Brussels, 10/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - A sign that in times of financial crisis, the fight against climate change goes out of fashion? With a delay of 24 hours, the UN climate conference in Doha (COP 18) closed in Qatar on Saturday on a meagre bounty, which was roundly criticised by green groups and the poorest countries which are increasingly exposed to the threat of catastrophic climate change. The minimalist agreement, scraped together at the last minute, on a second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol, which will start on 1 January 2013, a few individual promises of funding (from the United Kingdom and France, amongst others) and the holding of another summit to try to make progress towards an international agreement to conclude in 2015 has been enough to save face, even if it cannot save the planet by keeping the increase in the average temperature below 2°C (compared to the pre-industrial era), but the European Union, which came in for criticism from NGOs for failing to play a leading role, has opted to see the glass as being half full rather than half empty, allowing it to welcome an agreement on a bridge to overcome the obstacle of a legal gap between the expiry of the first commitment period the Kyoto Protocol - the only legally binding international instrument to fight global warming - on 31 December 2012 and the future global system.
The Doha agreement guarantees an extension of the Kyoto Protocol post-2012 - this, admittedly is the main progress made by COP 18, but without the United States, which have never been a party to it, and without Russia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan, which have turned their backs on it. This makes it a Kyoto Protocol reduced to its simplest expression, as it now binds only the European Union and some 15 States which contribute 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions between them, in other words a negligible proportion. A ratifiable amendment establishes the rules which will prevail during the second eight-year period, during which the use of surplus “hot air” credits (AAU) will be authorised. The EU has already decided to implement this amendment on 1 January 2013, without waiting for it to be formally ratified by the European institutions and the member states, a process which is likely to take a year.
“In Doha, we have crossed the bridge from the old climate regime to the new system. We are now on our way to the 2015 global deal. It was not an easy and comfortable ride (…). But we have managed to cross the bridge. Very intense negotiations lie ahead of us. What we need now is more ambition and more speed”, said European Climate Action Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard.
Sofoclis Aletraris, the Cypriot minister for agriculture, natural resources and the environment, who was negotiating in tandem with the Commissioner in Doha on behalf of the EU, said that the package of decisions made in Doha “provides a solid basis for increasing the ambition level of global emissions action by 2015”. Matthias Groote (S&S, Germany), president of the committee on the environment of the European Parliament, who led the delegation of the Parliament to Doha, welcomed “the fact that a second commitment period and that the principle of 'loss and damage' due to climate change - a principle which will pave the way for future compensation for the developing countries - have been secured” in the final compromise. “However, the objective of 2°C has been sidestepped more than ever”, he lamented. Karl-Heinz Florenz (EPP, Germany), vice-president of the delegation, adds that “the EU must be better prepared for the next conference”, criticising the fact that over the course of the negotiations, “divisions appeared between the member states and these should have been resolved earlier”. In the view of the MEPs of the Greens/EFA group who went to Qatar, Doha is the 18th summit which has been for nothing or nearly nothing. “We weren't expecting much, but we hoped to be surprised.
“The Doha Summit is a perfect illustration of an international meeting you leave with the feeling of a missed opportunity, other summit for nothing, or very near it, pending 2015. Described as a 'consolidation' stage by the main negotiators, Doha has been one of the worst COPs in history. The final document of the summit calls on the parties to review their commitments in 2014. The European Union failed to build new alliances with the poorest countries and those most vulnerable to climate change, by turning down almost all of the requests made by these countries”, laments Sandrine Bélier (Greens/EFA, France). In the view of Satu Hassi (Green, Finland), “climate negotiations are continuing to stumble and the climate diplomacy of the EU is faltering due to Poland's obstruction, which is preventing the EU from increasing its level of ambition” to move to a 30% objective for the reduction of its emissions by 2020.
The NGOs did not have enough hard words. Oxfam condemns the “drought in climate action, which risks increasing famine in the world”. Greenpeace condemned the politicians who accepted a second Kyoto period which is “full of loopholes”. “What planet are you on? Clearly not the planet where people are dying from storms, floods and droughts. Nor the planet where renewable energy is growing rapidly”, said Jumi Naidoo of Greenpeace International. (AN/transl.fl)