COP19 – Day Five

Disappointment and despair were the prevailing sentiments of delegates trudging the halls last Friday at the UN climate change negotiations. Japan announced its revised target for pre-2020 action – it is far from ambitious. A common theme emerging from Warsaw.

Japan has reneged on its 2009 Copenhagen pledge. Instead of reducing emissions by 25 per cent on 1990 levels, Japan will actually increase them by three per cent. Hiroshimi Minami, leader of the Japanese negotiating team, stated that this “new target is based on the assumption of zero nuclear power stations.” Minami justified the revision on the basis that all nuclear power stations have been shut down in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

Many parties and NGOs didn’t buy this excuse. “I don’t have any words to describe my dismay at that announcement,” Su Wei, China’s lead negotiator said. Naoyuki Yamagishi, leader of WWF Japan’s Climate and Energy Group, said that the move by Japan “could further accelerate the race to the bottom among other developed countries.”

Japan has evasively instead pointed out that they are pledging a substantial amount of climate finance here – US$16 billion to be exact (with US$13 billion coming from public sources). This is better than nothing, and even when compared to other country’s pledges.

The major event of the day was the President’s Informal Stocktaking Plenary that noted progress is moving at different paces (read: slow). SBSTA chair Muyungi informed the plenary that ten of the agenda items have been concluded, but some items – particularly, REDD+ – may need to be discussed next week under the COP. SBI chair Chruszczow said that there are issues, particularly loss and damage, which will need to be discussed next week during the high-level segment.

The ADP chair reported back to the stocktaking plenary that parties are being constructive, which maybe just means that they are at least still there. Talks are expected to continue until at least Thursday.

With issues being pushed back to next week, will the high-level segment of the talks, when the ministers arrive, actually deliver on the promise of progress? Will there be a road-map for the 2015 agreement? Even eternal optimists would struggle to say yes to these questions.

By Kahil Lloyd, photo via Global Water Partnership.