7 Dec 2009
• Day 2: 8 Dec 2009
• Day 3: 9 Dec 2009
• Day 5: 11 Dec 2009
• Day 6-7: 12-13 Dec 2009
• Day 8: 14 Dec 2009
• Day 9: 15 Dec 2009
• Day 10: 16 Dec 2009
• Day 11: 17 Dec 2009

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