THE EU’s roadmap for negotiations to “begin immediately” – with a view to concluding an international agreement on how to curb climate change “no later than 2015” – was at the core of an intensive round of talks at the UN conference here last night.
After holding meetings until after 4am yesterday, delegates were facing into a final session that looked set to continue through the night in an effort to bridge the chasm between the EU and its allies, on the one side, and the US, China and India on the other.
The draft negotiating text would require all 195 countries that are parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – whether rich or poor – to “launch a process in order to develop a legal framework applicable to all”, to take effect in 2020.
“The EU roadmap is at the core of the intense negotiations,” said EU climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard.
“I find it significant and telling that the poorest countries of the world, the most vulnerable, state that all parties will have to commit in the future.”
But the US, China and India were holding out on setting deadlines for reaching a comprehensive deal.
“If there is no further movement from what I have seen until 4 o’clock this morning, then I must say I don’t think that there will be a deal in Durban,” Ms Hedegaard warned.
Although US climate envoy Todd Stern appeared to indicate on Thursday that Washington “supports” the concept of a roadmap, the US state department issued a statement later clarified that he had not endorsed “a legally binding agreement as the result of that process”.
India’s environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, said she would “want to know the content of the binding agreement”, whether it would be based on “differentiated responsibilities” between rich and poor countries and what was going to happen with the Kyoto Protocol.
The Chinese delegation said nothing in public, but it is known that China would be similarly reluctant to enter into a legally binding agreement that could have an adverse impact on its continuing drive for economic growth to raise the living standards of 1.34 billion people.
Referring indirectly to the US, China and India, Ms Hedegaard said “responsibility lies very heavily on the shoulders of those few big ones” – as against the 120-plus countries from all parts of the world that had backed the EU’s call for a roadmap to secure the climate.
She noted “with great satisfaction” that Brazil and South Africa – which constitute the so-called Basic group along with China and India – had both indicated their willingness to sign up for a legally binding deal. “That’s half of Basic – now we’re waiting for the other half.”
An unprecedented “common statement” issued earlier by the EU, the Alliance of Small Island States and the Least Developed Countries group called for Durban to deliver a “robust mandate and roadmap for a legally binding instrument” to meet the challenge of climate change.
“We believe that the world has had a lot of time to think. What we need is not more thinking. What we need is more action,” it said. “The facts are clear, and we are still too far from where we need to be to secure the most vulnerable countries’ right to sustainable development.”
The frantic negotiations were being carried out by a representative group of 28 ministers, appointed by regional groups, and Ms Hedegaard said they were “working very, very hard to find a common way forward” while keeping everyone else informed of progress.
As the talks went on and on, about 50 activists gathered outside the plenary hall to protest against the delay in reaching an ambitious agreement, even winning applause from some of the delegates before UN security staff moved in to escort them from the convention centre.
Among those who had their accreditation badges removed was Kumi Naidoo, the Durban-born international director of Greenpeace.
“We are here to stand with the most vulnerable countries whose basic survival needs have not been met,” he said, before being taken away.
