COP19 – Day Nine

Once again, media attention during Warsaw has been focused on something occurring outside of the conference centre as COP19 President Marcin Korolec was sacked from his role as Environment Minister.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed that this was due to a cabinet reshuffle and needing an injection of new energy. Many did not buy this excuse. Despite being given the boot, Korolec will be continuing with his UNFCCC responsibilities until Peru in 2014. Here’s what else happened:

The most popular topic of conversation bouncing around the stadium was still Tuesday’s ADP discussions on loss and damage. These talks finally ended during the early hours of Wednesday morning, at 4am, when the G-77 and China walked out in dismay over the lack of progress.

There was noticeable disparity in the framing of the story by different organisations. Youth organisations stressed the importance of a symbolic walkout. Yet the Climate Action Network International awarded their infamous Fossil of the Day award to the very same countries who wanted to remove the only mention of equity from the text.

The joint high-level segment continued throughout the day, with ministers outlining their countries’ positions at the talks. This is a well-established part of the conference, but nothing new came out of these addresses.

Finance remains a key issue. One of the biggest problems yet to be addressed is the pathway to the commitment of US$100 billion per year by 2020. The G77 is asking for a milestone of US$70 billion by 2016. Countries that announced financial commitments include Norway, Germany, and Sweden, albeit small commitments. NGOs are campaigning for more financial commitments, with many wearing ‘WTF’ (where’s the finance) buttons to bring attention to the need for increasing pledges in Warsaw.

In the evening Korolec convened an informal stocktaking plenary. Much of the same again was discussed: the need for an outcome on climate finance; loss and damage; and a road-map for the 2015 agreement. Still much more needs to be done on these areas before parties reach an outcome here in Warsaw, but there is still a little glimmer of hope that the talks will conclude on Friday.

By Jade Neville, photo by Laura Owsianka.