The future of a deal in Cancun is still far away

A week of expert negotiation and the opening day of the high-level meeting The 16th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 16) took place in the coastal city of Cancun in Southeast Mexico.

An overview of a Kyoto Protocol session.

However, it seems that the future for a new agreement in Cancun is still far away when representatives of 194 participating countries have not found a common voice on key issues, including Phase 2 of the Protocol. Kyoto and a transparent mechanism for reducing pollutant emissions.

At the conference, President Felipe Calderon continued to call on countries to put global interests above the national interests and should have a vision beyond the territorial boundaries. He emphasized countries " needing goodwill, trust and mutual understanding, in order to provide an opportunity to open a door to combating climate change ."

The top UN climate change official, Christiana Figueres, warned "the world does not have much time to save the Earth. The fate of small islands off the coast like Tuvalu, Maldives, Kiribati, Vanuatu is a wake-up call for us. "

Previously, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has published research results showing that even if the commitment to cutting emissions is being discussed comes true, they are not enough to reduce the temperature rise. on Earth to the level that governments want, from 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius.

According to an expert from the International Fund for Nature Protection (WWF), to achieve this goal, countries attending the Cancun Conference must take strong action, by increasing their commitment to reduce emissions. Otherwise everything is just half-hearted.

Meanwhile, at the meeting with delegations, Mexican Foreign Minister and Chairman of COP 16, Patricia Espinosa, emphasized that countries should raise political awareness, make use of the remaining time together to find a solution. satisfactory measures and proceed to eliminate the gap between developed countries and developing countries.

Most representatives of developing countries believe that if the Conference fails to reach a specific commitment on the extension of the Kyoto Protocol, the progress in other areas will not make sense.

The group of developed countries asked the United States and China to make specific commitments on emission reduction targets and these must be reflected in the final document of the Conference.

Representatives from France, Germany, England, Denmark and Spain have announced their willingness to cut emissions by up to 30% compared to 1990 and US representatives stressed their commitment to reaching a new agreement in Cancun. .

The European Commissioner in charge of climate change issues, Ms. Connie Hedegaard, recommended China to adopt a monitoring mechanism for emissions reductions. In addition, Japan's tough stance at the beginning of COP 16 and supported by a number of underground countries, thus resolutely refusing to implement the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, is also a major obstacle to the process. to a balanced deal like the United Nations and Mexico expect.

As planned, the senior meeting of COP 16 will end on December 9 evening. In addition to the hot issue related to the future of the Kyoto Protocol, representatives of countries only have little time to discuss the United Nations Green Fund worth $ 100 billion to help poor countries cut emissions and problems. afforestation and handover related technology.