You may be following the whirlwind of stories in the press that is engulfing Copenhagen. Unless you’re superhuman you’re probably confused, as are many delegates here. For a country that can’t send many negotiators, keeping up with the endless simultaneous meetings, working groups and documents becomes an impossible task. Kiribati, the island state we are currently working with, are in this position.  So to keep us all up to speed on who is saying what we went to a useful briefing on the positions currently being advocated at Copenhagen.

We thought we’d share what we found out with you. Thank you to E3G  Third Generation Environmentalism (http://www.e3g.org/) for providing the briefing.

China, the EU and the US are responsible for 50-60% of global emissions and India, Russia and Canada are also big contributors, so all need to be involved in any protocol that may be signed.

Conversely, there are 100 countries that account for less than 3% of global emissions. These are also the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and least able to deal with it without financial aid – these are the countries we are trying to help.

The big negotiating blocs are:

G77+China

This actually consists of around 137 developing countries. Within the group there are around 50 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and 30-40 Least Developed Countries (LDC). The SIDS form a united front and are becoming very vocal in negotiations, as the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). LDCs have the same messages – 350 ppm (www.350.org), increased finance and technology transfer to developing nations and 1.5^oC of warming – but are far less organised.

The emerging economies of China, India and similar countries are benefiting from the current finance structure of the Kyoto Protocol (which is ignoring less developed nations and not forcing richer countries to act) but are finding it difficult to fit emissions reductions into the current framework as well as being worried about having to increase transparency.

The African Bloc

This consists of all African nations in the process. There is a significant rift between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), like Algeria who take the side of the Middle East, and LDCs like Botswana, Malawi and Burundi who are far more…ambitious.

US

The US rejected the Kyoto Protocol because they claim it’s not global and won’t work. The US want a treaty that brings in developing countries and will not sign Kyoto until Non-Annex 1 (non-rich) countries, namely China and India, commit to emissions cuts and making their actions more transparent. This arguably goes against the fundamental principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ which implies that all countries have a responsibility to act but that some need to do so more than others.

Currently the US is holding up negotiations because of a lack of commitment to targets. The current target is equivalent to a mere 3-4% reduction in emissions by 2020 (from a 1990 baseline – the important bit). Earlier this week the Obama administration could not have made any stronger commitments without Congress’ approval (which it won’t have a chance of getting until Spring) but the situation may have changed. This week the EPA gave the presidential office the power to put limits on CO2 (as it is a pollutant) without going through Congress or the Senate. Woop-de-doo?

EU

The EU concentrate more on the ‘differentiated’ part of the principle and recognise the historical responsibility of “developed” countries due to the fact that 70% of the man made CO₂ in the atmosphere comes from them.

The EU target is 20% reductions by 2020 but have proposed 30% if the whole world signs up to a stronger deal. The scientific recommendations are around 40% globally. Countries like the UK are pushing for 30% but Italy and much of Eastern Europe argue that reductions of even 20% would diminish EU business to the extent that investors all leave.

Saudi Arabia:

They do not believe Climate Change exists and are trying to sabotage all negotiations by diverting conversation and making constant interventions. Thanks guys. Really responsible of you.

[Blog taken from http://unfairplay.info/]