The Copenhagen Outcome

‘While the reality of climate change is not in doubt, our ability to take collective action hangs in the balance’.

These were Barack Obama’s words during his first of two speeches in Copenhagen yesterday. When he entered the stage again later it became clear to everyone that the so-called ‘Copenhagen outcome’ was hugely disappointing – hopefully more disappointing to the President than when he visited the Danish capital last month and Chicago lost their bid to host the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro. The consequences this time are of course far more severe, but the US alone shouldn’t be blamed. So, why did it end up as it did? The problems are indeed, as Obama said, collective action problems: most countries gain more (in the short-term) from exploiting natural resources than from restricting the use of it in the interest of the common good and coming generations.

Developed countries, most notably the US, aren’t willing to contribute their fair share (not first and foremost because of President Obama – he’s right not to promise more than he can keep due to other forces in US politics). At the other hand, big developing economies, like China, aren’t willing to include enough transparency control mechanisms as part of an agreement. In a single word, what is blocking a better result is selfishness – unwillingness to make sacrifice. It is taking care of own, rather than collective interests.

I want to take a look at my own country’s guilt in all this. Norway receives a lot of praise for its contributions, but Norway doesn’t deserve all this praise. True, Norway has provided big money to e.g. the UN’s rainforest fund REDD. It has also been willing to make big cuts in emissions over the coming years. But providing money isn’t really a big sacrifice if very few citizens share huge funds, which are there because of decades of oil- and gas-industry – and which is now partly invested in dirty businesses such as oil sand in Canada. That also means that you have some moral obligation to clean up the mess you’ve been earning money by creating. Furthermore, Norway made its pledges about cuts in emissions while not meeting its Kyoto obligations – and the most ambitious pledges were only to be implemented if COP15 resulted in an ambitious climate agreement.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s easy to do the right thing if you are in a extremely privileged position, even if many don’t do it even when in such situations. Norway is willing to help combat climate change, but mainly in rainforests far away – which is in itself a good thing. But most of the measures are taken far away from our own comfortable beds and cars. What would be more difficult and more praiseworthy would be to also make real sacrifices at home, even if they didn’t matter much in the big picture.

We now know that we didn’t get the ambitious agreement we need. But this shouldn’t prevent Norway from implementing extremely ambitious emissions cuts in the coming decades. Moreover, it shouldn’t prevent Norway and other countries from helping developing countries that are actually making real sacrifices, like Brazil. Or the African countries and other poor countries where some families are trying to change their daily lives into a more sustainable fashion, helped by local NGOs. They or their country haven’t contributed much to the climate change, still they are to be much affected by it. Those families are changing their daily lives to contribute – most Norwegians do not/are not willing to do that.

The COP15 farce shouldn’t prevent Norway from implementing measures that would actually make its citizens have to change into a bit less comfortable but more sustainable way of living. I’m not talking about the most extreme and hence impossible measures available on the menu – rather measures such as making it more expensive to use cars and less expensive to use public transportation in cities. That would be a small, but actual sacrifice of comfort; That kind of measures would be something that actually deserved praise (more than the compulsory UN patting of each other’s back). But as in most other countries, the Norwegian politicians wouldn’t dare to do this, which do of course come back to big proportions of the people not being willing to accept it in the next election. This will all probably look bad in the light of history.

And to conclude, if not a even rich, stable, small, and well-off country like Norway, built on money from fossil fuel, is willing to make real sacrifices at home, could we really expect anyone else (like developing China or the heavily indebted USA) to save the day?

Best wishes,
Trym Oust Sonstad

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

C-Day in Copenhagen

The climate inside and around Bella Center has changed dramatically during this second week of the conference – and by that I don’t mean the snow and the cold. Those are the good news. Over the last five days it has gradually become clearer that the negotiations are in serious trouble. Or like a Tuvaluan negotiator put it during one session: ’I have the feeling of being on board the sinking Titanic, and we can’t launch the life boats because some of the crew members can’t agree among themselves on whether we are sinking or not’.

The comment is especially interesting considering that the state of Tuvalu is in real danger of submerging into the sea.

After the sessions I’ve attended this week I’m left with the same feeling as the envoy from the small endangered island state, except one thing: Agreeing on that the ship is sinking isn’t really the problem. There is no lack of delegates with serious faces who want to express their concerns. The problem is rather that some of the crew-members still don’t want to unload some of the heavy jewelries they’re wearing in order to help keeping the ship floating. At a US press conference yesterday I heard the American delegation saying that ‘It’s important that every country do its fair share of what it can do’. That is a good idea.

It’s now up to the Western high-level delegates to sacrifice more on behalf of their well-fed citizens to secure a deal. As Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said today, his main goal when he took office was to ensure food for all Brazilians. But Brazil is still willing to sacrifice more (in addition to what it is already doing with its scarce resources) to combat climate change. That was probably meant to put pressure on the next speaker, US President Barack Obama, but he didn’t bring anything new to the table in his awaited long-awaited speech. It can’t be repeated too often that it is the developed world, by developing, that have caused the climate crisis, while the poor world will suffer the worst consequences from it (At least in the relative short-term. I attended a lecture by US scientists on climate change impacts on the US, and it didn’t look all that bright). Still, big developing economies, like China, should give in to the demands from the US and accept more control mechanisms as part of an agreement.

Another problem during this conference has been that too much time has been wasted on procedural discussions. The Danish hosts have been blamed for much of it, and many developing countries have raised they voices against an ‘undemocratic’ and ‘non-transparent’ process. The accusations have been that the Danes, after consultations with other industrialized countries, have tried to impose texts from above instead of proceeding with negotiated drafts. The problem with some of these drafts are that they are very unclear (full of disclaimers due to disagreements, or what the negotiators here call ‘bracketed text’). The hosts, responsible for ensuring progress, may at some stages during this conference been too eager to drive the struggling process by offering alternative solutions.

After President Barack Obama’s arrival in Copenhagen today it remains to see whether the US is willing to take the lead. I’m sure that the President would love to do that, but everyone knows the political reality restricting him at home. Sweden’s Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said on Wednesday on behalf of the EU that the world leaders should really stay in Copenhagen until they strike a good deal. That’s of course not going to happen, especially as they world community has been negotiating this for two years already. Still, the rumours now are that President Obama is willing to postpone his departure if that is what is needed to ensure a deal. To end this blog on a somewhat dramatic note: The remaining hours of this day may prove to be more decisive than any other hours in history so far.

Trym

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

Appalling police brutality in Denmark

Just to share with everyone a little video depicting evidence of police brutality in handling peaceful protesters in Denmark, as mentioned in Mark’s post:

I was flabbergasted at the unnecessary use of force against peaceful protesters. Awful, isn’t it?

Kenneth

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

“Hopenhagen” talks collapse amidst police brutality…

Just a quick update for those of you wondering what is actually going on in this place.  All hell is breaking lose…

LSE delegates like most of the the NGO delegates no longer have access to the COP15. The NGO’s are being kicked out of the conference. A sign at the entrance to the Bela center on Thursday morning expressed the NGO’s puzzlement and worry http://twitpic.com/tuydm .

The public has lost its voice to make the way for the world leaders entourages and a slew of celebrities.

http://www.care2.com/causes/global-warming/blog/copenhagen/

as the states continue to argue and reach no conclusion in secretive non-transparent meetings behind closed doors and the world leaders arrive embarrassed with nothing to sign. China has warned that even a paltry face-saving “political agreement” may no longer be possible.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/17/copenhagen-talks-brink-collapse

Ed Milliband, has warned that the talks are breaking down into “a farce”.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-summit-miliband-farce-warning

Naomi Klein and Archbishop Desmond Tutu argue that no deal at all would be better at this point than a deal dictated by the rich West that dooms the developing world to inequality and suffering in perpetuity…A 2C rise condemns literally condemns hundreds of millions of Africa to death. They argue that what the talks really are at this point is a “colonial moment” dividing up the last remaining unowned resource in the world, the right to pollute the sky and thus continue to continue to develop and grow economically dirtily and quickly, among the rich nations of the West.  The offers on the table amount to trading “beads and blankets for Manhattan” again…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/17/copenhagen-no-deal-better-catastrophe

The US, EU, Japan, Canada, and Australia are still trying to use the conference to kill the Kyoto Protocol over the objections of the poor and developing states of the world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/14/copenhagen-g77-africa-kyoto-suspended

Obama comes on Friday to the conference empty-handed, shackled by the constraints of liberal democracy and corporate interests, as the world’s historical largest emitter of carbon (over 30% of the total for just 3% of the world’s population) but offering nothing more than a paltry 4% cut on 1990 levels – less than was initially offered (but never ratified) at Kyoto.  Obama is not the savior of the world, but the charismatic figurehead manager of its destruction…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/15/obama-saviour-copenhagen-climate-change

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/08/greenpeace-ad-depicts-old_n_384344.html

America remains the biggest cause of and obstacle to a treaty to prevent climate change.

‘By midnight on Tuesday – 72 hours before this whole process is due to wrap up – American negotiators were demanding that all appearances of the word “shall” – which would signify a binding commitment – be replaced by the word “should“…’

“On Saturday, members of the Tuvalu delegation made an impassioned plea before the morning’s plenary session. Why, they asked, was the world being held hostage by a handful of U.S. Congress people? Indeed, the specter of U.S. Congressional intransigence has permeated the Bella Center, only to be reinforced by Stern’s comment. At a moment when, daily, scientific report after peer-reviewed scientific report, warning of even greater risk of ecological damage, was presented at COP15, Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman announced they were amending the Senate’s climate change bill by lowering the proposed emission target, increasing funding for nuclear energy, and providing boosts to fossil fuel industries. It was U.S. exceptionalism and defiance in its most grotesque form.”

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/copenhagen/505895/recap_the_first_week_of_cop15

In response to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s order to the parties to focus on the 2.0 temperature rise limit, which would doom the AOSIS countries to extinction

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/14/copenhagen-climate-change-maldives

and many African countries to drought and the deaths of millions, President Evo Morales of Bolivia defiantly (and unrealistically) rose the stakes saying that the world should be limited to 1.0 of temperature rise, that an Environmental Court of Justice should be formed within the auspices of the UN, and that capitalism is be blamed for catastropic climate change.

“The real cause of climate change is the capitalist system. If we want to save the earth then we must end that economic model. Capitalism wants to address climate change with carbon markets. We denounce those markets and the countries which [promote them]. It’s time to stop making money from the disgrace that they have perpetrated.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/evo-morales-hugo-chavez

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, meanwhile, cynically noted that if the climate were a wealthy finance bank that the West would have already bailed it out…

Our LSE delegates are sitting in their hotel rooms, attending the alternative Activist conference Klimaforum in the city, or have gone home dissapointed and disillusioned.  Many LSE delegates never even got registered despite up to 11 hours standing in que in the bitter cold and never got into the conference at all. Many have wasted hundreds of pounds and a week of their lives having been told they would be able to enter the centre and observe and participate. Why the UNFCCC register and invite 45,000 people (by last week before the world leader’s entourages were even counted) if only 15,000 could fit into the center?

Several prominent and vocal mainstream NGO’s such as Friends of the Earth, Avaaz, and Tck tck tck, who were becoming noticeble and frustrated with the failure of our politician’s to see past short term political and economic interests and reach a deal, have been completely barred from the center. What is more – media and delegates have been warned that if they speak to these banned NGO’s they will themselves lose their accreditation to the COp15.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/friends-of-the-earth-barred-bella-centre

Some of the few youth NGO’s still allowed into the venue this morning staged a peaceful and quiet sit-in to protest the treatement by the UNFCCC, the Danish police, and the state of the negotiations – they were warned that unless they stopped not only would they be arrested, but ALL remaining NGO delegates would lose their permission to enter the center because of the protest.

http://twitter.com/sandbagorguk/statuses/6748357185

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBNEZXSYNm0&feature=player_embedded

Several civil society leaders (also official delegates) allegedly planning to express their displeaure over the course of the failing negotiations by joining the protesters outside were “pre-emptively arrested” (under draconian emergency laws used to stifle peaceful protest like those enacted recently in the UK)  by undercover Danish police as they left the Bela Center Tuesday night.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/15/danish-police-mass-protest-copenhagen

No official charges have been made, and the civil society leaders will be arraigned by the courts in secret. with no press coverage or statements.

On Wednesday as frustrated protesters desperately hoping for a signed ambitious treaty that wont happen, tried to storm the Bela Center to hold a People’s Conference to get something real done, hundreds of NGO delegates still inside tried to walk-out to join them in protest. They were prevented and both the official delegates and the protesters outside were beaten with batons and sprayed with pepper spray.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/dec/17/copenhagen-climate-change

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-protest

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/15/copenhagen-protests-resisting-compliant-urge

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/dec/16/reclaim-power-march-copenhagen

Here is raw video footage of Danish police repeatedly brutalizing unarmed, often sitting protesting teenagers. Warning this contains extreme violence and may disturb some naive readers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6gCyklaYZ4 .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQWDYNJaW9I&feature=video_response

This is NOT an isolated incident and reports are trickling in by activists posts, stories, photos, and video’s all over the net as a quick search will demonstrate for yourself.  Multiple and mass reportings of abuse, violence, and violations of basic human rights by the police are flooding in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tqcyJ0SZ2Y

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/12/16/copenhagen-hundreds-arrested-in-protest-police-brutality-pressure-builds-inside-the-conference/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/15/copenhagen-activist-speaks

http://www.wdm.org.uk/copenhagen-watch-3

Danish stormtrooper tactics:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/17/copenhagen-police-tactics-revealed

On Thrusday morning the ”red zone” was extended to journalists and the media – the press no longer have free access to the center and can only report on what they are specifically invited to as press briefings and can only move about as escorted by UN staff. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/dec/17/copenhagen-diary

The facade of Denmark as a peaceful liberal democratic country

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-protests-police

and the talks as an open, legitimate, and transparent global democratic process to avert climate catastrophe have been revealed as the sham they are, unmaking the collusions of the rich Western developed world, corporations, and the police states that will increasingly try to maintain order and their own unsustainable lifestyle as civil unrest and suffering grows and the lifeweb collapses - particularly for the poor nations of the earth who are least responsible for climate change.

“For those who want this conference to be negotiated between corporate lobbyists and rich-country governments in hotel rooms, no doubt the intervention of ordinary people is a serious annoyance. But intimidation of civil society organisations will not lead to a just and effective climate change treaty. The lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the world are at stake, and they have a right to be heard.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/17/copenhagen-climate-change-conference-protest

As my wife and I joined the protests earlier on Saturday – the image of double rows of police guarding just one building - the McDonald’s, the symbol of Capitalism, from us as we marched by in amused peaceful protest, symbolized liberal democracies devolution into police states to protect corporations and the lifestyles and wealth of the rich of the world. It just put the whole week into perspective for me.

http://www.daylife.com/photo/03C1fLu08Y3hD

http://sec.todaysthv.com/photo/047j4Y32GX7Wv?q=McDonald’s

George Monbiot eloquently describes the purpose of the conference as not only an attempt to avert climate catastrophe, but to “redefine humanity”. If so, it is a fight we are badly losing…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/14/climate-change-battle-redefine-humanity

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/13/copenhagen-seattle-climate-globalisation-protesters

As chaos reigns both within and without the Bela Center, the IPCC issues a new warning, taking for the first time into account the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, of up to 9 meters of global sea level rise if temperatures rise by just 2.0 degrees.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/ipcc-sea-level-rise-temperatures

Meanwhile a scientific analysis of what’s on the table now in Copenhagen forecasts it will lead to at least 3.5 degrees of global temperature rise…or MIT’s more pessimistic 3.9 degrees!!!

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/copenhagen-climate-deal-headed-for,1075159.shtml

http://www.climateactiontracker.org/

http://climateinteractive.org/scoreboard

Talk about fiddling while Rome burns…

Mark

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

Klimaforum 09

I wish to remind all readers once again that while I am not an experienced writer, I will try my best to, hopefully, provide some useful and intellectual insights through my articles.

Velkommen til Kilmaforum 09. Welcome to Klimaforum 09. (Okay I got that from Google translate - please alert me if I didn't get it right!)

Welcome, everyone, to the (aptly-named) people’s climate summit, Klimaforum 09! Run by the people for the people. More eloquently (and possibly less memorably) described, it is the global civil society counterpart of the official UN conference in the Bella Center, as quoted from their official website.

“How is it?”

“Quite boring.” Okay at least that would be the short answer I gave to anyone who asked me how the Klimaforum was like when I was there last Sunday. Lest I get condemned to hell by anyone for calling my experience at the summit “boring”, let me qualify myself: I visited Klimaforum on a lazy Sunday to kill time and did not plan in advance (nor was lucky enough) to catch the exciting and interesting events. For anyone thinking of heading there, I highly recommend checking out Klimaforum’s daily activity programme and planning which events/activities to attend before making your way down.

You have friendly staff distributing documents and answering queries on the left side. Then you have, brimming from the right side of the picture, bursting crowds of people who had come to Klimaforum 09.

Packed like sardines

Upon entrance, I quickly found myself swept by people on all sides. Some of you would probably find my complaint a point for contention; what’s all this fuss about huge crowds at a summit where there is unrestricted entry and since it is the people’s climate change forum? Well, the point I wish to bring across is that while it would certainly be unfair to compare the scale of the two main climate change events in Copenhagen – COP15 at the Bella Center and Klimaforum 09 at DGI-Byen – the difference in scale was appalling and unacceptable (to me, at least).

On one hand, at COP15, you have security, media, catering, help and information, registration, cloakroom, document administration/release, first aid teams working feverishly to sustain the hive of activity contained within the gargantuan proportions of Scandinavia’s largest conference center (i.e. Bella Center) every day. On the contrary you have people at Klimaforum weaving their way through immense crowds (that never seem to dissipate) in a venue whose size certainly did not do justice to the scale and proportions of the event itself. It was held in a multipurpose centre called DGI-Byen, which serves very well as the local community’s popular venue for leisure and conferences alike, but is clearly not very suitable as a venue for a global people’s summit. Expecting a venue at least a quarter the size of Bella Center, I was disappointed upon arrival at the Klimaforum, even feeling fairly claustrophobic several times having been stuck in and pushed around by crowds for hours in the small premises.

Climate change issues transcend cultural and language barriers - you can see posters of various languages on display right outside DGI-Byen.

The people’s enthusiasm

During my short stay in Klimaforum, I felt an unmistakable (and possibly contagious, depending on your receptiveness?) sense of enthusiasm from participants and organisers alike, reverberating within the confines of DGI-Byen – you could almost taste it in the air. This strongly reaffirmed my observation, from the experiences gleaned from attending climate change talks, events and conferences, that enthusiasm is like adrenaline coursing through the veins of the climate change network. (I make such a judgment as someone relatively new to climate change issues, for before coming to Copenhagen, I have never before involved myself this much with climate change issues and all that hype.) Let me explain with an example:

Panel of speakers at the "Manifesto on climate change and the future of food security" talk. Vandana Shiva sits on the extreme right.

I attended, halfway through, a talk by the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture about its latest article “Manifesto on climate change and the future of food security”, held in the Orange Room from 1pm to 3pm. Vandana Shiva was making her speech then about food production, the dangers of GMOs, the need for a shift towards natural agricultural methods and Western nations’ roles in driving global food prices up. A strong activist heavily engaged with issues of intellectual property rights, bioethics and biotechnology, Vandana has shown, through her extensive campaigns and assistance of grassroots organisations around the world, a clear ability to translate her enthusiasm positively into action. During her speech, her skill to explain complex issues to the layman appealed to the audience, with her speech being frequently punctuated by rounds of applause. At its closure, the talk received a thundering ovation – evidently a demonstration of the audience’s enthusiasm for Vandana and her cause.

The talk received great applause.

While positive enthusiasm such as Vandana’s is undeniably a crucial part of the driving force behind humanity’s fight against climate change, it has, much like adrenaline, adverse side effects as well. Having exchanged my views with others, I realised that many people share such sentiments as well: that some activists have become blinded by their own enthusiasm.

Digression: For example, during the first two days of my stay in Copenhagen, I attended the COY-5 Conference of Youth with other members of the LSE delegation. It was an event organised by UNFCCC YOUNGO (a youth organisation comprising young climate change activists from around the world) to give attending members a platform for exchanging ideas. I must applaud members of YOUNGO for devoting much effort and time to the cause of climate change, raising awareness in their own countries, rallying like-minded youths to form a huge global movement and even organising their own version of a conference. During the conference, we had the opportunity to listen to two youths’ inspirational speeches.

Exhibitions and activities in the Purple Room. While the adage goes that a picture speaks a thousand words, this picture fails to show the air of enthusiasm inside the room.

Unfortunately, motivational speeches and films often irk me with their overwhelming splurge of enthusiasm which occasionally mars the real issue with an emotional façade. While we may celebrate any success achieved thus far, I wish to remind activists it is vital that they constantly curb the tendency to ignore issues of practicality and remain entrenched in their ideals. It is of paramount importance that activists constantly improve their ability to translate their enthusiasm into real, practical action contributing to the fight against climate change.

An image display depicting the impacts of climate change on various aspects of people's lives in the Maldives.

Awareness of climate change effects on indigenous communities

While squeezing my way around the DGI-Byen, I happened to stumble upon various image displays and photo exhibitions depicting the effects of climate change on indigenous communities. Through the pictures, I witnessed not only the direct consequences of climate change on people’s lives and geophysical attributes of their living environments, but also the less direct impacts when goodwill is not properly turned into positive action.

In the foyer, two long rows of pictures were hung on the wall in the foyer, reminding visitors of the direct consequences of climate change on people and everything else in the Maldives. Indirect consequences were evident in a series of in another exhibition, which revealed the harsh livelihoods of indigenous people living in protected forests in Brazil and India. While good faith had been placed into companies investing in “green projects” in such regions, many such companies have, in the quest for profits and costs savings, exploited the local communities and did little to improve the lives of people significantly as promised. For instance, local tribes in protected forests in Brazil are not even allowed to chop down trees to obtain palm to feed their people. Even if the indigenous people do so on the sly, they often have to look out for the “green police”, a term coined by them for the enforcement authorities who frequently patrol the forests arresting anyone caught in acts of deforestation. Instead of banning the felling of trees altogether, we should, on the contrary, allow indigenous communities to continue living their lives in the forests and learn from them methods of forest preservation and sustainable living, for they are the true experts in this field.

Kenneth

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

Pictures and Videos from COP15

Hello all,

Georg has kindly shared his photos and videos online, available to everyone here:

Pictures (on Facebook) – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136737&id=506141173&l=6dfac7ed83

Videos from the recent events at the COP15, including Prince of Wales, Ban Ki-Moon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson, Jeremy Hobbs etc: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8C2C2E47A6998051

Kenneth

195 Kr and Lots of Talk

Hope all who turned up for our group dinner at BioMio last Sunday had a great time eating and chatting. Looking forward to the next one this Friday, 18 Dec 2009, though more information [is] to be released (quoted from the organisers’ email).

Apologies to those who were looking forward to my blog post about last Sunday’s dinner! Yes it is both overdue and short. Honestly, if you were in my position, you wouldn’t have had much to say, would you?

Okay as for pictures, I admit I didn’t take much that night. Here are the only two images probably worth sharing from my camera (I know what you’re thinking – you might have found the same pictures on BioMio’s official website!) Anyone with pictures to share, please put them online with a blog post!

Hope everyone’s enjoying your time in Copenhagen (if not in the Bella Center, maybe at least somewhere else)!

Kenneth

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

Snippets of What’s Happening at COP-15

Hello all,

It’s been five days into the UNFCCC COP-15 climate change conference here at the Bella Center, Copenhagen. Yet guess what – most of what I am going to write here didn’t come from my firsthand experiences in the Bella Center. Trust me; there are some people here who have no idea about the big significant things happening in the negotiations. Yet I don’t blame them, partly because I occasionally belong to that group, but more vitally, when anything really important happens, there is little or no hint of it when you are here in the conference center – particularly so if you are here as an NGO observer. That’s what I might call not having the advantage of hindsight. After some advice from Mark, I figured I was better off reading the Guardian and other online sources for my daily dose of major COP-15 updates.

Anyway, before I digress too much, the aim of my post is to provide a pithy summary of the main negotiations at the COP-15 for anyone looking for a compact version of the most important news. I regret to inform all who have been keeping up with such news that I will not be adding much value to what other sources online and in print combined would have covered.

Please feel free to contribute to this or correct me if I’ve made any mistakes. I ought to let readers know that I am reading Actuarial Science at the LSE. Implications – firstly, I am nowhere near an expert in climate change and secondly, I figured I was probably not going to write a single essay during my course.

Leak of the Danish Text

A draft proposal prepared by the “circle of commitment”, believed to include Denmark and the US, was leaked to the Guardian earlier this week. The text suggested giving both developed and developing nations the same amount of responsibility in terms of emissions cuts, by subjecting developing nations to stringent cuts before they are allowed to receive financial aid from the developed world. This sparked an outrage from developing nations and worsened the already tense relations between both camps over the negotiations table.

Climate change experts and important public figures quickly responded to the release of the Danish text. The UN’s top climate diplomat, Yvo de Boer, stressed that the Danish text was not the main text under consideration while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon reassured the negotiating parties that much was being done to bridge the gap between the developed and developing countries. Other experts shared mixed opinions about the leaked text and its effects on the negotiations at COP-15.

It is evident, however, that the leak of such a text had certainly dampened the spirits of the negotiations, though the degree to which this was so remained debatable.

Tuvalu’s Proposal

Developing nations themselves became split when Tuvalu, a country made up of several small islands averaging only about 4.5m above sea level, put on the table a new protocol that would be able to enforce deeper emission cuts at the expense of having other developing nations bear most of the responsibility. The Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) and several other African states quickly supported Tuvalu’s stand, but this was met with strong opposition from other developing nations such as the G77, China and India.

Read more about it on the Guardian online.

G77 Chair Walking Out in Anger

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aiping, representing the G77 at COP-15, walked out of what was supposed to be an hour-long meeting last night. He left in anger, making criticising remarks about the what Denmark was attempting to achieve at the COP-15.

Read the main article on the official COP-15 news page.

EU Promises More Money and Cuts While Japan Threatens Pullout

While on Thursday the EU failed to reach a final figure for their contribution to the climate change fund set up to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change, things were drastically changed as EU leaders announced concrete numbers on Friday. The EU states agreed to contribute US$3.6 billion a year for the next three years to help poorer countries deal with climate change. In addition, they agreed to cut emissions by 30% of 1990 levels by 2020, but as usual, insisted that this was conditional upon other developed countries’ commitment to cut emission levels as well.

On Friday as well, Sakihito Ozawa, Japan’s Environment Minister threatened to pull Japan out of its national pledges if the Kyoto Protocol was extended without any quantified numbers on emission reductions by the US or China.

Read about the EU’s recent statement of commitment and Japan’s threat on the respective official online COP-15 articles.

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

Sights and Sounds of the UNFCCC COP-15

Hello all,

While Mark and the others shall have the honour of sharing his intellectual insights from the UNFCCC COP-15 to all readers (see his first and second posts), I shall do the less cognitive (yet equally important nonetheless and potentially more entertaining?) job of providing everyone glimpses of the sights and sounds of this historic conference here at the Bella Center, Copenhagen.

Note: If you are viewing this post from the main page of the Grimshaw club website, you are likely to miss out one entire column of images, due to the way the website layout was designed. Please click on the post title to read the entire post, from which you can view all available images.

Without further ado, here goes:
Click on individual images for original size.

The elegant and pretty logo of COP-15.	It took us nearly half an hour just to get into the entrance hall, where we had to wait even longer for security checks.
Rows upon rows of screenings and checks. Mind you, this is the situation one day before COP-15 began.	Even more queues while we waited our turn for registration.
Finally, entering the venue where we would be in for the bulk of the next two weeks. Not to mention that the setting looks pretty dull and grey, though it probably redeems itself in its clean, simple design.	The main foyer, which would soon be filled with throngs of people (and the floor strewn with pieces of rubbish).
What dawned upon me when I saw this tree in the main foyer was the disturbing lack of Christmas trees in the conference venue, despite Christmas being just less than a month away. In fact, a company who wanted to sponsor Christmas trees for COP-15 was rejected.	A quiet hallway tucked away in a part of the conference center.
The computer center – an energy guzzling monster of gargantuan proportions.
How can we not remember these lovely little recycling bins that make us feel a little less hypocritic at a climate change conference?	The Climate Consortium Denmark, a large exhibition and showcase of technological solutions to fight climate change made possible by private businesses in Denmark.
The West entrance, a much quieter environment.	Time waits for no one – the clock ticks away as negotiations for a solution to climate change continue.
Free food served at the end of every side event.	Clearly, I was being shoved around as I tried to get a shot of what was going on here.
The source of all the commotion – food. Talk about food insecurity in this climate change conference.	Touch screen TVs show visitors videos from all around the world showing people who deal with climate change problems. A similar picture can be found on the Telegraph, which highlights, ironically, the not-so-positive environmental impacts of running COP-15.
The ubiquitous sight of a cameraman. I must have walked into countless recording cameras myself.	The main foyer, filled with much movement throughout the day.
The next three pictures depict a demonstration by a group of Rwandan people. It was not clear to me if the whole demonstration was spontaneous or arranged.
	Listen to them chant “1.5, 1.5, 1.5″ here*: Audio – in powerpoint format, since I am unable to upload audio files without making a paid upgrade. Please inform me if you wish to listen to this audio clip but are experiencing problems. *1.5 refers to the maximum global average temperature rise from now till 2020 that will ensure the survival of several small island states in Africa and around the world.
Click for the original image size, which will allow you to see in more detail what was drawn about the negotiations process.	Avaaz “aliens” searching for climate leaders all around the conference venue.

Enjoy,

Kenneth

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.

The magical negotiation moment

It feels a bit geeky to write this (it might be the LSE spirit influencing me), but I find this video-clip below as interesting as anything available on YouTube. This clip, from the COP13 Conference on Bali in 2007, shows two things. 1: The UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer’s breakdown says everything about how exhausting it can be to be in the middle of such complex negotiations as the ones taking place in Copenhagen right now, and 2: One single, well-timed comment from one single delegation, no matter how small, can sometimes make a big difference in the overall game of power.

A short introduction: In my blog yesterday I mentioned the high-profile Papua New Guinea envoy Kevin Conrad, who has already left his mark on COP15 in Copenhagen. And as the second part of this video shows, he certainly did so on Bali two years ago:

But, as often is in UN negotiations, things aren’t just as simple as they seem to be. Conrad has later admitted that both the US and the EU were set up. But while the EU saw were it was all heading and accepted the text as it was, the US didn’t. Not until after the embarrassment. And, of course, Papua New Guinea was backed by e.g. China and India in their demand. But at least this somewhat famous episode shows that the US’s structural leadership isn’t the only thing that matters in these negotiations.

The general divide in the negotiations runs between developed and developing countries, and this divide has become very clear since a draft from the Danish hosts were leaked to The Guardian on Tuesday. The proposed agreement, which can be read in full here, caused outrage among the G77 nations, who accused the host-nation of favouring the interest of the richer parts of the world.

‘Your prime minister have chosen to protect the rich countries. This is not ok. One should listen to every country. That’s what democracy is about’, said the G77 chairman Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping to the Danish newspaper Politiken. According to the leaked draft the developing countries should commit themselves to more emission reductions, and at the same time the controversial World Bank should replace the UN in controlling the money-flows from rich to poor countries.

The leaked draft seems more than anything to be an attempt at finding a compromise between the two biggest rich players, the EU and the US – a US that never signed the Kyoto protocol but remains necessary to get on board because of its 5,994 million tons of CO2-emissions a year. But getting the US on board wouldn’t help much in the long-term if the hosts lost big developing countries like India and China in the process.

That being said, the leaked draft is probably just one of several drafts made by the Danes for this conference. If they take their role as hosts seriously, they should put several possible solutions on the table. But still, the G77 is of course in their full right to criticize the fact that they were not consulted in the work with this particular draft.

Before I end for now, I just want to draw your attention to this link. Please study this Guardian carbon atlas thorough. This is the best map I’ve seen of this kind. Understanding this map is to understand much of the challenges that the negotiators are facing in Copenhagen. The short version of it is that the developed US and developing China is emitting quite a similar amount of CO2. However, the average American is emitting 19,8 tons while the average Chinese is emitting 4,6 tons of CO2 a year. And this is the overall pattern when looking at developing and developed countries.

And considering that the development that the developed countries have already been through, based on fossil fuels, is the reason for the climate change in the first place – how much should the developing countries be asked to offer in terms of cutting down on emissions? Furthermore, how much and what should the rich world offer to the poorer countries as compensation?

Find a good solution to this, and I know at least a couple of people in Copenhagen who would like to speak with you.

Best wishes,
Trym Oust Sonstad

PS: Tuesday my Russian-American fellow blogger Mark Sleboda wrote about his disappointment that Russia seemed to send only their 1st Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Shuvalov, to Copenhagen. But now Kremlin has announced that president Dmitry Medvedev will join the 110 other heads of states during the final days of the conference next week. великолепный.

Disclaimer:

Any views, ideas or opinions expressed in this blog represent the views of the respective authors only. They do not represent the views of any party present at the COP-15, the LSESU Grimshaw International Relations Club or the London School of Economics and Political Science. The respective authors are solely liable for any damages arising from the reckless posting and publishing of provocative articles and/or comments.