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Fresh talks to save Earth
28/03/2008 11:51 - (SA)
Bangkok - World climate negotiators will next week stake out their starting positions as talks begin in Bangkok on a landmark pact designed to save the Earth from the worst ravages of global warming.
Meeting for the first time since marathon talks in December on the Indonesian island of Bali, members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will try to thrash out differences that almost derailed their last gathering.
The five-day meeting, beginning on Monday in Bangkok, aims to set out a detailed work plan that should lead to the most ambitious treaty yet for reining in greenhouse gas emissions and battling global warming.
"I hope that Bangkok is a very practical meeting, that is focused on what it is supposed to focus on, which is to agree a work programme for the next year and a half," UNFCCC head Yvo de Boer told AFP by phone from Switzerland.
Nations have until late 2009 to wrestle with the nitty-gritty of any new deal, giving them time to ratify it before their commitments on slashing harmful emissions under the existing Kyoto Protocol expire in 2012.
John Hay, the UNFCCC's spokesperson, said that Bali saw countries, including the United States - which never ratified the Kyoto deal - agree to launch the new negotiations.
Now in Bangkok, nations should produce a specific plan "outlining who does what, when and why", he said. "Generally the mood is quite constructive, much more constructive than it was at Bali."
Vastly differing interests
Talks in Bali almost fell apart as nations fought over who was historically responsible for climate change, who should foot the bill, and whether both rich and poor nations should have binding targets on cutting carbon emissions.
Europe and developing countries want rich nations to set a binding target to cut emissions by between 25 to 40% by 2020 compared with their 1990 levels, but under US pressure the final Bali Roadmap did not include explicit goals.
"It is of course a reality that there are vastly differing interests at stake in all of this and some dramatically different positions amongst countries," De Boer said.
"Those differences of views and differences of interests will make it even more challenging."
The crucial question of emissions will likely dominate negotiations leading up to the final December 2009 meeting in Copenhagen, but activists warned that no agreement on the issue would come out of the Bangkok talks.
"There are no great breakthroughs to be expected, because the countries are wrestling for their starting positions," said Martin Hiller, spokesperson of conservation group WWF.
Angela Anderson, director of the global warming programme with the US-based Pew Environment Group, said she expected positive momentum in Bangkok, but warned that individual interests would be on the climate brokers' minds.
Tough positions
"They are out of the dialogue process and into negotiating, so countries tend to lay down some stronger markers at the beginning," she told AFP.
"You're going to see some tough positions floated, probably some pretty serious reaction."
During the Bangkok talks, the United States would likely keep domestic industry interests in mind, Anderson said, but as the Bush administration's days come to an end, negotiators will also be considering what legacy they want to leave behind.
The United States, the only major industrialised nation to reject Kyoto, has become increasingly isolated in its climate stance. Its reputation as an environmental pariah peaked in Bali when US delegates were booed during the closing hours of the conference.
The UNFCCC currently has 192 member nations. Government negotiators from at least 150 countries are expected to come to Bangkok.
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