Saturday, December 11, 2010

Cancun Climate Talks: Analysis

Signs of Progress or More Stumbling Blocks?


As the U.N. Climate Negotiations wind up in Cancun, Mexico, we asked a variety of experts and climate watchers what they make of the summit so far, and what its outcome could mean for the future of international climate policy.

Dec. 10, 2010 - Our first question: What do you expect will be the most important thing to come out of this year's U.N. Climate Conference? What is the take home message here?

It's about 4:30pm in Cancun on what was scheduled to be the last day of the negotiations, and everything still seems up in the air. We know negotiators have narrowed down the options, and now they re locked behind closed doors to hammer things out.

A very important result would be if the U.S. would show a bit of flexibility on the design of the Global Climate Fund. This fund is key to achieving agreement on all other issues, in part because it shows the world that the U.S. is serious about an international agreement. The Global Climate Fund will help poorer countries keep pollution to a minimum as they develop, and help them cope with climate impacts like the disastrous floods in Pakistan this last year. The flexibility the U.S. has shown regards, in large part, responding to calls to keep the World Bank out of the climate fund, as it has an abysmal record on climate and is still providing new funding to build the largest coal plants in the world. {continued}

No comments: