Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Day 2: November 30, 2010

I joined the conference in time for the second day of negotiations. The setup is a little unfortunate, as the main conference center is a bus ride away from many of the side events and exhibition booths, making transit between the two types of events less fluid. It was predicted at first that this would result in less people attending side events and visiting exhibits, it turns out that really what seems to be happening is the side events run behind schedule to accommodate commuters. Of course I did not pick up on this trend until the day ended, so I spent several hours nervously waiting for events to start. Still an excellent day though.

I started my day off at the Moon Palace, where the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) had its first session. Before the session even began, the Chair made a point of acknowledging the time constraints of the conference, putting an instant damper on the day. It really is tragic that delegations have just two weeks to get through the negotiating text, and it is clear that expectations for the outcome are low.

I stayed through the adoption of the agenda, and listened as countries presented general statements on behalf of the main parties. The majority of the speeches weren't terribly substantive; most parties essentially expressed eagerness about being at the COP and a willingness to debate key issues. Yemen, in a 7-minute speech on behalf of the G-77 and China, stated that the party wanted to see real reductions commitments from developed countries, as well as an expansion of the fund for Least Developed Countries (LDCF). The delegate also mentioned an interest in mandatory reporting on Annex 1 countries' "progress, or lack thereof". (Ouch.) Many speeches reflected the urgency and redundancy of the negotiations, requesting flexibility and a focus on "concrete issues,"mainly adaptation and finance, on which a real consensus can be reached at the conference.

I left the SBI meeting after about an hour and a half of speeches in this vein, and headed back to Cancunmesse to check out some side events. I started off at an event on systematic climate observations, sponsored by UN bodies UNEP, FAO, and UNESCO, as well as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This scientific talk focused on the need for a globalized system for climate observations and measurements. Many countries lack climate measuring systems, particularly in Africa and South America, resulting in gaping holes in global climate observations. Where measurements can be taken regularly, measurement parameters and units vary widely, resulting in incompatible or hard to compare data. As any climate change negotiations depend fundamentally on climate science, the UNFCCC needs a unified global system for measuring climate data.

The next side event I attended focused on equity issues of environmental change and development, and was sponsored by South Centre, Third World Network (TWN), and UNANIMA International. The social development issues raised by climate change, as with any crises that results in economic shock and/or resource reallocation, magnify existing inequalities, primarily among women and indigenous peoples. Climate change policy, on a domestic level, will need to acknowledge and account for these inequalities if further social stratification is to be avoided. The key question to answer at this COP is, how will we allocate the remaining atmospheric "space" for greenhouse gases among emitting nations? Contentious issues on this point include historical responsibility and the right to develop, which have led to the current deadlock between the U.S. and China. Since this issue is unlikely to be resolved in Cancun, a new issue has been taken to be the litmus est for success in Cancun: the establishment of a climate fund. This is almost a pathetically small goal, as the nature and size of the fund are unlikely to be set at this conference, but even this goal may not be attainable, as the U.S. is holding out until it gets its way on other issues. Following this uninspiring note, the final speaker addressed concerns over water access- an absolutely crucial issue that is often overlooked. Water scarcity remains a serious problem that is only getting worse, and we need to pursue more aggressive development policies in terms of decreasing agricultural water use as well as improve water sanitation mechanisms.

...which leads me to the next and final side event I attended, a talk on sustainable agriculture through the lens of carbon sequestration, sponsored by Cornell University and the Rainforest Alliance. The speakers presented innovative mechanisms they are working to implement in New York State and in Central and South American states to promote carbon credits through farming. The Rainforest Alliance presented on a new program to promote "shaded coffee agroecosystems," a coffee farming system that helps small farmers reduce their carbon footprint by preserving soil carbon while increasing crop yield. An interesting report on the increased productivity from un-tilled soil over tilled soil was also presented. The speakers generally seemed to believe that soil carbon is a facet of the agricultural issue that is largely overlooked, and shouldn't be- soil carbon retention provides long-term climate security; if we invest in the soil now, we will be able to grow food long after many of the other impacts of climate change have been realized.

And thus concludes my first day at the COP!

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