'When I go home what will I tell my children?"Pakistani delegate
The latest news filtering out of Lima suggests a potential failure of the negotiations as China accuses the US of supporting a document which places too heavy a burden on poorest nations to limit greenhouse-gas emissions.
"We need a Lima consensus, but given the current station we have deadlock," said Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.
As to be expected, the United States this morning urged acceptance of the "compromise text," as U.S. Climate Change Envoy Todd Stern noted the time had run out for inaction and that a Lima failure would constitute a "major breakdown" in the viability of the UN system in effectively addressing global warming.
"We have no time for lengthy new negotiations, and I think we all know that," he said. "The hour glass is running down." (source: UN climate talks risk collapse as China clashes with U.S.)
The failure of the UNFCCC to successfully broker a deal in Lima has some delegates and seasoned observers suggesting their mismanagement might at long last render the body obsolete in its twenty year quest to equitably address the climate crisis.
One regular UNFCCC reporter noted COP20 is closer to failing than any other COP in the ten years she has been following the process.
The meeting has now been adjourned until tonight, when COP20 President Manual Pulgar-Vidal will meet with delegates to present a revised text.
The talks focus on the ADP (the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action), designed at COP17 with the specific objective of constructing the framework for the 2015 Paris Agreement. The 2015 "protocol" is intended to serve as a "legal instrument" applicable to all Parties.
The impending crisis in Lima turned serious as talks resumed at 3AM this morning. Negotiators from the Arab Group sided with Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Africa Group, and Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) in rejecting the negotiating text in their quest for equity in the UN Climate Talks.
Speaking on the many flaws of this morning's text, Harjeet Singh of Global lead for Resilience and Climate, ActionAid International echoed the sentiments of the world's most vulnerable countries
"This text delivers basically nothing for the poor and vulnerable in developing countries," she said. "Rich countries are still failing to meet their obligations, even if they are making baby steps in the right direction," "More exciting than the negotiations were the sheer number of impacted peoples marching in the streets in Lima and staging actions at the talks – the people who have the most to gain or lose from these talks. How long will governments continue to ignore people's demands?”
(View the latest negotiating document here.)
Some Snippets
Arab Group: The text does not respect the principles of the Convention. No sufficient focus on adaptation, and finance.
Malaysia: "You must recognise there is a world that is very different to yours. A poor world. A disenenfranchsied world."
African states: Obligations in post 2020 must also consider issues that go beyond mitigation:technology, adaptation, finance.
Saudi Arabia - "This text does not capture the snap shot we have. It is a divided house, and we can't just ignore one side."
Oxfam Indonesia: With no sign of ending, UN #climate talks are like a choose your own adventure novel.
At this morning's earlier 3AM ad-hoc meeting, Peru's COP President said while the new text is perhaps "not perfect," it reflects "common ground," while ADP chairs suggested it would incite a "moment of unhappiness for everyone in the room."
"No COP is an island," said the delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). "We need tonight to succeed for Paris to succeed."
The new text "includes a set of basic but vital requirements on information for INCDs (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution)" observers report. Loss and Damage, a major issue for those countries already experiencing the impacts of climate change, is not included in the current document.
"Climate Change may be the biggest threat in human history," said Guatamala's negotiator. "We need to go beyond our own egos and national interests."
The surreal frustration evidenced in Lima early this morning was perhaps best expressed by Agent350 Jamie Henn who, before catching a few hours sleep, wondered: "If I put a copy of the text under my pillow will the #COP20 fairy turn it into a fair, ambitious and binding treaty? "
"Intended Nationally Determined Contributions" (INDCs), which are due by the end of March 2015 , are at the core of the contentious nature of the negotiations: the developing countries insist INDCs include adequate adaptation financing while developed countries strive to lessen their commitment to carbon cuts and insure G77 (least developed and developing countries) contribute what they consider to be a 'fairshare' towards decreasing the carbon budget.
Here's what at stake at #COP20: Those who had least to do with causing climate change and those who are most at risk of being asked to pay for it:
(from
@AdilNajam, Dean Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University)
The Adopt A Negotiator scoreboard which presents all parties interventions, indicates where governments stand on the various text options, based on their interventions today. (But many of those interventions were just a restating of old positions. (from tck live coverage)
Follow the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) talks on Implementation of all the elements of decision 1/CP.17 [Agenda item 3] live this evening.
Other top sources for ongoing coverage:
Twitter
intagist's UN Climate Conference News,
tcktcktck live blog
Guardian Environment.
Earlier this morning, Agent350 Jamie Henn pondered on the metaphoric image of firefighters departing the conference and the removal of beanbag chairs from the outdoor pavilion (while the Pisco bar remained open) as
Inside Climate News suggested the talks may continue well into Saturday as negotiators haggle over the new text released early this morning and like minded countries' suggest
that no Lima deal is better than a bad deal.
Part I of coverage of the final days of the Lima Climate Talks Lima Laps Continue as Activists Stage Die-ins contains updates from the early evening into the early hours of the morning. It also provides more details on the background of the key 'sticking points' which continue to block progress in the UNFCCC bid to create a binding agreement on climate change by the 2015 COP21 in Paris.
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11:56 AM PT: And what about that US/China deal pre COP20: Talks on verge of collapse http://www.trust.org/...
U.N. talks on slowing climate change were threatened with collapse on Saturday after China clashed with the United States and led emerging nations to reject a compromise outline of an agreement.
With talks already in overtime because of deadlock after the Dec. 1-12 meeting, China said a draft text put too much burden on the poor to limit greenhouse-gas emissions compared with the rich nations whose citizens have burnt most fossil fuels.
"We need a Lima consensus, but given the current station we have deadlock," Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told delegates from 190 nations seeking to agree the foundation of a U.N. climate deal to be completed in Paris in a year's time.
11:57 AM PT: Adam Greenberg @Pragmactivist99
I'm inside the United Nations plenary at #COP20 crying because of what's happening in the US today. I want to believe we'll get to #justice
11:59 AM PT: RTCC reports
.@JG_climate: “We will only see real success when it moves to the political stage of the negotiation process.
see http://www.rtcc.org/...
11:59 AM PT: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...
1:45 PM PT: http://unfccc.int/...
Long Term finance text released.