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WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (OneWorld.net) - This year's global climate negotiations, where countries will work towards an agreement, due in 2009, to reduce emissions and avoid environmental catastrophe, have opened with cautious optimism and a need for stronger political will, writes attendee and environmental expert Amanda Chiu.

• Delegates and observers from all over the world entering the plenary room in preparation for the opening of COP 14. © Amanda ChiuOneWorld has sent a team to the United Nations climate negotiations again this year to open up this crucial conference to anybody and everybody around the world. OneWorld journalists will be providing a news roundup each day of the key second week of the conference (Dec. 8-12) and facilitating live interactive discussions online and in Second Life. Tune in at OneClimate.net to stay up-to-date and take part. 
  

• If serious action is not taken to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, the average global temperate will increase by an estimated 12 degrees Fahrenheit (6.4 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century, reports the Earth Policy Institute. Global warming, in turn, has been linked to rising sea levels, stronger storms, and severe droughts, all which impact communities around the world, particularly by depressing food production at a time of global scarcity.

• Last month, as the Group of 20 major economic powers prepared to meet to discuss the global financial meltdown, environmental experts from the Worldwatch Institute urged leaders to focus on a "Global Green Deal that capitalizes on the current economic crisis to build economically and environmentally sustainable economies." In particular, Gary Gardner and Michael Renner said that transitioning to a renewable energy economy will not only phase out limited, environmentally hazardous power sources like oil and coal, but will also usher in 2 million new jobs around the world. "Doing more with less," they noted, "is one of the surest paths to wealth creation, and environmentalists have a great many ideas to raise energy and materials efficiency."

Poznań, Day 1: Beginnings of a "Shared Vision" 

From: Worldwatch Institute

by Amanda Chiu on December 2, 2008

I am writing from Poznań, Poland, where the 14th Conference of Parties (COP 14) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has begun. The energy in the conference center is exhilarating, and you can feel the wheels churning in everyone's minds as they work toward a "shared vision" for the next climate change agreement in Copenhagen. 

The COP process has only one year before it must produce a climate change agreement that will reduce global emissions to a level that would avoid catastrophic changes to the world as we know it. We as a planet have very little time before we irreversibly alter our environment. Both industrialized and developing countries must agree to an emissions reduction goal by next year, and they have several tools to do so. In the end, Poznań must deliver a clear program of work for 2009 and send a strong signal to the world and participating governments that it is time to stop dawdling, to buckle down, and to get to work.

As the halfway point between the 2007 "Bali Roadmap" and the 2009 Copenhagen agreement where a successor to the Kyoto Protocol - the second commitment period under Kyoto - will hopefully be anointed, hopes are high but expectations are mixed. Poznań and the path to Copenhagen face plenty of challenges: the world is in the midst of the financial crisis, the U.S. delegation is on "standby mode," the Obama administration may not be ready yet to sign a climate change agreement come December 2009, and current EU climate negotiations are on uncertain footing. Even Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, expressed concerns that a Copenhagen agreement might not be ready. 

There is still hope and cautious optimism amid all this turmoil, and a need for strong political will. An important outcome of COP 13 in Bali-developing countries expressing an interest and willingness to take action-is still carrying through even a year later in Poznań. And today is but the first day, full primarily of approving work plans for the next two weeks.

The COP started with positive statements regarding the outcomes of this conference. The view that the current financial crisis is an incredible opportunity has taken hold, and opening remarks by the Prime Minister of Denmark, also the President of COP 13, noted that the crisis is not a good excuse for inaction. Indeed, talks of a "green deal" to revive economies and create jobs worldwide have spread across the world. My colleagues at Worldwatch have put a lot of thought into green jobs and a green deal, and these ideas could soon be transformed into action.

People here are understandably curious about Obama, the new administration, and how these fit into the negotiations. A look of disappointment and concern are the usual responses when I tell them that, as Obama has pointed out multiple times, there is only one President of the United States at a time. The U.S. delegation here is from the Bush administration. As of late this afternoon, they have not spoken up in any of the sessions. I am not the only person wondering what they will say when they do engage.

The real buzz in Poznań today, however, surrounds the European Union, Canada, and the UK, and it is occurring outside of the COP:

• With EU climate negotiations currently under way in Brussels as well, France, which holds the presidency of the EU, is having a difficult time passing the climate change package championed primarily by itself and Germany. Last spring, the EU proposed a 30-percent emissions reduction target below 1990 levels by 2020 in the presence of an international deal, and a 20-percent target if the region mitigated its emissions alone. But now, some countries are considering backing out of their 30 percent commitments even if there is an agreement in Copenhagen. The EU has so far been a strong leader of climate change mitigation, but it seems very tempted to relinquish that title. The implications for Poznań and the road to Copenhagen could be serious.
• On a different note, Canada is on the brink of having a coalition government replace the ruling conservative party that was re-elected not long ago. This coalition government is expected to be much more agreeable to preventing catastrophic levels of climate change.
• And last week, the United Kingdom adopted a Climate Change Bill that set a national emissions reduction target of at least 42 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 with a Copenhagen agreement; otherwise, the target is 34 percent, which equates to the UK portion of the 30 percent by 2020 mentioned above. This is indeed exciting news, as the UK will be one-upping targets set in Germany and Norway by 2 percent.  

Meanwhile in Poznań, Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reminded delegates in his opening comments of the emissions reduction target of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, a target that the scientific community is increasingly calling for. The climate change powers that be are in motion!

My first day at my first COP has been a whirlwind of excitement and jetlag, and I am pretty tired. But now I am off to a reception that the COP 14 hosts are holding in my (and all other participants') honor. I shouldn't keep them waiting!

Amanda Chiu is a MAP Sustainable Energy Fellow at the Worldwatch Institute.

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