Barcelona Climate Change Meeting -- an Inside View
Greetings from Barcelona. This beautiful Mediterranean city is hosting the last meeting of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) prior to the COP15 (Conference of the Parties 15) meeting in Copenhagen in December. We are enjoying beautiful weather and VIP treatment. The conference is at the Fira Gran Via conference center which is enormous (you can walk a mile without leaving the building) and state of the art. Following the opening day meetings we attended a reception at the National Palace (an art museum) where we enjoyed swing music, acrobats, tables loaded with delicious food and copious amounts of wine. The walk to the palace passes through a series of cascading fountains lighted with lights of changing colors. While all of you are receiving news reports on the event transpiring here, we are caught inside the bubble trying to sort out what is going on all around us. We are literally overrun with information, glimpsing only small strands of info as we go. But it is fascinating.
On the macro level, we are witnessing a battle of wills between the developing countries and the developed countries. The developing countries are accusing "certain" developed countries of trying to kill Kyoto and of stalling on their obligation to make specific commitments regarding the reductions they will achieve by 2020 (the numbers). The Africa group demanded a shutdown of all Kyoto Protocol negotiating tracks except the track addressing the numbers. As a result, yesterday, the talks were stalled, but today they have resumed after it was agreed that 60% of the time would be devoted to the numbers track. But the Africa Group is still demanding demonstrated progress on numbers -- not just allocation of time to the discussion -- and threatening further action if the developed countries don't produce.
As for the Mediators Beyond Borders (MBB) mission we are pursuing, this controversy has made it difficult to engage the parties who are focused on resolving the dispute. But we are working with other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and the press to establish a greater receptivity to mediation as a preferred option for dispute resolution. We have also been successful in arranging conversations with a number of representatives of the parties and UN officials.
On the macro level, we are witnessing a battle of wills between the developing countries and the developed countries. The developing countries are accusing "certain" developed countries of trying to kill Kyoto and of stalling on their obligation to make specific commitments regarding the reductions they will achieve by 2020 (the numbers). The Africa group demanded a shutdown of all Kyoto Protocol negotiating tracks except the track addressing the numbers. As a result, yesterday, the talks were stalled, but today they have resumed after it was agreed that 60% of the time would be devoted to the numbers track. But the Africa Group is still demanding demonstrated progress on numbers -- not just allocation of time to the discussion -- and threatening further action if the developed countries don't produce.
As for the Mediators Beyond Borders (MBB) mission we are pursuing, this controversy has made it difficult to engage the parties who are focused on resolving the dispute. But we are working with other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and the press to establish a greater receptivity to mediation as a preferred option for dispute resolution. We have also been successful in arranging conversations with a number of representatives of the parties and UN officials.
2 Comments
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Comment by Leonora on November 11, 2009 at 4:13pm - I really appreciate hearing your take on what's going on. Your experience is sounding like a tough and challenging situation taking place in beautiful surroundings with interesting people! I guess we must view all this as one step in a much longer process.
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