Climate Change

Climate politics changing at Poland summit

Article published on the 2008-12-01 Latest update 2008-12-01 15:16 TU

Danish Prime Minister Anders Rasmussen at the Conference in Poznan, Poland.
(Photo: Reuters)

Newly-elected US President Barack Obama’s pledge to do more to combat climate change has breathed new life into international negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto treaty, which opened Monday in Poland. But the growing global economic recession has cast doubt over whether the means to pay for emission reductions will be available.

Because the US is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the Bush administration’s reluctance to participate in international environmental initiatives has been a major stumbling block in international negotiations.

But President-elect Barack Obama’s election pledge to reduce US emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 has opened up the possibility of a wide-ranging and comprehensive global treaty.

“Barack Obama could hardly do less than George W Bush did,” says Kim Carstensen of the World Wildlife Fund. “He will, in any case, be a major step forward for America’s participation in the global negotiations.”

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) launched in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007 is seeking to negotiate a new greenhouse gas reduction treaty to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Delegations from the 192 member states are currently in Poznan, Poland, for a 12-day conference that marks the halfway point in the process.

Opening statements by Polish Environment Minister Maciej Nowicki underlined the gravity of global warming and the urgency of setting a solution in motion immediately.

“Humankind in its activity just reached the limits of the closed system of our planet Earth,” he said. “Further expansion in the same style will generate global threats of really great intensity – huge droughts and floods, cyclones with increasingly more destructive power, pandemics of tropical disease, dramatic decline of biodiversity, increasing ocean levels.”

As if on cue, authorities in Venice warned residents to stay at home as the worst flooding in 22 years struck the Italian city. Officials blamed changing winds for a water-level that rose 1.56 metres above normal, causing canals and lagoons to rise and flood the walkways and passages of the city.

Despite the urgency and newfound optimism, the looming global recession risks limiting governments’ ability to make the necessary investments. Last week, the UNFCCC estimated that in 20 years, hundreds of billions of dollars would be needed just to keep emissions stable.

The central point of contention in Poznan divides developed and developing countries. Richer nations, which are responsible for the majority of the world’s emissions, argue that emerging economies such as India, Brazil and China should also commit to reduction targets.

The developing nations reply that they cannot reign in their economic development as they are just on the verge of bringing hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. They ask that any commitments to reduce on their part be accompanied by transfers of green technology and expertise from developed nations.