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The 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (or COP15 for short) is now officially over. In my opinion, and in the opinions of most people here, it was a big flop. There was no consensus, no binding international treaty. I thought it all went down in a strange sort of way.
To start off, the negotiations were going along in their usual UN way. Negotiators from 192 countries were debating how to change the Kyoto Protocol, what to do about forests, how to transfer technology, and how to move forward, past 2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period is over). I got the change to sit in the plenary sessions, and see everyone in front of their microphones. There was a speakers’ list, and the Chair kept order. It was cool to see how similar the process really is to what I had been exposed to during Model UN in high school. It was also filled with a crazy insider’s language — highly technical and coded with phrases like “Moving on to agenda item four/SBTA/REDD/ provisional text 5, article 3, line 7”.
The first thing to make the news was on the first Wednesday, when Tuvalu, a tiny island nation in the Pacific, called for a suspension of the talks. In response to a lack of consensus around moving towards a binding treaty, Tuvalu proposed a “contact group” which is an official meeting where more discussions can occur outside of the plenary on a certain issue. Tuvalu wants to see the Kyoto Protocol continue and create a new binding treaty with strong emissions reductions targets for all nations who are not under the Kyoto Protocol. This is important, because the US did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and so Tuvalu’s proposal would include the US as well.
It was really confusing to figure out what the heck was going on, while sitting in the room. But what wasn’t confusing was Tuvalu’s presence! The UN system is a true marvel. Each country gets a voice, even if you only have a population of less than 12,000 people. Tuvalu’s negotiator was a white man with a British accent. Apparently his name is Ian Fry. British or Tuvaluan, he did a great job speaking up for the people who are most vulnerable to climate change, and who have the most to lose from inaction.
Check out a clip of one of the speeches from Tuvalu. Their lead negotiator underlines the role of the US Senate in holding up international progress on climate change. After Tuvalu, you’ll see Connie Hedeggard, the president of COP15, and an environment minister from Denmark. There were very few moments of passion and candor during the whole two weeks, so you’re lucky YouTube can edit out the boring moments!
There was also a hubbub around the “leaked” Danish text. The Danish delegation had prepared a text prior to the negotiations, and was showing it around for feedback from several developed (ie rich) countries. It was leaked to the press, and the developing countries were furious for being left out of the process. It was also very weak and did not call for a legally binding treaty.
Despite the confusion, there was some progress made on a few issues. Namely, on the issue of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in developing countries (REDD), which lays out how to give countries credit for preserving their forests as carbon sinks. They also made progress on how to help transfer clean energy technology to developing countries. In addition Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, announced on the second to last day, that the United States’ was willing to contribute towards a global goal of $100 billion towards helping developing countries address climate change.
But enough about inside the meetings. The real excitement was going on outside the talks. There were hundreds of side events – talks from leaders of every environmental organization in the world, every government, all talking about climate change! I felt like a kid in a huge candy store! The US had its own “center” which was a space with some cloth walls and chairs. They had a Cabinet member speak practically each day – Head of EPA, Secretary Chu of Department of Energy, Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, reps from NASA, NOAA, you name it!
Besides attending side event, as part of SustainUS, I did a ton of activism. Our group of 25 under 26 cooperated with all groups of youth from the US and around the world. Actions included asking tough questions to those Cabinet members I spoke of, and to other US reps like John Kerry and the US negotiator, Jonathan Pershing. We also called back home to activists around the country having them call the White House and their Seantors’ offices. And of course, we had actions to get media attention, including events holding up signs, chanting, and dressing up both inside and outside the conference center. Towards the end, we held a sit-in, fasted for a day, and some of us even shaved our heads!! (Don’t worry, I wasn’t one of them!) As a result, SustainUS made it into stories in the Washington Post, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, BBC, and the Guardian, to name a few!
Then, during the last 2 days, everything turned topsey turvey. Outside the center, protests heated up, and people were getting arrested (none of our people) all over the place. Some environmental organizations weren’t allowed in the center for no apparent reason, and for those of us they did let in, we were limited to only a small percentage of our group. Apparently, this is unprecedented!
Then, the heads of state came in, and the whole negotiation flipped on its head again. The US ended up ditching the entire multilateral process, and wrote up a lame “political agreement” with China, Brazil, India and only a few other countries sitting around a table in a back room somewhere. The rest of everything was pushed off for COP16, to be held in Mexico City in 2010. So, coming into this, we all knew that the US wanted a political agreement, not a binding treaty. But, it’s incredible to me how the US gets what it wants! The entire world was opposed to this outcome — even the US negotiators, even Obama! They claimed that because the Senate hadn’t yet voted on a climate bill, that their hands were tied. This is not entirely true. But beyond that, it just felt so wrong. It went against the entire UN process, and ignored the voices of so many countries, including that of Tuvalu and all the small island nations whose people are in mortal peril because of climate change.
The US seriously let down the whole world, and President Obama’s only excuse was the Senate… In my opinion, if he was serious about climate change action – he would have made the Senate take on the issue sooner! Back in the summer, right after the House passed the Waxman Markey bill, the Senate was ready, but somehow health care bumped it off the agenda. This is unexcusable. The pundits all know that whatever Obama wants, the majority of the public will support.. much more so than leaving issues up to Senators to gain popularity. Obama let the world down. And I think it came as a surprise to him. I don’t really think he expected such enthusiasm, dedication, commitment and passion from every corner of the globe around fighting climate change. In my opinion, it is the one issue the world can agree on….except of course for the one country that can do the most to stop it. |
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