UN Climate Negotiations – A Post-Cancún Briefing - Events - IIEA - The Institute of International and European Affairs

No comments

About this Event

14 Dec 2010 @ 12:45

About the Speech:

The latest round of UN Climate Negotiations in Cancún, Mexico concluded on December 10 with the signature of the “Cancún Agreements”. Fresh from leading the Irish delegation in Cancún, Irish Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Climate Change, Ciarán Cuffe T.D., gave an overview to the Institute of the outcome of the conference and of the politics of the negotiation process.

After the hype of Copenhagen, the Minister suggested that the lowered expectations for the Cancún round were a crucial component in achieving a successful outcome. Against the odds, the Minister spoke enthusiastically of the outcome of the conference, which had seemed “nearly impossible” previously – 191 countries signed off on texts on the Kyoto Protocol and on Long-Term Cooperative Action.

Minister Cuffe stressed that, while the deal reached in Cancún did not save the planet, it did save the process and created renewed hope that next December’s negotiations in Durban, South Africa, will deliver a binding agreement. While there were some objections from Bolivia that the deal did not go far enough, the Minister said that reaching an imperfect agreement was preferable to the spectre of not reaching any agreement. He paid particular attention to the reference in the text aiming to limit temperature increase to less than 2oC and considering a move to a more ambitious limit of 1.5oC.

The Minister praised the strong leadership given by the European Union’s Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. The agreement reached also opens up the possibility of the Union stepping up to the 30% conditional emissions reduction target in 2011.

On assistance to developing countries, Minister Cuffe discussed the agreement to establish a Green Climate Fund, which will provide assistance to the world’s most vulnerable countries. The institutional architecture of the Fund will see the World Bank act as a trustee for the first three years, with a board carefully balanced to ensure representation for developing and developed countries. The Irish government used the occasion to announce a 23 million euro contribution in fast start financing this year to assist some of the most impoverished nations to adapt to a crisis not of their making.

Minister Cuffe singled out the Conference host, Mexico, and in particular, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, for their inclusive approach that focused on listening to all participants. He also noted that Mexico was well placed geographically to reach out to neighbouring developing countries in South America and to the developed economies of North America.

On the agreement itself, the Minister suggested that, while it was weak (little more than a statement of intent to make progress over the next year), it does, however, include both developed and developing countries and touches on the requirement for developing countries to reduce their emissions over time.

Minister Cuffe drew attention to a number of issues raised by Ireland at the plenary session, including the need to move away from a narrow metric of GDP to another metric of prosperity that includes quality of life indicators. Work on a National Welfare Index is under development in Ireland.

United Nations Environment Programme and the World Resources Institute work form a research partnership with Ireland to work on some of the more pressing live issues in the negotiations. This research will be presented in Bonn in June 2011.

Domestically, the Minister spoke of the impending Irish climate legislation, which is being progressed with some urgency. The legislation is currently being finalised and the Minister expects it to be in place in the early part of 2011. He emphasised the clarity and certainty that the legislation will provide for all stakeholders.

In a lively question and answer session, topics raised included: the dynamics of burden sharing in Europe, the possibility of a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, agricultural emissions and the potential for domestic offsets, preparations for a National Adaptation Strategy and for the next National Climate Change Strategy.

About the Speaker:

Ciarán Cuffe T.D. is the Minister of State with special responsibility for sustainable transport, horticulture, planning and heritage at the Departments of the Environment, Transport and Agriculture. He has been a T.D. for the Dun Laoghaire constituency since 2002. Prior to his election to Dáil Éireann, Minister Cuffe served on Dublin City Council for 12 years. He is an architect and urban planner by profession.

Views: 2183