Brussels, 11/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - No overall agreement. but promise of agreement at least on a tentative anti-climate change deal for Cancun. No major breakthroughs, but the final preparatory session on Saturday 9 October in Tianjin (China) for the United Nations sixteenth conference of the parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP, Cancun, 16, 29 November - 10 December 2010) did at least provide the hope that the summit in Cancun, Mexico might see the international community agree on a range of tangible decisions for post -2012.
Since the disappointing outcome of COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009, this is the very minimum requirement and EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard has been constantly calling for action to ensure a full, complete, binding an ambitious deal in 2011 at the COP 17 in South Africa. She points out in a press release published on 9 October: 'The Tianjin meeting has brought a welcome convergence of views that the United Nations climate conference in Cancún next month must result in a balanced package of decisions that takes forward global action to combat climate change.' This means that a raft of decisions need to be taken to cover issues like the funding of anti-climate change measures, transfer of technology from North to South, reducing the deforestation of tropical rainforests and adjusting to climate change.
The Commissioner added: 'Overall, however, the progress achieved in Tianjin has been very patchy and much too slow. In particular, there has been insufficient progress in translating key elements of the Copenhagen Accord into UN texts. The lack of progress on these issues, and signs of backtracking on the Copenhagen Accord by certain parties, gives us cause for concern about the balance of the Cancún package. The gap between the texts on the table at the end of the Tianjin session and the decisions we need to reach in Cancún is still very big. A lot of work will be needed over the coming weeks to bridge this gap.'
The Commissioner recognised, like Cristiana Figueres, executive secretary of UNFCCC, that Tianjin did at least allow governments to identify what would be feasible and what can be postponed until a later date. Environmental NGOs like Friends of the Earth International are disappointed that rich countries continue to refuse to meet their obligations and reduce greenhouse gas emissions or provide funding to help developing countries tackle the problem of climate change. They recognise that the fact that the setting up of a global climate fund is within reach does provide a glimmer of hope for Cancun. Greenpeace International, believing that only political will carry the day and enable progress to be made, is calling on governments to take action for the climate rather than just for their own interests. (A.N. trans fl)