Climate Of Mistrust

By: Navin Khadka on December 18th, 2009

Bella Centre, Copenhagen: So, you thought climate change would bring humanity together. How wrong you were this jamboree of nearly 45,000 humans could prove.

Ten days of negotiations and participants in the biggest climate conference were still asking how should the meeting be proceeded.

It is, many scientists believe, the world’s most important meeting after the second world war.

They say so because they think it can save the planet Earth from irreversible catastrophes of climate change mainly because of human-induced rise in global temperature.

But tackling global warming, this summit has shown, first needs warming of relations between human societies.

But you still see and feel it being so chilling cold here.

Here are some snapshots: Almost 11 pm on Wednesday, a representative from Tuvalu was asking the chair at the meeting: How can we move ahead from this stalemate now?

The meeting was told that the president of the Conference of Parties (COP15) – the name of this summit under the UN climate regime – - had been consulting how to move ahead.

A Bangladeshi negotiator then asked: Who is he consulting with?

The Tuvalu delegate quickly added: We can provide the president with our telephone numbers for consultation with us.

And then the meeting was told that the COP president, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the prime minister of the host country Denmark, was consulting how he should do the consultation.

A great howl of laughter fell from the ceiling.

Earlier in the day, the same hall was simmering with tensions.

The COP president Rasmussen looked quite stressed and a bit angry when he said, “We have had enough talk about procedures, procedures, procedures, it’s time to move ahead now.”

No sooner he had finished, a Chinese negotiator struck back with this rebuttal: It’s not just procedures, procedures, procedures, it’s about substance.

Did you notice the choice of words both the sides chose to hit each other?

Such is level of the brawl and distrust between the developed and developing countries.

Until earlier this week, the fight was about which of the two tracks under the United Nations climate negotiations should get the priority.

The least developed and developing countries’ grouping have been pushing for the Kyoto Protocol track because the treaty signed in 1997 allows them to emit greenhouse gases while it requires mandatory cuts by developed countries.

The developed worlds, in this case led by the US, have rejected Kyoto type climate agreement and are therefore favouring another track – the Long Term Cooperative Action – for negotiations.

But even under that process, the paper presented was almost rejected by Americans on Wednesday as they pointed out the binding emission reduction figures for developed countries and it was provisioned that they should be measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV).

The MRV is something major economies like China and India don’t even want to hear about.

They and other developing countries have been demanding up to 40 percent carbon cuts by the developed ones.

US president Barrack Obama last month announced a 17 percent cut from 2005 levels by 2020.

Since Kyoto has 1990 as the baseline to cut down emissions, developing countries say the US announcement actually means a four percent cut.

While the US had a problem in the text presented under the LCA track, developing countries are still crying foul that the Kyoto process has been largely ignored.

Chinese, Indian, Brazilian and South African had one voice in a meeting chaired by the COP president: They were not happy with the basis of the negotiations.

Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh said Thursday morning: The process adopted here is deeply flawed and the trust deficit has accumulated.

“Till this morning we have no idea what text will be presented to the heads of the state tomorrow.”

Grape vine is abuzz that there is a text prepared by Denmark in collaboration with some European and the US and that it will be presented soon.

“If that happens, the talks will be as good as collapsed.”

American delegates have repeatedly said they cannot imagine of signing a treaty that is even near to Kyoto.

European and Japanese delegates have been insisting that COP member countries needed to get over Kyoto.

So you can see all these days what was actually being discussed was how this circus should be held.

And there is a rock solid reason behind this mess: Rather than the well being of the Earth, it has become more about the well being of materialistic world.

Rich countries do not want to give up their status wealth-wise and at their footsteps are major developing countries, with swarming population like China and India who would like to live the American dream.

And so the quest now is how to use climate as the medium to be richer and more powerful. As one observer put it: This is all about climate colonization – after the military and economic colonization.

An investigation I have done for the BBC here kind of confirms that. As scenes of super power, powers to reckon with and emerging powers arm twisting to secure atmospheric space for carbon emission are being transmitted in the conference hall, behind the scenes, it’s a totally different agenda.

And there is a rock solid reason behind this mess: Rather than the well being of the Earth, it has become more about the well being of materialistic world, and shrewd negotiators are burning midnight lamp haggling over who should get to control the climate funds that would have billions of dollars.

Now who would you blame? Those who set the example of consumerism threatening life’s existence on the planet or those who follow that lifestyle blindly and are proud of it?

It is something worth asking whether there is a deal or not on Friday.