By Joydeep Gupta, IANS
Bali : Despite an appeal by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that “the eyes of the world are upon you”, industrialised countries blocked any breakthrough in efforts to address climate change.
Nearly 11,000 delegates from 187 countries grappled over virtually every word of the Bali roadmap that is supposed to start the process of fighting global warming and finish it over the next two years.
Global warming is already reducing farm output, mainly in tropical and semi-tropical countries. It is leading to more frequent and more damaging droughts, floods and storms and to a sea level rise that is drowning small islands.
Despite this, industrialised countries led by the US, Canada, Japan and Australia continued to reject any benchmark by which they would reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that has lead to the global warming. Only the US was public about its opposition.
All countries party to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol – the current agreement to address climate change, whose first period ends in 2012 – had agreed earlier this year that they would use a reduction of 25-40 percent in their GHG emissions from their 1990 levels as a benchmark during negotiations.
But now some industrialised countries have gone back on that. The US, which was not involved in the earlier decision because it has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, said using the benchmark would amount to prejudging the negotiating process.
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said there were three other points on which the negotiators were stuck. The first two were transfer of technology and the need for money to address climate change.
India, the Group of 77 countries and China have said that developing countries cannot be expected to play their part in fighting global warming unless developed countries, which caused almost all the climate change in the first place, give them technology and finances.
The fourth point on which the Bali roadmap was stuck was whether to start a formal negotiating process over the next two years for a treaty that would become effective after 2012, or whether it would be an informal dialogue.
India is in favour of formal negotiations.
Over 40 ministers from around the world started a special briefing session Wednesday evening in an effort to achieve a breakthrough here, just hours after the UN secretary general had reminded all delegates that climate change was getting worse and it was the defining challenge of our age.
“The time for equivocation is over and the time to act is now,” Ban said. “The cost of inaction is far more than the cost of action.”
As power suits took over from batik at the opening of the high-level segment and security reached an all-time high, the longest applause at the plenary hall of the Bali International Convention Centre was reserved for Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who ratified the Kyoto Protocol after taking office 10 days ago.
Ban said later: “We need political leadership to provide the answers to climate change. I’m here to remind the ministers and negotiators to heed that call.
“Parties (to the climate convention) have to agree on the agenda for future negotiations and the 2009 deadline.” Asked what would happen if they did not, the UN secretary general discounted the possibility of failure here.
“We’re at a crossroads between a comprehensive agreement to address climate change and betrayal of the world and of future generations,” he said.
Asked about the 25-40 percent benchmark, Ban said he had met the senior US government delegates Tuesday and was aware of the differences in opinion. “The 25-40 percent benchmark will have to be negotiated” was all he would say.
But Ban went on to “urge major economies to exercise flexibility and demonstrate leadership. I have urged the US to do that.
“Industrialised countries have a historic responsibility because they have caused most of this global warming. Plus, they have the capacity – technological, financial and adaptive – to deal with this problem.
“The technological and financial capacity should be given to developing countries so that they can get on board” in the fight against climate change,” he said.
At the opening session, reminding the delegates that climate change also provided an opportunity to move to a new age of green economics and sustainable development, Ban said: “You must make this change possible.
“The consensus on the building blocks to address climate change must involve all nations – developed and developing. The atmosphere cannot distinguish between them.”