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No deal at Copenhagen without cash, legislators warn
26 Oct 2009 13:01:00 GMT
 Source: AlertNet
Stephan Faris

Congressman Edward Markey, Chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, addresses a Houston energy conference on February 9, 2009.
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Congressman Edward Markey, Chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, addresses a Houston energy conference on February 9, 2009.
REUTERS/Richard Carson

Background

•  Climate change

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COPENHAGEN, Oct. 25 (Alertnet) - When legislators from 19 countries gathered in the Danish capital this weekend to discuss what could be done in the fight against global climate change, the fractures fell along predictable lines.

Poor countries insisted that rich nations agree to unilateral cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions. Representatives from the developed world responded that the problem couldn't be solved without the participation of the entire globe.

But on one issue there was unanimous consensus: Financing to help the world's poorest countries cope with climate change will be key to any new international deal on global warming when negotiators meet in the Danish capital in December.

"We can't sell a deal in Copenhagen without money on the table," Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the assembled legislators.

The December negotiations risk deadlocking over competing concepts of fairness.

Leaders in the developing world worry that committing to deep cuts in emissions would prevent them from lifting their citizens out of poverty.

"Our GDP is high, but our GDP-per-capita is something that places us in the lower rankings," said Wang Guangtao, chairman of the environment committee in China's National People's Congress. "Climate change is an environmental issue, but it is also a development issue."

Rich countries are seen as bearing historical responsibility for the carbon dioxide they emitted over the past decades, a fact acknowledged by U.S. Congressman Edward Markey when he addressed the gathered legislators.

RED, WHITE AND BLUE CARBON

"A lot of you say, that's not our CO2 up there," he said. "That's red, white and blue CO2."

Meanwhile, negotiators from rich countries argue that with the developing world set to produce the majority of greenhouse gases within the next decade, the globe's rising temperatures can't be capped at a safe level unless all countries agree to limit their emissions.

"Although it may not be fair, it is a fact that we cannot do what we have to do unless the developing countries contribute," said Connie Hedegaard, Denmark's climate and energy minister.

The gathered legislators represented the world's 15 largest economies, the European Union and some of the most vulnerable nations. They had met to agree to a set of principles for domestic legislation that could serve both as a spur for successful international negotiations, or as a backstop should the December talks fail to reach a new global climate pact.

HOPE FUNDS COULD BREAK IMPASSE

The hope is that funds to help poor countries reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change could break the impasse, providing the developing world with the means and motivation to participate.

"We want to be sure the polluter pays," said Max Sisulu, speaker of South Africa's national assembly. "Those who are responsible for the problem are the ones that should be leading us in digging out of this mess."

According to the World Bank, poor countries will bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change. Africa, where 95 percent of agriculture depends on rainfall, will be hardest hit, along with low-lying countries like Bangladesh and small island nations like the Maldives, Kiribati and Tuvalu.

"Climate change and poverty are deeply intertwined," said Graeme Wheeler, managing director of the World Bank. "Just as the financial crisis originated in the developed world and contaminated developing countries, so too has the concentration of greenhouse gas."

The World Bank estimates that by 2030, the cost of trying to trim emissions and adapt to climate change in the developing could hit $475 billion a year. On Sunday, the assembled lawmakers agreed to a list of principles, including that developed countries should provide at least $100 billion per year of that.

For the United States in particular, promises of financial assistance offer something to put on the table in exchange for developing countries making commitments to address global warming. The U.S. Senate, which must approve any treaty on global warming before it becomes binding, refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol unless countries like China, India and Mexico were required to control their emissions.

NO VOTE ON U.S. LEGISLATION

Proponents of a treaty had hoped that climate legislation would become law in the United States before the summit in Copenhagen. But while the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill co-authored by Markey, the Senate has yet to vote on it. Now it is looking increasingly unlikely it will do so before international negotiators meet in December.

Passing legislation would have clearly defined the extent to which United States is prepared to cut greenhouse gases emissions. Failure to pass a bill will make it difficult to elicit concrete commitments from developing countries in December.

"You can't preach temperance from a barstool," Markey said. "You have to demonstrate your own good faith going forward. Only at that point will we have the real capability to say to the developing world that we now have expectations from you."

According to Gerard Waldron, chief of staff for Markey's congressional committee on global warming, financial assistance to poor countries presents a potential way forward for U.S. negotiators seeking to balance international demands with domestic concerns.

Though a final treaty in December is looking increasingly unlikely, negotiators could use promises of funding to seek enough commitments from poor countries to convince the U.S. Senate that the rich world will not be acting alone.

A climate change bill passed in the United States could then be used as a basis for a later comprehensive treaty.

"It's a multidimensional, multinational chess game that's going on," Markey said. "But on the other hand what's at stake is the fate of the planet."

AGREE SHOULD PROVIDE $100 BILLION A YEAR

But challenges remain. While the lawmakers assembled in Copenhagen agreed that developed countries should provide poor countries with at least $100 billion per year, the financial crisis threatens to make that a hard promise to keep.

"At a time of economic hardship, when taxpayers are being asked to bail out financial institutions, it becomes very difficult for government to ask them to dig into their pockets again and help developing countries," Terry Townshend, director of policy development at GLOBE International, the organization of legislators that organized the meeting.

And though the legislators at the meeting may have come to a consensus on funding levels, they still need to convince their governments.

The European Union has met twice and failed to agree to a figure it can provide. It meets again this week.

Meanwhile, Brazil maintains that rich countries should commit to providing a much higher $350 billion per year.

"Who put the carbon in the air?" said Luciano Pizzatto, a Brazilian deputy. "Who needs to pay? The producing countries."


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