Background
Ever since
the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, when 194 countries (including the U.S.) signed on
to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the parties to that
Convention have been meeting annually to work on implementing the treaty and
achieving the goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The
UNFCC did not contain binding targets for greenhouse gas releases, but in 1997
the Kyoto Protocol did set such binding targets and was signed by a significant
number of countries, but not the U.S. Although President Clinton signed the
Protocol, Congress refused to ratify it. Since then, no president has attempted
to gain ratification.
This year’s Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting in Doha is the 18th such meeting. Most analysts agree that there are four key issues with which the parties must deal:
(1) The creation of a new legally
binding set of goals and targets to be adopted by 2015 and Implemented in 2020.
This goal is sometimes called the Durban Platform because it was adopted by the
parties at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa.
(2) The implementation of a Green
Climate Fund (GCF) in which the developed countries such as the U.S. have committed to create a fund totalling $100 billion per year by 2020.. The purpose of this fund is to help poor countries reduce their
emissions and to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change already
occurring. The developed countries made this commitment in 2009 at the Copenhagen COP.
(3) An accounting of the “Fast Start
Finance” commitment made by the developed countries to make a “down payment” on
the GCF of $30 billion by the end of
2012. This commitment was also made at COP 15 at Copenhagen in 2009.
(4) The establishment of an
extension of the Kyoto Protocol as a bridge to the 2015 start of the Durban Platform binding targerts. The commitments under the Kyoto Protocol end in 2013.
Oxfam’s
Focus
At the
beginning of the Doha conference, Oxfam International released a media advisory
entitled “The Climate ‘Fiscal Cliff’: An Evaluation of Fast Start Finance and
Lessons for the Future.” The report points out a number of significant problems
that developed during the “Fast Start” finance period, including, among others:
-
While
the Copenhagen commitment was for “new money” specifically aimed at climate
change, it appears that as much as two thirds of the funds committed had
already been authorized or committed to other programs. This risks the
depletion of funding for traditional assistance in areas such as health or
education.
-
While
the commitment was for a “balanced allocation between mitigation and
adaptation,” the actual funding appears to heavily favor mitigation, with only
20 per cent going to adaptation. While funding to reduce releases is vital for
the long run, such funding does little to help poor and vulnerable communities
that are already experiencing significant climate impact such as droughts or
floods.
Oxfam’s
report also highlights the fact that while the “Fast Start” funding is
scheduled to end in 2012, no new money has been pledged for the Green Climate
Fund, which contained the commitment to build to $100 billion per year by 2020.
Thus the term “climate fiscal cliff” refers to the possibility that funding
will dry up beginning in 2013 at a time when the impacts of climate change
around the world, especially on poorer communities, are intensifying. As the
report puts it, “At the very moment that finance must be scaled up to meet the
$100 billion per year Copenhagen promise, rich countries look set to scale
down.”
What
Comes Next?
COP 18 is
scheduled to conclude on Friday, December 7. Typically, all major decisions to
be made by the parties are jammed into the final hours of the Conference.
The key issues to watch out for are related to the extension of the Kyoto
Protocol, the report of progress made to developing the targets to be adopted
in 2015 under the Durban Platform, and funding commitments from rich countries
such as the US to the Green Climate Fund.
What we can
all do is to educate ourselves on the critical significance of these
international actions to combat climate change and to provide aid to vulnerable
communities in desperate need of resources to adapt to changes already
occurring. Unfortunately, the mainstream media is not paying much attention to
what is happening in Doha. If you are interested in doing more, you can read
the full Oxfam Report on funding at Oxfam.org and follow Oxfam on Twitter,
particularly @OxfamCorpsMN. Tweets and links there will provide plenty of
details and updates to what is happening at Doha. When the Conference closes on
December 7, there is likely to be a splash of media attention focused on what
was and was not accomplished by the Conference. This will be a great time to
send in letters to the editor supporting the positions that Oxfam has taken and
alerting people to the key outcomes.
Brett S (smithb55419@yahoo.com), @smithb55419
