THE FEDERAL government has a lot on its mind these days. A war in Afghanistan. Fiscal reform. Health care. With so many genuine issues to address, you wouldn’t have thought that Washington would also be trying to figure out a new way to get tourists from Southern California to the Las Vegas strip. Read full article > >
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Editorial Board: Derail this gravy train
China’s biggest airlines will not pay a new European Union tax aimed at cutting carbon emissions, their trade body says.
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China airlines shun EU carbon tax
Worldwide carbon emissions hit a record high last year, casting doubt on plans to limit global temperature rises to 2C, an energy watchdog says.
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New record in world CO2 emissions
The UK’s energy secretary has announced plans this afternoon to cut the UK’s carbon emissions in half by 2027 and change the way Britain produces energy
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VIDEO: Coming to a hillside near you
After a two day U.N. conference in Cancun, a new negotiation has been created to further reduce carbon emissions and create a $1 billion Green Climate Fund-a World Bank trusted reserve that will provide money to developing countries desperate to reduce…
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U.N. Climate Change Talks Strike a Deal
A deal has been reached at the UN climate change talks in Mexico, calling on countries to make deep cuts in carbon emissions.
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Cancun climate summit agrees deal
China and the US were today accused of holding back progress on a climate deal as talks in Tianjin crashed into a series of procedural roadblocks.
On the penultimate day, negotiators said they have moved forward on technical issues, including a finance package and the subject of technology transfer, but the goal of a deal to replace or extend the Kyoto protocol remained a distant prospect.
The world’s two biggest polluters, which together account for more than 40% of global emissions, have clashed this week over the form an agreement should take, the timing of next steps and how to enshrine and verify emissions targets.
The United States wants to move forward from the Copenhagen accord agreement made last December by coordinating national commitments to reduce emissions and instituting a rigorous regime to ensure compliance.
China is keen to protect a two-track approach in which richer countries make the first and biggest moves to reflect their greater responsibility for climate change.
It wants the US and signatories to the existing Kyoto protocol to lock in their commitments to reduce emissions and resists demands that China’s own actions are simultaneously incorporated in the framework of an international treaty.
These tough stances have exasperated many participants, though which of the powers they blamed depended on their political alignments.
“I’m disappointed at the attitude of China. It’s stepping back more and more from what we achieved at Copenhagen [the climate summit last December],” said Akira Yamada, a climate negotiator for Japan. “It’s as if they are trying to trash the Copenhagen accord.”
“I don’t see progress towards a substantial result in Cancún, but we are still trying,” said Branca Americano, the Brazilian state secretary for the environment. “Europe is willing to push the process. I’d like to see the United States move, but I don’t see it.”
Europe, the least developed nations, island states and some of the big emerging economies – including Brazil and South Africa – have expressed a willingness to compromise over the legal form of the agreement and the means of verification for emissions cuts.
The disagreements increase the likelihood of a gap in the global climate regime after 2012, when the Kyoto protocol needs to be renewed.
Japan says it will not sign a second commitment period because it will be ineffective without simultaneous actions by non-signatories.
“The Kyoto protocol parties emit only 28% of global emissions now and will be less and less in the future. It cannot be effective unless the world’s first and second biggest emitter are involved,” Yamada said.
Europe said it will sign up to Kyoto if nations outside that treaty work in tandem to legalise their commitments by the time of a climate meeting in South Africa next year. Eventually, it wants the two tracks to merge.
This week’s discussions have brought that no nearer to realisation.
China accused its counterparts of trying to kill the Kyoto protocol. “We are losing confidence and trust,” Huang Huikang, China’s recently appointed special representative for climate change negotiations, told a plenary stock-taking session. “I want to emphasise on our side no compromise on the two track process and no compromise on the interests of developing countries.”
Poorer nations and small island states, which are feeling the brunt of the impact of climate change, expressed dismay at the negative actions of the big emitters.
“We call on major powers to come to the table in a more urgent and efficient manner,” said Dessima Williams, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States.
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China today called on wealthy nations to dramatically increase the rate at which they plan to cut their carbon emissions at international climate negotiations in Tianjin.
The more forthright rhetoric from the hosts broaches a crucial topic that has been notable mainly by its absence at the talks, which began yesterday.
“The emissions reductions goals of developed countries should be dramatically increased,” said China’s chief negotiator, Su Wei. “We can’t discuss other elements and not discuss emissions reductions. It’s unavoidable.”
Many delegates at this week’s working-level negotiations would prefer to leave to a later date this divisive – but fundamental – issue.
Following the disappointment of the Copenhagen climate talks last December, the UN’s climate chief, Christiana Figueres, has called on participants this week to focus on achievable goals.
The most likely progress is in the least contentious areas – forestry, finance and technology. If countries can narrow their differences on these issues, they may be able to sign a limited agreement at higher-level talks in Cancún later in the year.
This “balanced package” – as it is vaguely referred to – would include the commitments that countries made last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but critics warn that such a deal can only serve as a band-aid.
“One of the main things here is management of expectations. They are dangerously low,” said Li Yan of Greenpeace. “If countries settle for low ambitions, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy in Cancún.”
Scientists and environmental groups warn that existing pledges are far from sufficient to reach the Copenhagen accord goal of keeping global warming within 2C by 2050.
Small island states, which are most at risk from rising sea levels, want to push quickly for a higher target, but in the interests of compromise, they announced in Tianjin that they would be willing to wait until Cancún – or even next year’s meeting in South Africa – to secure an agreement.
But patience is limited. China – keen to show leadership among developing nations – said rich countries had to make deeper cuts. “We believe it is a positive thing that they have put forward these targets, but they are certainly still far from the expectations of developing countries and the requirements of science,” said Su.
Europe, in turn, wants China to make a bolder long-term commitment about when its own emissions will peak. Jiang Kejun, director of China’s leading climate thinktank, the Energy Research Institute, said it would have to come in 2025 if China is to do its share of work in keeping the global temperature rise within two degrees. “That will be technically very difficult for China,” he said. “We may have to buy carbon credits.” The government has yet to set a peak date.
Jiang, who is relatively optimistic among Chinese advisers, estimates that China’s coal production may peak in 2015 at 3.4bn tonnes. But carbon may continue to rise due to gas and oil use. His institute is working on a new study looking at how China might reach the 2025 goal.
“The ball is now in the US court because China is already moving forward with aggressive measures to implement the targets they announced earlier as well as studying more aggressive scenarious,” said Barbara Finamore, head of the China programme of the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council. “While China acts, the US is still debating. It’s time to move forward.”
China’s emphasis on carbon reduction targets may be strategic. Any emphasis on emission reductions puts the onus on the United States, which has the world’s greatest historic responsibility for greenhouse gases and one of the lowest targets for abating them. US delegates, by contrast, tend to press the issue of transparency, which puts China on the defensive.
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This article titled “China and US blamed as climate talks stall” was written by Jonathan Watts in Tianjin, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 8th October 2010 11.16 UTC