EU pushing large emitters for statement of intent in Durban

DISPATCHES FROM DURBAN, DAY 9

By Neil Thomson

The Canadian youth delegation protested Minister Kent’s address to the COP/CMP this morning, turning their backs on the minister while wearing “People not polluters” and “Turn your back on Canada” t-shirts. They were promptly removed from the event. As for official proceedings, the current text will be worked on today and into the small hours of tomorrow, when the remaining issues will be sent to the ministers for final negotiations before the close on Friday.

In other news, the large emitters may be ready to make a statement of intent around the action they’re prepared to take and when that action will happen. This is something that the EU has been pushing for under its request for a “roadmap”. The latest scientific thinking on climate change points to a “point of no return” after 2020 when it would be impossible for the world to avoid less than the 2 degree increase in temperature that would be catastrophic for humanity. And it looks like the world’s biggest emitters, China, the US and India, are prepared to run as close to that deadline as possible.

This delayed action is a considerable disappointment. While the large emitters continue to squeeze as much economic output as they can from their heavily hydrocarbon based industries, some parts of the world are literally dying from inaction. A presenter from the Nature Conservancy spoke yesterday about how Mongolia, one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change, has already experienced an increase of 2 degrees Celsius in its climate and is currently struggling with the effects. The African delegations have spoken often about the drought and famine in their countries, and the small island states about watching their homes go under water. Perhaps the thinking is that the fast start financing from developed countries compensate for these effects, but some things can’t be replaced.

On a more promising note, I heard an interesting piece of information from a US climate strategist. He spoke about how the state of Kentucky, with a heavily carbon based economy, has managed to achieve some remarkable climate reduction targets. This was due to the demands of coal electricity generators being trumped by the manufacturing sector and the associated job creation. It’s encouraging to see that there are alternatives to fledgling renewable and cleantech sectors as the catalyst for change, and that other existing sectors with significant economic contribution can also affect the much-needed change. Also, California is considering a FIT for renewable energy generated by the private sector amongst other innovative measures they hope to adopt. As Mary Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board said, some will work and some won’t, but we are open to trying new things until we find the ones that do.

Today is aviation day at the COP and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, together with its counterpart in the shipping industry, has said it wants to regulate emissions instead of being subject to inclusion in the EU ETS. Amusingly enough, the US is saying that the bill passed in congress to forbid US airlines from being capped was more a “message” than a law; despite all the chest beating that took place a few months ago in Washington over the situation. A number of US representatives here have referred to this congress as the most dysfunctional congress in the history of congress.

Contact:

Neil Thomson, ISIS, neil.thom...@sauder.ubc.ca
Alison Murphy, Offsetters alison.mur...@offsetters.ca