Today was our first day in the negotiations. Sunday was a period of adjustment for all my fellow UNfairplayers, who have never been to a UNFCCC meeting before in their lives, afterall, it’s quite a strange thing to do. For me it was just great to see old friends and look around at all the new ones I could hope to make. Loads of wicked people all in one place-what more could you wish for?!

well a FAB deal at the end of these 2 weeks wouldn’t go amiss. Not after all this effort!

What do I mean by a FAB deal?

Fair: emissions targets that reflect the historical responsibility of big emitters. 80% + by 2050 40% by 2020 and at least $195 billion for adaptation and technology transfer to help countries already affected by climate change, adapt. We have the responsibility to clear up the mess we created, yes it is just like being 5 again…

Ambitious: targets and actions that reflect the scale of the challenge, for example the Maldives’ coalition of countries that are committed to going carbon neutral by 2020. Getting the EU to commit to 40% by 2020, rather than 20% (which is actually going backwards on what they’ve already agreed) to try and help rope the US in, and even 30% by 2020 if the rest of the world signs a treaty is too bloody meagre, why can’t the EU just live a little eh?

Binding: THIS is the tricky one. As I have described in the post but 1 below, it is really unacceptable that countries are now clinging on to their next excuse for not getting the job done, which is that they don’t have time to agree anything less than a politicallybinding deal, rather than one that binds to them to their words in the name of the law. According to some NGO’s, if a Copenhagen treaty is not legally binding, then the Kyoto Protocol should just have a second committment period which extends until the treaty is a good and proper one that will serve the environment and all peoples, for years if not decades, to come.

The UN Secretariat Yvo De Boer, in the welcoming ceremony today said the strongest walls which stand the test of time are built with sturdy foundations, and this they must achieve in 8 days before the Heads of State like Obama, Rudd and Gordon Brown grace us with their presence.

As the PM of Denmark said: “be ambitious, be courageous and be visionary.”

Tags: Copnehagen, environment, FAB deal, Politics, UN Climate negotitaitons, Youth participation

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 11:37 pm and is filed under Environmental Issues, In The News, Key Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.