COP 18 and ahead

COP 18 and ahead

We bring you here the closing paragraphs of ICTSD’s reporting through Bridges, on Climate Change negotiations held at Doha - COP 18. As I have mentioned in one of my previous notes, the attending delegates did not actually realize they were, or rather their countries were, between the devil and the deep blue sea. A similar comment is made here bellow. It is also interesting to become aware of the changes perceived in both the structure of the negotiations and also in the structure of the alliances among countries, referred to at the bottom of this page. (Enhancing is our own)

Mauricio López Dardaine

New negotiating landscape

"In his closing remarks in Doha, COP 18 president Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah told delegates that the meeting “has opened up a new gateway to bigger ambition and to greater action.” That said, the president also acknowledged that the package falls short of what could have been achieved.

In the short time since the close of the meeting, several of the 9,000 COP participants - from government officials to NGO representatives to the media - say they feel disheartened by the lack of ambition and progress in Doha.

Some observers have been critical of host country Qatar - the first Middle Eastern country to hold a UNFCCC COP - saying that more should have been done to push countries to achieve greater results over the two-week conference. Others, however, say that the missing sense of urgency compared to previous COPs lies in the fact that the focus was placed on tying up loose ends and transitioning to a new set of negotiations.

Moving forward, several changes lie in store, not only in structure of the negotiations, but in the structure of the alliances. The past year has seen cracks develop in the traditional developed / developing country “firewall,” with some poorer developing countries - particularly low-lying island states - acknowledging that they have less in common with emerging developing countries, such as India and China.

A new negotiating group - comprising Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru - emerged this year and spoke formally for the first time in Doha. The group, known as the Association of Independent Latin American and Caribbean States (AILAC), say they are committed to supporting the UNFCCC as the ‘most effective way to achieve the objective of a below-2 degree world.’

Another developing country group, known as the “like minded group,” say they are committed to upholding the UNFCCC’s principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR), equity, and developed countries’ collective responsibility for climate change. With several developed countries adamant that any new climate pact include binding emissions reduction targets for all countries, including advanced developing countries, the issue will surely be worth following closely.”