COP19 – Day 11 and Counting

As always, the scheduled last day of COP is not actually the last day of COP. As we write this, the talks are still going on and we haven’t even begun to think about when the closing plenary will start. There has been serious divergence on the key issues of climate finance, loss and damage, and the roadmap for the 2015 agreement. This could be a very long weekend ahead. EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, sparked outrage after leaving an ADP informal meeting in the afternoon. Speaking to the media, Hedegaard singled out the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs) group as holding back progress. “There is still a group of like-minded who thinks differently, and who try to reinstall a firewall,” Hedegaard said, referring to the group’s insistence on referencing historical responsibility in the text. The LMDCs were livid and responded with Claudia Salerno, Venezuela’s head delegate, came out swinging on behalf of the LMDCs. “It was a brazen attack on the LMDCs and totally unacceptable,” Salerno said. “She’s already damaged one [COP]. We don’t want her to damage a second one, in Europe.” The EU and the LMDCs are clearly worlds apart on the key issues at the talks, and this explosion in the media exposes the reasons why we are all still here after the conference was supposed to close. The rift will be difficult to overcome without a major compromise, as parties need to abandon entrenched positions. That said – we think it’s a bit much to blame Copenhagen on Hedegaard alone. So what are parties still talking about? Here are the key issues prolonging the talks: Climate Finance There have been six draft decisions on climate finance. Three have been agreed by parties, with three still to be finalised. The main contention surrounds pre-2020 finance commitments. Developing countries are disappointed by the lack of progress. The G77 and China want a financial commitment from developed countries of US$70 billion by 2016 from public sources, so that parties can build to US$100 billion by 2020. The Adaptation Fund has been filled at the COP to a total of US$100 million. Loss and Damage Parties worked throughout the day and night in informal consultations trying to come to some sort of agreed text. A draft text was circulated earlier in the day, but parties were not happy with it. Parties then reformulated the text overnight, and it has just been released, again. There is a big divide between developing and developed countries over this issue. Developed countries are refusing to agree to any text that mentions compensation, and developing countries are concerned that mitigation and compensation are not being adequately addressed. Developing countries want a mechanism for addressing loss and damage, which treats adaptation, mitigation and compensation separately. In the original text, only adaptation was being addressed. The ADP The ADP was scheduled to close on Thursday. Two days later, and it is still open. Parties seem unable to come to an agreement over the key issues of equity for the 2015 agreement. The BASIC group – representing Brazil, South Africa, India and China – put a proposal on the table last night to incorporate a reference to historical responsibility. Developed countries, led by Canada, the US and the EU, did not want this added. Talks are continuing on the issue. There is also discussion about when parties should release their emission reduction pledges for the 2015 agreement, with many proposals ranging from 2014 to the first quarter of 2015 for parties in a position to do so. Developing countries, led rejected the latter proposal. Instead, they want commitments outlined next year. It is still unclear where this discussion is heading. With discussions still continuing, and delegates taking naps when they can, let’s hope that there is enough political will to get a substantial outcome at the talks in Warsaw. Without one, the already shaky path to a 2015 agreement will be made even more difficult.   For continued updates, follow our live blog which features direct statements, analysis and some humour just for the 11th hour.   By Kahil Lloyd, photo by Laura Owsianka.