BONN CLIMATE MEETING: MISSED OPPORTUNITY, ALL EYES ON UNGA, G20 and Bangkok

Bonn, Germany –Delegates in Bonn missed an opportunity to speed up progress of climate negotiations ahead of a series of high-level political meetings next month, WWF said.

Negotiators who gathered in Germany for another round of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks concluding today made some steps forward, but they didn’t reach the speed needed to achieve a strong climate agreement in Copenhagen at the end of this year.

A key stumbling block was still the level and the source of financial support for poor countries. The growing number of countries supporting the idea of Copenhagen delivering a legally binding outcome was a positive sign.

The attention now shifts to September when a series of crucial political meetings takes place: the United Nations General Assembly, the Major Economies Forum, and the G20, all dealing with climate change.

“We would have liked the Parties of the UNFCCC to use the opportunity and take initiative. But delegates spent too much time arguing over procedures and technicalities. This is not the way overcome mistrust between rich and poor nations,” said Kim Carstensen, the head of WWF Global Climate Initiative.

“Delegates are kept back by political gridlock. The political leaders must now unblock the process.”

The recent commitments during the G8 and MEF meetings on 2°C were reflected in the climate talks in Bonn, but they were not enough to set the negotiations on a pathway to success. ”
“If the meetings of the General Assembly, the Major Economies Forum and the G20 in September are successful in building the political momentum needed, the UN negotiations can progress much faster at the next meeting in October in Bangkok.”

WWF would like the G20 meeting in late September to make a commitment to 3-4 viable means of mobilizing resources at the scale of $160 billion per year, in order to set the stage for success in Copenhagen.

“Without commitments on funding, it is impossible to design a solid climate agreement. It is like asking a manager to run a company without telling him what his budget is.”

NEW GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS PACT SHOULD CONSIDER HUMANITARIAN SUFFERING – UN

NEW GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS PACT SHOULD CONSIDER HUMANITARIAN SUFFERING – UN
New York, Jun 8 2009 6:01PM
A group of 18 of key United Nations and partner aid agencies attending climate change talks in Bonn today called for the humanitarian impacts of global warming to be addressed in a new greenhouse gas emissions agreement to be negotiated later this year.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) said that the successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, with nations expected to wrap up negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December, must take a practical approach to help alleviate the suffering of vulnerable populations caused by extreme weather and environmental degradation.

"The scale of the potential humanitarian challenge presented by climate change in the future is huge," said John Holmes, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), one of the UN bodies involved in the IASC.

"This is a defining moment to ensure that the challenge is not insurmountable and human suffering is minimised," added Mr. Holmes, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

More than 20 million people have been displaced by climate-related sudden-onset natural disasters in 2008 alone, according to a new study by OCHA and the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The total number of people affected by natural disasters has risen sharply over the past 10 years, with an average of 211 million people directly affected each year, nearly five times the number impacted by conflict in the same period.

Extreme and slow-onset climate events – such as floods, storms, droughts, rising sea levels and desertification – are impacting more and more people each year, with the most vulnerable including women and children, those already struggling with poverty, insecurity, hunger, poor health and environmental decline.

Climate change is also expected to dramatically affect patterns of migration and population movement, with many millions to be displaced by prolonged droughts, repeated floods or storms, according to an IASC news release.

The Committee noted that the Copenhagen agreement has potential to avert or reduce many of the humanitarian consequences of climate change over the next decade, but adapting to these climatic shocks will mean focusing on prevention and preparation by strengthening national and local r

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esources to cope with future disasters.

The UN talks under way in Bonn entered their second week today, with countries set to start making more detailed proposals on an initial round of comments on a proposed draft for the climate change deal.

"We are getting down to the nitty gritty of the negotiations," said Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
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ECONOMIC CRISIS POSES DIRE CONSEQUENCES FOR FORESTS, WARNS NEW UN REPORT

ECONOMIC CRISIS POSES DIRE CONSEQUENCES FOR FORESTS, WARNS NEW UN REPORT
New York, Mar 16 2009 12:00PM

The global economic turmoil has resulted in reduced demand for wood, shrinking investments in industries and forest management, according to this year's United Nations "State of the World's Forests" report.

The double challenges posed by the financial crisis and climate change are highlighting the need for bolstered forest management and stepped-up investments in science and technology, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) publication said, voicing concern that the economic downturn could lead governments to water down ambitious 'green' targets.

Countries in the early stages of development – which suffer from institutional weaknesses – struggle with forestry decisions, facing the difficult choice between short-term and long-term benefits.

In the coming decades, the report said, demand worldwide for wood products and environmental services will increase, with the use of wood as a source of energy on the rise, although this could be attributed to the recent economic downturn.

It also stated that there is a possibility that countries may focus their energies on reversing the economic downturn, diluting their green goals and putting off decisions on climate change mitigation and adaptation, including actions on slashing emissions from deforestation.

The report pointed to opportunities stemming from the financial turmoil, such as green development to spur tree-planting and increased investments in sustainable forest management.

In a related development, this year's first round of UN climate change negotiations is gearing up to kick off later this month in Bonn, Germany.

These negotiations are expected to wrap up in December in Copenhagen, Denmark, with countries agreeing on an effective successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

The two-week Bonn gathering is expected to draw over 2,000 participants, including representatives from governments, business, industry, environmental organizations and research facilities.

"The road to Copenhagen is under intensive construction and all its builders are seriously committed to its successful completion," said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNCFCC). "Real negotiating mode is just beginning and with only around six weeks of actual face-to-face talking time, the Copenhagen clock keeps steadily ticking down."
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