U.S. Accused of Slowing Progress at Bonn Climate Talks

But environmentalists were disappointed in what they saw as slow progress, and some blamed the Obama administration for obstructing the negotiations.

U.S. delegate Jonathan Pershing (Photo courtesy ENB)

Friends of the Earth Europe said that throughout the climate talks "the United States administration has blocked progress to move negotiations forward. While the EU is not playing such a negative role, it is failing to make progress towards finding just solutions to the climate crisis."

"The election of President Obama created tremendous hope worldwide that the U.S. would finally play a leadership role in solving the climate crisis that - more than any other nation on Earth - it is responsible for causing. Unfortunately, the Obama administration's position sounds frighteningly similar to that of George Bush, and the EU seems unwilling or unable to show leadership or hold the US to account" said Sonja Meister of Friends of the Earth Europe.

Delegates from 183 countries meeting in Bonn discussed the key texts that will form the basis for an international climate change deal, to be finalized in Copenhagen in December. The Copenhagen agreement is to follow the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires at the end of 2012.

UN climate officials preside in Bonn. From left, Michael Cutajar, Yvo de Boer, John Ashe. (Photo courtesy (Earth Negotiations Bulletin)

But de Boer warned that delegates are still far from agreement on the emission reduction range that has been set by scientists to avoid the worst ravages of climate change - a minus 25 percent to minus 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2020.

"Between now and Copenhagen, the level of ambition needs to be increased. This is still possible if the opportunities for international cooperative action are fully seized," de Boer said.

Delegates divided into two working groups designed to negotiate the Copenhagen agreed outcome.

Michael Zammit Cutajar, chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action, AWG-LCA, pointed to the accelerated pace of negotiations at the Bonn meeting. He said many important elements were added to the Convention text in Bonn.

The AWG-LCA includes all 192 governments that are Parties to the Convention. They negotiated issues of a shared vision for longterm cooperative action, enhanced action on adaptation, mitigation and finance, technology and capacity-building.

"The next step will be for Parties to refine and streamline the Convention text and to begin drafting at the next session in August, whilst engaging on the specifics of the text," said Cutajar.

The second negotiating group focused on further commitments for industrialized countries governed by the Kyoto Protocol. The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol, AWG-KP, honed in on future emission reduction commitments of 37 industrialized countries for the second phase of the protocol, after 2012.

Progress was made on options for the treatment of land-use, land-use change and forestry to reduce emissions.

But John Ashe, the Chair of the AWG-KP pointed out that this group still needs to decide on the aggregate emission reduction target industralised countries, along with individual targets. "We need to get the list of commitments of developed countries finalized so that we can fully gauge where we are in terms of emission reductions," he said.

Greenpeace used a siren to awaken delegates to the urgency of global warming. (Photo courtesy ENB)

Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative said, "It is a bit like a classroom with bad students. They hope somehow they can get through by hiding behind their classmates, a little bit of tricks, hoping the teacher will not notice. Only that the consequences here are different. Not only you stay behind but you drag the whole world down with you."

While scientists agree that the pace of devastating climate change is accelerating and bring new evidence showing that natural disasters caused by rising temperatures will hit the poorest and most vulnerable, rich nations failed to make any sacrifices and concessions, said Carstensen.

"We see no political breakthrough. Instead, delegates are just preparing themselves for battles to be fought at later meetings. They set out their positions more clearly, which is helpful, but they don't resolve any of the difficult issues. We're losing time," Carstensen said.

Juergen Lefevere representing the European Commission stressed that the new EU climate and energy package is legally binding on the 27 EU member states and will enter into force on June 25. He said it is comprehensive and includes renewable energy, effort sharing and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Lefevere drew attention to the Renewable Energy Directive, which stipulates that energy from renewable sources should be increased from 8.5 percent to 20 percent by 2020.

NGOs called for climate justice with a march outside the conference hall. June 6, 2009. (Photo courtesy ENB)

Several developing countries called for industrialized countries to take on a target of at least 40 percent emission reductions by 2020. Bolivia demanded repayment of the developed world's climate debt. El Salvador and Paraguay stood for protection of indigenous peoples' rights.

But the EU and industrialized countries failed in Bonn to agree to the substantial transfers of money and technology cooperation needed to enable developing countries to tackle climate change.

David Turnbull of Climate Action Network, a worldwide network of over 450 nongovernmental organizations, told the delegates, "What is clear in the negotiations under the Kyoto Protocol is that there remains a large gap between the scale of reductions needed to avert dangerous levels of climate change and what industrialized countries have proposed so far.

"Not one developed country has yet committed to emission reductions that acknowledge the urgency of the issue. Several countries have failed to come forward with any commitments at all," he said.

NGOs were disappointed in the announcement by Akihiko Furuya of Japan that his country has set a mid-term emission reduction target of 15 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

"Aggregate reductions of more than 40 percent below 1990 are required from industrialized countries by 2020," Turnbull said. "Anything lower unfairly shifts the mitigation burden to developing countries OR places an enormous burden on the entire world, especially most vulnerable countries and communities, to adapt to monumental changes."

The Co-Chairs of AWG-LCA in consultations with the G-77/China during the final session. June 12, 2009 (Photo courtesy ENB)

Although reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, CO2, remains the primary target for avoiding the long-term effects of climate change, panelists at a side event in Bonn called for urgent action to reduce non-CO2 climate forcers to avoid abrupt climate change.

While it is the most prevalent, carbon dioxide is only one of the greenhouse gases governed by the Kyoto Protocol. The protocol establishes legally binding commitments for the reduction of four greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride - and two groups of gases, perfluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs.

Emissions of HFCs, a group of powerful short-lived greenhouse gases that can be up to 11,000 times more potent than CO2 in warming the atmosphere, are quickly growing as refrigerator and air conditioner production increases.

"Phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol or a similar type agreement would result in a significant amount of mitigation, in a quick and cost-effective manner," said Mack McFarland from DuPont Fluoroproducts. "To maximize climate benefits, we need to make progress now toward a global agreement on how to deal with this potent group of gases."

The side event, hosted by Sweden and the Federated States of Micronesia, heard that not taking aggressive action means risking passing tipping points for abrupt climate change, including the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, West Antarctic ice sheet, and the dieback of the Amazon rainforest, all of which are estimated to be approaching more quickly than anticipated.

"There's no question that reducing CO2 emissions is absolutely essential and the number one target," said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, who chaired the side event. "However, this does not mean we should ignore fast action strategies like reducing black carbon and HFC emissions that could help prevent near-term damage to vulnerable regions."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.