CB Bureau
over 10,000 officials from 194 countries will burn gallons of fuel to reach
Durban, South Africa, on Monday to start conversations from the ‘negotiation’
point that was left ‘parked’ last year at Cancun, Mexico – that of renewing the
current climate treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
However,
with developing countries, primarily India and China, holding on to their
previous stands and Canada, Japan, and Russia opposing it, the talks and
negotiations do not seem to be headed towards finding an easy conclusion.
The
dispute is basically a disagreement between developing and developed countries,
and the argument is that poorer nations should not do as much as richer nations
must to control global climate change. The argument started in the 2009
Copenhagen summit, where the talks drastically failed, and it is yet to see a
resolution. The status quo, however, cannot continue as the Kyoto treaty will expire
in December 2012, and better and more effective norms have to be created to
replace the same.
A
solution to the stalemate is also essential now because the global carbon
emissions figure is rising far above than what was projected a couple of years
ago. Global CO2 emissions in 2010 reached 33.51 billion tonnes, up from 31.63
billion in 2009 – an increase of nearly six per cent, the highest-ever
year-on-year percentage increase.
Members of the ONG
Sierra Club demonstrate against the countries who according to them are
avoiding the climate change issue, on a beach in Cancun on December 3, 2010.
It is
believed that no international treaty or regulation will be of significance
without the consensus of China and India, as the former is the largest carbon
emitter in the world and the latter is now at third place. Both the countries
say that they are vulnerable to climate change and are strongly advocating for
strong action to curb emissions. The duo will be at the forefront in Durban to
bring an end to the negotiation impasse around the extension of Kyoto and
emissions reduction targets. Civil society organizations are also pressurizing
developed nations to form a meaningful deal on emission reduction targets.
However,
industrialized nations like the United States, the world’s second-largest
carbon emitter, say that the deal is unfair. The USA was the first country that
pulled out of Kyoto in 2001. Following suit, Japan, Canada, and Russia have
already stated they will not sign a renewed Kyoto under any circumstance.
Meanwhile,
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat and
organizers for the summit still seem to be positive and have stated that they
expect all parties agreeing to forge a consensus for a single, legally binding,
global climate agreement. The UNFCCC’s hope seems to be based on the strength
of the third group of countries led by Britain and the European Union. The
group is willing to accept the new Kyoto on the condition that a separate
‘binding’ agreement (to cut CO2 at different rates) is signed by China and
India.
It
must be noted here that despite all disagreements, most of the countries have
agreed that to avoid disaster the global temperature rise must be limited to
two degrees Celsius. They also understand that to reach anywhere near that
target, global emissions should start falling within the next five years. Each
failed summit a year adds on another year of heavy emissions, and this delay
will only make the process of fighting global warming expensive and tougher to
tackle.