Cancun Talks: China, India Brazil press for more US cuts

China, India, Brazil and South Africa said the US must pledge deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to help make progress in United Nations climate talks, sharpening divisions between rich and poor countries on how to combat global warming.

The four developing nations at the talks in Cancun, Mexico, also called on industrialized economies to provide more aid for countries seeking to clean up their energy industries, adding to demands that the US and European Union said may wreck the meeting.

“There is an agreement to be had,” US lead climate negotiator Todd Stern said yesterday in Cancun. “I’m not sure whether we will actually get it. I think that question hangs in the balance.”

With the two-week conference involving 193 nations entering its final four days, the EU said negotiating documents are too complex and too full of disputed items for this stage in the talks. The remarks add to the chances negotiations may follow last year’s gathering in Copenhagen in failing to produce an agreed package of measures to keep a lid on global temperatures.

“The texts are still much too long,” said Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner in charge of climate policy, referring to UN documents outlining possible goals at Cancun. “There are much too many options. They are still too complicated.”

Leaders gathering Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador are among the 35 leaders arriving for the final days of the conference. US president Barack Obama, who attended last year in Copenhagen, is not coming this time.

The delegates are looking for ways to curb fossil fuel emissions blamed for global warming once limits agreed in the 1997 Kyoto treaty expire in 2012. After failing to reach a legally-binding agreement last year, the UN scaled back ambitions for this meeting, focusing on agreeing regulations to protect forests, verify emissions cuts and channel up to $100 billion a year in climate aid to developing nations.

A UN text sketching out the options for Cancun says the nations of the world need to limit temperature increases since the 1700s to “below 2 degrees Celsius.” Carbon dioxide emissions have risen 40 per cent from 1990 to 2008, double the level that would produce a 3.5 degrees Celsius increase in global temperatures, the International Energy Agency said yesterday.

US position

The US, the only industrialized country not to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, has pledged to cut emissions about 17 per cent by 2020 based on 2005 levels. That amounts to a zero reduction from 1990, the baseline for Kyoto, according to the Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh.

“The US offer is disappointing to say the least,” he said yesterday. He joined the other developing nations in insisting that the industrial countries make a second round of commitments under Kyoto, an effort that the UN says is not possible at this meeting.

“We need to stick to the Kyoto Protocol because it’s the result of a long-term effort and the only legally binding document on emissions reductions,” ie Zhenhua, China’s top official on climate policy, said at a briefing yesterday in Cancun. “We need to continue the second commitment period.”

Copenhagen compromise

Both the US and EU are pressing for a new climate agreement to include reduction pledges made earlier this year under the Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding accord cobbled together in the Danish capital last year when treaty talks failed.

The US wants the Copenhagen pact to serve as the basis for a new treaty that includes cuts from fast-growing countries like China and India. Japan, Russia and Canada have refused to sign up for a second round of cuts under Kyoto without developing country participation. China wants to stick with the Kyoto approach, which requires actions from only industrial countries.

The EU, which has committed to cutting emissions 20 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels, urged all countries to make compromises, noting there were limits to what it could achieve.

“We can’t leave Cancun empty-handed,” Hedegaard said in a news conference.

Forest snag

Bolivia yesterday stepped up its call for rich nations to make deeper cuts. Its negotiator, Pablo Solon, also is resisting the forest protection measures, saying the methods being considered to count the stocks of carbon sequestered in trees don’t do enough to protect “the rights of nature.”

The Latin American country’s concerns are important because under the UN rules, which require consensus, any party to the talks can hold up progress with an objection.

The rich-nation targets in the 1997 Kyoto negotiation text range from 15 per cent below 1990 levels in 2020 to 50 per cent below by 2017, according to a document on the website of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The EU has said it will boost its reduction target to 30 per cent if other countries also strengthen their commitments.

“What we need is that others also move,” Hedegaard said.

New Climate Finance Tool for developing countries launched in Cancun

To help developing countries make sense of the multitude of funds & instruments available for climate finance a landmark website,www.climatefinanceoptions.org, was launched at the United Nations Climate Conference in Cancun. The UN Climate Change Conference begins in Cancun on 6th December, 2010 and leaders of 194 countries are expected to attend to discuss their future commitments to reduce emissions and take action against climate change. Rich countries had earlier pledged $30 billion to fight the affects of climate change - of which about $4 billion has been earmarked for forestry. In 1992, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted as the basis for a global response to the problem. With 194 parties, the convention enjoys near-universal membership. The objective of the Convention is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. The convention is complemented by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which has 192 parties. Under this treaty, 37 industrialised countries and the European Community have committed to reducing their emissions by an average of five percent by 2012 against 1990 levels. Climate finance issues are high on the agenda in Cancun.  The Climate Finance Options (CFO) web platform, envisioned as the go-to site for information on climate finance will help developing countries in their efforts to identify critical sources of funding to combat climate change. Within the framework of global negotiations on climate change, the World Bank Group and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have jointly developed the web-based knowledge platform in close cooperation with the UNFCCC Secretariat. The Platform will generate a number of benefits: Improved access to information on climate finance as a basis for more informed planning and decision making by developing country governments; Greater equity in the ability of users from countries and communities with varying levels of capacity to access the system; Useful documentation in preparation of policies related to financing mitigation and adaptation; Greater efficiency in climate finance transactions; Faster deployment of mitigation & adaptation projects; Better coordination among the UN System, MDBs including the private sector, in financing for climate action in developing countries.

Counting carbon footprints in Cancun

Dec 2 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Adianto P. Simamora The Jakarta Post, Indonesia / Asia News Network

"We invite you to mitigate your 1.71 tons of emissions by purchasing carbon certificates."

That is the answer from an online emission calculator when IGG Maha Adi, an Indonesian delegate to the Cancun climate talks, counted his carbon footprint for his trip to Cancun, Mexico.

Delegates to the two-week talks can access an online or a manual carbon footprint calculator set up in conference venue to measure emissions associated with air and ground transportation, lodging and meals.

The Mexican government is offering options for participants to purchase conservation projects to offset their emissions.

For individuals, the government offered four low-carbon projects including a wind turbine project in which participants could share US$14.82, or indigenous forest projects at a cost of $12.65 each.

Ten thousand delegates from 194 countries, including government officials, activists, company representatives and reporters, are expected to attend the two-week conference, which officially kicked off Monday morning.

The climate conference is being held at the Moon Palace Hotel, while side events are housed 7km away at the Cancun Messe convention center.

All delegates pass through the Cancun Messe for security checks before being transported to the Moon Palace Hotel.

Indonesia's total greenhouse gas emission in 2005 was 2.3 billion tons, placing the country third on the list of biggest emitters after the US and China.

Delegates to the 16th climate conference will discuss long-standing issues of how to cut emissions to prevent a 2-degree Celsius increase in the planet's temperature.

Each year, there are at least four climate conferences held before the ministerial level climate talks held usually two weeks before year-end.

At previous climate conferences, developed countries refused to agree to legally binding emission reduction targets, while developing countries also refused binding cuts.

The carbon footprint calculator was developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The Mexican government said that for the conference, some power was supplied through a system of photovoltaic cells with an estimated output of 130 kilowatts.

The installation of a 1.5-megawatt wind power generator will contribute to Cancun's electricity production through renewable sources.

The delegates will be provided with hybrid vehicles for their transfers during the talks in order to neutralize their emissions.

The Mexican government has also implemented a special hotel assessment program in Cancun aimed at enhancing sustainable operations.

Through the Environmental Leadership for Competitiveness program implemented by SEMARNAT, hotels will run eco-efficiency projects to reduce the use of raw material, energy and water during the conference.

The projects were expected to reduce water consumption by 200,000 cubic meters and carbon dioxide by 4,000 tons.

The host country also planted 10,000 trees and bushes in Cancun.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said all nations would have the opportunity to make progress by adopting a broad and balanced set of decisions to reduce emissions.

Climate Change Conference Begins in Mexico

Dec 01, 2010 -- Voice of America News/ContentWorks

to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide as part of an effort to curb global warming. But participants are looking for advances on a handful of issues rather than an overall agreement that would legally bind nations to reduce emissions.

Delegates from more than 190 nations, and representatives of various non-governmental groups, are in Cancun for two weeks of discussion aimed at forging a comprehensive agreement not now, but at some future meeting.
But in his opening remarks, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the world may not be able to wait much longer for decisive action.He said climate change is already a reality for Mexico and the whole planet. He cited recent deadly floods in Mexico, Guatemala and Pakistan, as well as disasters in Russia and Africa as evidence that climate change is already disrupting life for many of the world's people.

The threat is especially keen for small island nations -- rising sea levels caused by global warming threaten their very existence.

The chair for the group representing 42 of those nations is Grenada's ambassador, Dessima Williams.
"Our environmental integrity is at risk," said Ambassador Williams. "Our peoples' livelihood remains at risk and the very credibility of the multilateral system to which we are pledged and to which, as small states, we depend -- all are at stake."

These nations want the world to commit to keeping global temperature no higher than 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels -- an ambitious goal given that world leaders struggled to commit to a two-degree limit at last year's Climate Summit in Copenhagen.

But while people attending this conference agree on the gravity of the problem, they are not all of one mind when it comes to what exactly needs to be done.

The European Union is urging China, the United States and other large emitters of greenhouse gases to put aside differences and commit to a legally binding agreement.

The head of the U.S. Climate Change delegation, Jonathan Pershing, says any agreement on cutting emissions worldwide must be verifiable by all nations involved.

"It is extremely important to have a clear sense of understanding about what countries are delivering, what they are doing," Pershing said. "How do you know? How do you create confidence in the process and for one country in the actions of the other countries."

Whether negotiators can move a little closer to an agreement based on such transparency is one of the questions that will be answered when this conference comes to a close on December 10.

How important is the COP16 climate summit for the smart energy industry?

Nov 29, 2010 -- Datamonitor

        

The COP16 climate change summit in Cancun is unlikely to bring any festive cheer to smart energy technology vendors. However, the expected lack of outcome in terms of a binding international agreement will do little to affect the movements of individual governments in setting energy-efficiency policies that will drive the adoption of smart technology.

As the US lurches to the right politically, climate change will become virtually unmentionable in federal energy policy, but in a highly fragmented market, state regulators and governments will hold the key to the adoption of smart technology. It is here that policies will be set to drive the US toward a smarter world, irrespective of the 

Republican resistance to climate change-driven policies.

Cancun will not deliver a globally binding commitment to climate change

There is near-unanimous consensus that the Cancun summit will not deliver a globally binding agreement on a new, credible, and meaningful climate change framework. It will certainly offer nations the opportunity to discuss a replacement to Kyoto under a far less intense media spotlight than that shone upon world leaders in Copenhagen, but the best we can hope for is the laying of a more solid foundation for future summits. As delegates arrive in Mexico, it is timely to question whether COP16 matters to the smart energy technology industry and whether a failure to deliver any binding agreement on climate change will affect the future of the industry.

Divergent political will and obstinate politicians are of course the major stumbling block for any ground-breaking consensus in Cancun. However, a failure to meet agreement at the most basic level will have little impact on investments in smart energy technology. Governments the world over are adopting their own energy-efficiency policies, irrespective of the outcome of COP16 and any subsequent conferences. While the drivers for adoption of smart energy technologies might differ, the net result is positive and should give optimism to observers that are hoping for the success of the Cancun talks.

Central governments will continue to drive smart technology adoption in Western Europe and across Asia

The EU has led the global charge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but across Western Europe the attitude to renewable energy is by no means homogeneous. Residential smart metering penetration is mandated to reach 80% by 2020, and transmission and distribution companies across the continent are investing in upgrading networks using smart technology. In addition, a commitment to renewable energy, particularly on the Iberian Peninsula and in Denmark, has seen wind generation gain significant penetration.

In Asia, China, which is now the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is also pressing forward with a renewable energy policy that will see heavy investment in solar power. China is also providing subsidies for cleantech companies. It is subsidizing manufacturers of solar film, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, and is offering subsidies to consumers to purchase electric cars. Other Asia Pacific countries are also forging ahead, with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan already having smart meter strategies in place.

As the US lurches to the right, smart energy technology adoption will be driven by individual states

The US is a hotbed of cleantech innovation, but US-based vendors are finding non-domestic markets far more accessible. California-based smart meter vendor Echelon has only a small proportion of its installed base in its home market, and its US competitors Itron and General Electric are also looking overseas for growth. Likewise, smart grid specialist Current has a couple of contracts in Colorado and Texas, but has many more in Europe.

While the US market has benefited from a healthy environment for cleantech equity investments, as well as government-sponsored American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding and company-specific subsidies, the federal government is fundamentally unable to pass any legislation to drive energy efficiency. With a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, the country is politically lurching to the right, cementing an ingrained ideological opposition to renewable energy. The American right is increasingly outspoken about its skepticism of the notion that burning fossil fuel has had an impact on climate change, which does not bode well for any summit designed to tackle the issue.

In addition, the US suffers from a highly fragmented energy market, in which even the largest utilities are dwarfed by their European counterparts. Significant investment in smart technology is being earmarked by some US utilities, but many lack the balance sheets to fund these investments, and regulators and end users are becoming increasingly skeptical of the benefits of going "smart."

However, the aging infrastructure that underpins the US electricity grid is creaking under the pressure of modern-day energy demands, and requires new investment. A federal push for energy efficiency is unlikely anytime soon, which virtually kills off the prospect of success at any COP summit. The Republican right must first embrace smart energy technology as a way of solving long-term energy security, which will then allow it to dodge its skepticism about climate change.

However, individual states are far more receptive. California, traditionally governed by a Republican, is heading toward state-wide deployment of smart meters to combat capacity constraints. While the easy dollars will be earned in Europe and Asia Pacific, US investment in smart energy technology will happen regardless of federal government or what happens in Cancun. It will just be a little patchy.

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