Durban: delegates worked overtime to reach agreement

By Neil Thomson

It’s hard enough to get a room full of people from the same culture to agree on something, let alone the over 190 different states comprising the United Nations. The Friday 9 December scheduled closing of COP 17 was overshot, as delegates worked into the small hours of Sunday, 11 December to agree on the text for the “Durban Platform”. Parties experienced considerable pressure from all fronts to put their differences aside and take decisive, comprehensive action on climate change. Despite low expectations going in to the meeting, the world’s major emitters agreed to form a new climate deal by 2015, and to be legally bound by that agreement no later than 2020.

This outcome, one that many consider to be successful, was largely driven by the EU’s campaign to work towards a “roadmap” for climate action – an agreement on process and timelines if not necessarily the details of a final framework. For those with an interest in carbon markets, the news of a second Kyoto Protocol commitment period to bridge the gap to a future agreement will be welcome reading. The EU and nine other nations will sign up to fresh pledges under the second commitment period, expected to end in 2017, or 2020. This gives the market some much-needed certainty it was lacking in the lead up to COP 17. The continuation of the CDM is guaranteed and set to evolve over the next few years to meet the requirements of the proposed future agreement. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been approved for inclusion in the CDM, and methodologies for this are scheduled to be developed next year. 

Other key accomplishments in Durban are the creation of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to help raise $100 billion by 2020 for adaptation measures, and the use of market based approaches for REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation), including groundwork for this new market mechanisms. The GCF is to be capitalised with both public and private funds, with talk of a potential tax on the shipping and aviation sectors to achieve this. A significant outcome of the conference, and a factor that has continually prevented progress in recent meetings, was to abolish the UN’s 1997 definition for developed and developing countries. In future agreements all nations will have equal legal responsibility for making the required reductions. Parties have also adopted text that will lead to the creation of a climate technology centre, which, together with an adaptation committee, will bridge the transfer gap between industrialized countries and the developing world.

The most notable responses on the heels of the Durban Platform have been Canada’s formal withdrawal from Kyoto, and environmental groups have issued a consistent communiqué that this new deal lacks ambition. The second Kyoto commitment period will exclude 85% of the world’s emissions from mandatory reductions until the legally binding agreement is enforced no later than 2020. The remaining parties have agreed to voluntary reductions, however, analysts say even with this, existing pledges leave the planet 1 billion tonnes of carbon short of where we need to be to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change. All parties have agreed to note this shortfall for future negotiations. 

Considerable work remains if this platform is to become a meaningful step towards a comprehensive and enforceable global climate agreement. With a process in place, it becomes increasingly important for the public around the world to keep the heat on those politicians responsible for delivering their countries climate pledges. Although Durban has delivered in a number of areas, inaction and delay will be the enemies of future meetings.

Thanks for reading. Attending this COP has been a remarkable experience and I look forward to seeing you all back in BC!

Contact:

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