Tiempo Climate Newswatch

As the latest round of the climate treaty negotiations got underway in Bonn, China, India and other developing nations combined to call on the industrialized nations to make much greater cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. "We believe that by 2020 the [developed nations] should reduce their emissions by at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels," said Chinese delegate Xu Huaqing. To date, the European Union has adopted one of the more stringent targets for 2020, with a commitment to 20 per cent emissions reduction, deepening to 30 per cent if other nations come on board.

Su Wei, head of the Chinese delegation, has identified three essential arrangements relating to technology transfer that must be part of the agreement reached at the Copenhagen summit later this year. "The first is to set up an international mechanism on climate-friendly technology development and transfer, to eliminate barriers hindering technology transfer, so that developing countries can get access to such technologies," he said. Second, there must be an effective financing mechanism to ensure the developed countries provide adequate funds for developing countries in their bid to cut emissions and fight climate change. Finally, there must be an effective supervision mechanism. to monitor technology transfer and funding.

The Maldives intends to become carbon neutral within a decade. "Many politicians' response to the looming catastrophe... beggars belief," said Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives. "Playing a reckless game of chicken with Mother Nature, they prefer to deny, squabble and procrastinate rather than heed the words of those who know best. In a grotesque Faustian pact, we have done a deal with the carbon devil: for untold fossil fuel consumption in our lifetime, we are trading our children's place in an earthly paradise. Today, the Maldives will opt out of that pact."

The carbon-neutral plan includes a new renewable electricity generation and transmission infrastructure with wind turbines, roof-top solar panels, a biomass plant burning coconut husks and battery banks for back-up storage. "We don't want to pretend that this plan is going to be easy to implement," commented Chris Goodall, co-author of the scheme. "There will be hiccups, and electricity supply will occasionally be disrupted. But we think that building a near-zero-carbon Maldives is a realistic challenge. Get it right and we will show the apathetic developed world that action is possible, and at reasonable cost."

Greenpeace has criticized proposals to allow industrialized nations to offset their carbon emissions by replanting tropical forests. "Cheap forest credits sound attractive but a closer examination shows they are a dangerous option that won't save the forests or stop runaway climate change," said Roman Czebiniak from Greenpeace. "Of the many options for forest financing currently on the table, this one ranks as the worst." A major concern is that forest credits would drive down the price of carbon, diverting attention away from reducing emissions at home. It might also reduce direct investment in developing nations.

The airline industry has stressed the importance of the development of a global emissions trading scheme. It fears that a piecemeal, regional approach will hamper its operations. "If we don't see progress at Copenhagen, I think the industry will suffer," said British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh at an aviation industry meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Some airlines are threatening to divert flight paths away from Europe to avoid complying with the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme, which, from the year 2012, will include aviation emissions. "This will mean more emissions, exactly the opposite to what the scheme is intended to do," said Christoph Franz, head of Swiss International Airlines. "Governments must move beyond punitive economic measures, such as excessive so-called environment taxes, to focus on measures that reduce emissions in a globally-coordinated effort. That was the vision of the wise drafters of the Kyoto Protocol. But governments are a long way from achieving it," said Giovanni Bisignani of the International Air Transport Association.