UN sees climate talks progress but disputes linger

The UN yesterday pointed to progress in one track of negotiations on climate change, but questions persisted on whether the talks in Mexico can take concrete steps toward a new treaty.

Negotiators from more than 190 countries were arriving at the Caribbean resort of Cancun for a week of talks, which come in the shadow of last year’s Copenhagen climate summit that ended in widespread disappointment.

Mindful of last year’s debacle, the UN and host Mexico have tried to keep expectations in check by not inviting heads of state and highlighting forward movement in talks that have already seen sharp exchanges.

Negotiations are covering two separate tracks and the UN body overseeing the talks released a draft agreement on one of them – the part covering long-term action by the world against global warming.

“This conclusion is important because it gives parties a key to unlock other outstanding issues under the two tracks,” said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

However, disputes in Cancun have centred on the other track – on the future of the landmark Kyoto Protocol.

The draft on long-term action would reconfirm a key part of the Copenhagen accord – that the world needs to make “deep cuts” in industrial emissions to keep warming in check at two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The draft also calls for a review on whether the goal should be strengthened to 1.5 degrees Celsius in light of warnings by scientists that the world faces growing natural disasters and extinction of species due to climate change.

The agreement would restate developed countries to mobilize 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to help the poorest nations adapt to climate change.

Gordon Shepherd, head of the environmental group WWF’s Global Climate Initiative, welcomed the draft, saying it “provides a good basis for negotiation.”

Mr Shepherd hailed the text for taking up stronger commitments but said it should also address the “significant gap between current pledges and the goal.”

“We would like to see a process in place immediately that looks at the gap and how to close it,” he said.

Momentum in several key developed nations has shifted away from climate action. The US is unlikely to approve nationwide cuts on emissions anytime soon after the November election victory by the Republican Party, some of whose members doubt the scientific basis of climate change.