National   

No real decisions on climate change at Poznan

POZNAN: The mood at the United Nations climate change talks here seem to reflect the weather.

At the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change meet in Bali last year, the sweltering weather was a convenient motif both for global warming and the heat of arguments as negotiators scrambled to produce the Bali roadmap. At this year’s edition in this chilly Polish city, the plunging mercury seems to signal a cooling off among negotiators.

Many seem willing to put off the real decisions on a post-2012 roadmap to fight climate change at the global level to next year. “Nobody is taking it seriously. Nobody seriously expects anything from here,” says K. Srinivas, a policy advisor for Greenpeace India.

“It’s hard to find the spirit of Bali here. Countries seem to want to see procedural decisions here at Poznan, and leave the substance for later,” said Richard Worthington of the World Wildlife Fund, analysing the first week’s discussions at the meet. “People are trying to manage expectations, rein in ambitions.”

India is no different. “We are staking out our positions,” said Prodipto Ghosh of The Energy Research Institute and member of the Indian delegation. He points out that at Poznan, countries are only discussing the inputs to go into the negotiating text for Copenhagen. “Every party is staking out maximalist positions. The real negotiations, the real compromises won’t start until March,” he says.

Several developed nations are also using the economic crisis as an excuse to play down commitments to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, say NGOs. “The EU is in retreat mode … Canada, Japan and Australia are the worst offenders,” says Mr. Worthington.

Developing countries are not impressed by that argument. “They are saying, ‘You have trillions to pay bankers [in bailouts], so why can’t you spend money on this’,” says Mr. Srinivas.

“The economic crisis should be seized as an opportunity to shift to new energy pathways and wean the world off fossil fuel dependence,” says David Waskow of Oxfam America.

One area which should see action at Poznan is the Adaptation Fund. Set up last year to fund countries and communities vulnerable to the devastating impact of climate change — rising sea level, melting glaciers, floods and desertification, among others — the Fund is still to start collecting or disbursing money. In fact, the Fund is cash-strapped, barely meeting its own operational costs, according to Mr. Waskow.

It needs decisions here at Poznan to operationalise it fully. According to Oxfam’s assessment, global adaptation needs will cost $50 billion by 2015.

“The [summit] president will need something to sell as a success from Poznan,” says Sven Harmeling of Germanwatch. “So everyone knows we need an agreement on the Adaptation Fund here.” It is with such lowered expectations that the summit enters its second week on Monday.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Election results in 5 States today
Ashok Chavan meets Sonia, Antony
Cars, cement to be cheaper
Pranab decries hoax call
India Inc. hails package, but expects much more
Sonia Gandhi visit: Kerala police on high alert
No real decisions on climate change at Poznan
Tribals call off stir in Paschim Medinipur
EC for probe into assault on journalists
Stray incidents mar phase IV of J&K polls

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu