Hopes of a significant breakthrough towards the establishment of concrete reductions in greenhouse gas emissions have been dashed after the 14th Conference of Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) failed to take significant action.
Ministers and secretaries were keen to put a positive spin on the meeting in Poznan, Poland, by stating that a “clear commitment from governments to shift into negotiating mode next year,” had been established. This has now been scheduled for the COP-15, taking place in December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, in what is widely regarded as the last opportunity for governments to agree on a common strategy to reduce and adapt to climate change ahead of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.
Proposals for greenhouse gas reductions had targeted 2050 previously but there had been much attention surrounding interim targets for 2020 and 2030. However, significant gaps remain between the response agreed on by the world’s governments and those outlined by the UNFCC.
Nevertheless, there was some progress at the COP-14 including the establishment of a climate adaptation fund for developing countries as well as those hardest hit by climate change. Approximately $80million was committed to the fund at COP-14, although many representatives of developing countries have branded this “inadequate”. An agreement has also been reached to count future afforestation of depleted lands in China and India as a clean development mechanism.
The European Union has also established goals for 2020, aiming to cut EU energy consumption by 20 per cent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels.
The so-called “20-20-20″ agreement has been opposed by Poland as more than nine tenths of its electricity comes from coal-fired power plants that are often fed with emission-intensive “brown coal”. However, an analysis argued that Poland will have ample time to develop strategies to offset any potential negative impacts of the climate package.
Poland for its part won significant concessions including a two-tiered system requiring it and other Eastern European member states to secure emission permits covering just 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions arising from its utilities in 2013.
The UNFCCC will convene again for the COP-15 from November 30 to December 11 2009, in Copenhagen.
