UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico

China Hopes for "Positive Results" at Climate Talks

December 5, 2010

Reuters - China is hopeful of "positive results" in the U.N. climate talks in Cancun, its chief negotiator to climate change talks said in comments published by state news agency Xinhua on Sunday.

There is widespread pessimism about the ongoing talks, as rich and developing nations have clashed over the future of the Kyoto Protocol for fighting global warming.

"As long as all parties have sincere political wills, China thinks the talks will eventually achieve positive and meaningful results, and is confident that it will reflect what was laid out in the Bali road map," Chinese negotiator Su Wei told Xinhua.

China has said that climate talks should be guided by U.N. texts worked out since a meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007.

Su said that the parties should compromise on the "small problems," but added that there is "no room for compromise on principles," for example, on the issue of whether the Kyoto Protocol should continue.

China accused some developed nations on Friday of seeking to kill the Kyoto Protocol pact -- the United Nations' main weapon in the fight against climate change to curb global warming -- in a damaging standoff with Japan, Russia and Canada.

China, the world's top carbon emitter, has long said it will not bow to pressure to rethink the Protocol.

Kyoto's first phase, which binds about 40 rich nations to meet emissions targets, expires in 2012 and it is not clear on what happens after that, worrying investors who want long-term certainty on climate policies and financing.

Nearly all wealthy countries have signed up to legally binding emissions goals under Kyoto, with the big exception of the United States, which refused to become a party.

Developing nations, including China, are obliged to take voluntary steps to curb the growth of their emissions.

The United States and other rich nations want a new global pact to do away with that either-or division to reflect the surge in emissions from the developing world, now accounting for more than half of mankind's annual greenhouse gas releases.

But developing countries such as China and India have refused to agree to binding targets before they see more ambitious cuts by the industrialized nations.

Kyoto Row Dims Prospects at UN Climate Talks

December 4, 2010

Reuters - Clashes between rich and developing nations over the future of the Kyoto Protocol for fighting global warming clouded U.N. climate talks on Saturday despite glimmers of progress in some areas.

"I urge you to look for compromise," Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa told negotiators at the 189-nation talks that seek a modest package of measures to slow climate change.

Wrangling over whether to extend Kyoto, which obliges almost 40 developed nations to cut greenhouse emissions until 2012, overshadowed a review of work halfway through the talks that end on December 10.

Extending Kyoto "is indeed the cornerstone of a successful outcome in Cancun," said Abdulla Alsaidi of Yemen, who chairs the group of developing nations at the talks, meant to avert more floods, droughts, desertification and rising sea levels.

Chinese delegate Su Wei said an extension of Kyoto was an "indispensable element" of a deal. Countries, including Bolivia, Venezuela and small island states, also criticized wealthy states.

Developing nations note that Kyoto imposes a legal obligation on its supporters to extend the pact. But Kyoto backers -- especially Japan, Canada and Russia -- want a new, broader treaty that also binds emerging economies to act.

"We need a new, legally binding instrument with the participation of all major emitters," said Japan's Mitsuo Sakaba. One U.N. official said a compromise would have to be found in "shades of gray between the two extremes.

NEW ORDER

Climate talks are a test of a new, shifting world order where China's strong growth has propelled it past the United States to become the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases stoking global warming and past Japan to become the second biggest economy. Many developed nations are struggling with budget cuts and high unemployment.

The United States never ratified Kyoto, saying it would cost U.S. jobs and wrongly omitted developing nations. That decision is also at the heart of Kyoto nations' reluctance to extend the protocol unilaterally with no guarantee of action by Washington.

All nations say a treaty is out of reach after world leaders failed to reach a binding deal last year at a summit in Copenhagen.

Still, there were some signs of progress in narrowing other differences, such as elements of how to share green technologies worldwide, delegates said.

The talks are also trying to agree on a new fund to channel aid to poor nations and ways to protect tropical forests.

"Progress has been made in some areas but there areas where parties are still holding to national positions and even some areas going backwards in important issues," said Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe of Zimbabwe, chair of one session.

Away from the deadlocked government talks, business leaders sought new ways to help shift to a greener economy. Corporate executives said governments should legislate energy-efficiency targets to help cut consumption in buildings, power plants and vehicles.

"Solar may be sexy but energy efficiency is the gift that keeps on giving," said Adam Muellerweiss, commercial director of energy and climate change for Dow Chemical Co.

Espinosa said she would brief about 60 environment ministers on Sunday about her hopes for ending the deadlock.

In an earlier session, the United States and some developing nations criticized a separate U.N. draft text outlining long-term actions by all countries to slow global warming.

China Says Some at Climate Talks Want to "Kill" Kyoto

December 3, 2010

Reuters - China accused some nations on Friday at U.N. climate talks of seeking to kill the Kyoto Protocol pact for slowing global warming after Japan said it would not agree to extend carbon cuts under the deal.

"Some countries, so far, still don't like the Kyoto Protocol," Huang Huikang, a special representative for climate change negotiations at China's foreign ministry, told a news conference at the November 29-to-December 10 climate talks in Mexico.

"And they even want to kill the Kyoto Protocol, to end the Kyoto Protocol," he said. "This is a very worrying movement."

He said the question of whether the 1997 Kyoto pact will survive was the main hurdle at the annual conference, which is seeking to agree to a modest package of measures to slow climate change after a 2009 summit in Copenhagen failed to work out a treaty.

Kyoto binds almost 40 developed nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions until 2012 and commits parties to an extension.

But Japan has been adamant that other major emitters, including China and the United States have to join in a new, broader U.N. treaty to help slow what the U.N. panel of climate scientists says will be rising temperatures with desertification, droughts, floods and rising seas.

"Japan does not want to kill Kyoto. Kyoto killing is a kind of propaganda wording," said Akira Yamada, a Japanese negotiator sitting beside Huang at a news conference. "We are not killing the Kyoto Protocol."

The United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, so its backers account for just 27 percent of world emissions. A huge puzzle remains to design a new deal that would satisfy both rich and poor countries.

Developing countries favor the Protocol, which makes a clear distinction between industrialized and emerging economies, while many developed countries want a new agreement to include all major emitters.

Venezuela and Bolivia said it was "unacceptable" that several developed countries had told them there could be no agreement on new emissions targets at the round of U.N. climate talks.

"The message we heard to our surprise was the following: there is no chance whatsoever of a second period of pledges here in Cancun," said the head of the Venezuelan delegation, Claudia Salerno.

Carbon emissions trading markets want assurances of policies beyond 2012 to guide investments. The International Energy Agency says $18 trillion needs to be spent by 2030 to ensure a shift from fossil fuels toward cleaner energies.

Venezuela Says Told No Emissions Deal in Cancun

December 3, 2010

Reuters - Venezuela and Bolivia said on Friday it was "unacceptable" that several developed countries had told them there could be no agreement on emissions targets at the U.N. climate talks in Cancun.

At the start of the November 29-December 10 talks U.N. officials had said they wanted to firm up existing, non-binding emissions pledges by industrialized countries, possibly in a U.N. decision, at the conference in Cancun.

But delegates from Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua said on Friday a number of unnamed developed countries had ruled out signing up to new emissions targets in a new round of the Kyoto Protocol after its current phase ends in 2012.

Developing countries favor the Protocol, which makes a clear distinction between industrialized and emerging economies, while many developed countries prefer a new agreement which enshrines action by all major emitters.

"The message we heard to our surprise was the following: there is no chance whatsoever of (agreeing) a second period of pledges here in Cancun," said the head of the Venezuelan delegation, Claudia Salerno.

The developed countries were happy however "to send a signal" from Cancun that the Protocol would continue, she said.

"For us a positive result from Cancun should be to preserve the (U.N. climate) convention and the Kyoto Protocol, we think it can be improved, reinforced but under no circumstances destroyed," she said.

The position of the developed countries was "unacceptable," said Bolivia's head of delegation Pablo Solon.