2008 - Year of the climate

We’ve had a bit of down time at the Be The Change nerve centre over the holiday period but we’re now charged up and back on the job!

Last year’s bus tour was a great success. We talked to a lot of people, found some great stories and signed up a bunch of new members.

We’ve got some great stuff planned for 2008 but to set the scene let’s first take a moment and look back to December 07 at the UN Bali climate negotiations.

Better known for its beaches and awesome surf, the island of Bali was the setting for the latest international UN climate change meeting. As the effects of climate change become more obvious, and predictions of what might happen to our planet become increasingly dire it was arguably the most important international climate change meeting to date.

Why so important? Well, we're in a race against time. Not just to stop climate change, but to make sure we have an agreement in place for a second round of targets before the first phase is over. You might think six years is a long way off. But in the world of international negotiations, that's not long at all.

In order to stand the best chance of avoiding dangerous climate change, the climate scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have identified a need to keep global temperature increases to no more that 2 degrees. This translates in to a rapid reduction in emissions for developed countries that are primarily responsible for the gases so far released, as well as a commitment from developing countries to minimise their emissions increase as their economies develop. For developed countries like New Zealand, this means committing to a target of somewhere between 25 - 40% by 2020. The meeting in Bali was the first opportunity for Governments to commit to this range among other issues, and demonstrate positive intent for the future.

In order for the meeting at Bali to be deemed a success, we needed to make sure a timetable was set out for agreeing the second round of commitments under Kyoto that would make sure there is no gap between phase 1 and phase 2. In other words, we needed text coming out of Bali to clearly state that the targets, funding and instruments for the second phase would be agreed at the 2009 Kyoto meeting (to be held in Copenhagen) and come in to force immediately after the first phase is over. We also needed to see progress on the four key building blocks of an effective Protocol - adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer and finance.

After two weeks of political bargaining, the key texts of the meeting came to the plenary for final discussion. The meeting had already over run by about 18 hours, and the lack of sleep was beginning to show. As it had done for the duration of the meeting, the US tried one last time to wreck the whole agreement by rejecting the compromise text in front of them. They had already succeeded in removing key elements around strict targets and additional funds for adaptation, but they weren't happy. But when faced with intense frustration and persuasion from the assembled delegates, observers and the international media, the US delegation finally caved in and the texts were agreed.

As for NZ, they played a quiet, timid role for much of the meeting. With domestic policies such as the 90% renewable electricity target and the moratorium on fossil fuels, they are well placed to demand more from their international colleagues and take a position of leadership on the international stage. Only at the very last moment did they speak up voicing support for the inclusion of the 2020 target range for developed countries of 25-40%.

The intransigence of the key countries like the US, Canada and Japan made this an immensely frustrating meeting in many ways, but delegates did agree a deadline for the completion of negotiations for the second phase, a recognition of the need to set targets in the 25-40% range for developed countries and some progress on providing funds for the most vulnerable to adapt. We also saw gradual movement on arrangements for the transfer of cleaner technology from developed to developing countries as well as progress on addressing the urgent and devastating problem of tropical deforestation.

It was clear that the main driver of the progress that was achieved was the unprecedented level of public expectation and demanded from the public across the globe, that meant our elected leaders couldn't return home empty handed. So all in all, much more could have been achieved at Bali, but we do at least have a framework for getting an agreement that will actually address our emissions and start to bring climate change under control. This wouldn't have happened without the expectations that people across the world are demanding their leaders to meet.

It is up to us to increase this expectation further and make sure we get a deal that addresses climate change. We all need to be the change, and demand our leaders follow our example.

Links:
http://oxfaminternational.wordpress.com/category/climate-change/

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/climate