Environmental Parliament at the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations.
China came through for all of us. If it’s not a broken plastic toy or new trainers, it’s a brand new green policy… from the indomitable leader Hu Jintao who spoke politely and unemotionally at the UN and he promised that China would hold down carbon emissions and pursue nuclear power and renewable energy but rejected setting specific targets for global warming. He rejected to address the greenhouse gases reductions, as more than 100 government leaders from around the world had gathered at the United Nations on Tuesday for an unprecedented daylong conference on combating climate change. A first step truly. China likes to lead occasionally but for now in words. If the leader can translate these words into action is another matter.
But it was at the same meeting in New York, where we heard Barack Obama who affirmed his commitment to green growth in the United States but acknowledged the domestic battles that he and many other leaders will face. He also rejected specific targets of carbon emissions and his speech disappointed most all climate activists by failing to propose any new policies.
Although negotiators have been struggling to reach an agreement on cutting global emissions by December, when they will meet in Copenhagen, and the United Nations organizers are hoping that gathering the leaders will give the talks new political momentum. But despite saluting the goal of controlling climate change, the political leaders stressed the difficulty of reaching an overall deal.
Specifically President Hu said that while China had made great strides in development, it still lagged in relative wealth per individual as well as relative emissions per individual and that this fact had to be taken into account when establishing the global protocol in fighting Carbon emissions.
”Due to their low development level and shortage of capital and technology, developing countries have limited capability and means to deal with climate change,” he said. ”Developing countries need to strike a balance between economic growth, social development and environmental protection.”
Mr. Hu said his country would take four steps toward greener development, although he did not give any specific numerical targets. He said China would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a ”notable margin” by 2020 compared with 2005 levels; greatly increase the size of forests; raise nuclear or nonfossil fuels to 15 percent of power by 2020; and work to develop a green economy. He did not say China would consider the cuts mandatory, and he also tied the emissions cuts to growth in the country’s gross domestic product, meaning that the overall amount of emissions could rise even if they were significantly less per unit of economic output.
As for Obama, he emphasized the importance of confronting climate change but underlined the difficulty of reaching an ambitious goal. The world ”cannot allow the old divisions that have characterized the climate debate for so many years to block our progress,” he said, adding that forging any kind of consensus would come slowly. ”And so all of us will face doubts and difficulties in our own capitals as we try to reach a lasting solution to the climate challenge.” He noted that the United States and others had tried to play down the crisis before but now recognized its gravity.
China is the world’s largest emitter, followed by the United States, and together they account for about 40 percent, split almost evenly between them. The United States has said that its willingness to accept mandatory emissions requirements is hinged to domestic legislation, and a new law, stalled by the health care debate, is awaiting Senate action.
Obama said he was committed to the United States making the largest-ever investment in renewable energy, setting new standards for reducing pollution from vehicles and making clean energy profitable, among other initiatives. He said developed nations must also provide financial and technical assistance to help the rest of the world adapt to the impact of climate change and pursue low-carbon development.
Rajendra K. Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations entity, provided the scientific context and warned that current emissions trajectories were propelling the world toward the worst-case scenarios. ”Science leaves us no space for inaction now,” he said.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, appealed to the leaders to set aside their national interests and think about the future of the globe. ”Instead of demanding concessions from others, let us ask how we can contribute to the greater good,” he said in prepared remarks to the leaders gathered in the General Assembly hall, describing the talks as moving at ”glacial” speed. ”The world’s glaciers are now melting faster than human progress to protect them – and us.”
This particular UN leadership gathering is not a negotiating session but a Climate dress Rehearsal for Copenhagen. This week’s gathering is intended to push toward a strategy, focused on the four main hurdles.
Industrialized nations, while agreeing on cutting emissions in the long term, by 2050, have failed to agree on a crucial midterm target for carbon emissions cuts by 2020. They have pledged to go about halfway toward meeting the ambitious target set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – a 25 percent to 40 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2020 – which environmental advocates say is not enough.
Developing powerhouses like China and India have agreed on the need to trim emissions, but they reject mandatory limits and demand financial and technical support in exchange.
Efforts to reach any kind of consensus around the issue of aid for the poorest countries to adapt to the impact of climate change are faltering. Finally, there has been no agreement on which institutions would verify that targets were being met and supervise the financial and emissions targets.
The main hurdle is coming up with a plan over the next decade that would keep the temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels.
Even India, which largely blames the developed world for the problem, acknowledge that looking ahead to 2050 is not good enough. ”It is the height of dishonesty to have a target for 2050 because none of us will be around to be held accountable,” Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister, said at a news conference late Monday.
Some blocs of nations have their own targets. The small island states of the Pacific and the Caribbean want to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees because they fear being inundated by the sea rise that climate change could bring. Those states and many in Africa are demanding billions of dollars in aid to assuage damage they are already suffering.
During the speeches on Tuesday, the change in tone from the United States was striking. Gone was the Bush administration’s questioning about whether global warming is caused by mankind. Irrefutable evidence with good science was followed by the rigorous and invitation to global challenges action.
”John F. Kennedy once observed that ‘our problems are man-made – therefore they may be solved by man,”’ Mr. Obama said. ”It is true that for too many years mankind has been slow to respond to or even recognize the magnitude of the climate threat. It is true of my own country as well; we recognize that.”
Obama spoke of urgency, saying: ”The security and stability of each nation and all peoples – our prosperity, our health, our safety – are in jeopardy. And the time we have to reverse this tide is running out.”
A little healthy competition between the US and China is welcome here. It’s no longer a pissing match of who can emit more emissions nor of who has the biggest bank account; but of who can lead us out of the cooking greenhouse…
A rather welcome change if you think of it.
I am optimistic for Copenhagen.
I refuse to listen to Kassandras.
And will not take the aspect of most people here who are trying to manage expectations of failure.
Hu and Obama both show the way and they want to lead for this green change to solve the global climate crisis.
A spirit of Peace and Cooperation is the take home message…
A breath of fresh air.
What a refreshing change…
From the so in and yet so hot and so humid over crowded New York and environs of the UN… busy times ahead.
PS: The Environmental Parliament launch of 10×10 campaign for the US at the Columbia University went well. More will follow at Yale Club yesterday and elsewhere, hundreds of scientists raise their voices for the earth.
