Tiempo Climate Newswatch

As the latest round of climate treaty negotiations started in Bonn, Yvo de Boer, head of the climate treaty secretariat, warned that much remained to be resolved before the critical meeting in Copenhagen at the end of the year. "We have a 200-plus-page text riddled with square brackets [where issues are unresolved]," he said. "And it worries me to think how on earth we're going to whittle that down to meaningful language with just five weeks of negotiating time left."

The talks were marred by a dispute between India and the United States and the European Union over the precise status of the recognition by the Major Economies Forum (MEF), which includes India, that global warming should be capped at two degrees Celsius. The United States wants the two degree goal to form the basis of a "shared vision" for a Copenhagen agreement, whereas India considers that this would lock the nation into unacceptable emissions constraints. Shyam Saran, India's special envoy on climate change, commented that the "MEF discussions are to take direction, but it is not negotiation. It is strange that the poverty reduction goal from the declaration was not picked, but the two degrees Celsius goal was mentioned." The United States and other industrialized nations refused to consider changes in the intellectual property regime that might help developing countries access climate-friendly technology. On the positive side, there were signs that agreement could be reached on the role of forestry within a future climate regime. Federica Bietta from the Coalition for Rainforest Nations said that there was widespread support for the three-phase roll out of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) programme through the scaling up of forestry management authorities and measurement mechanisms, the deployment of demonstration forestry protection projects, and access to carbon markets for finance.

The Australian government's proposed carbon trading scheme has been blocked in Senate by a coalition of environmentalists and conservatives. The Green Party wants tougher emissions targets whilst the conservatives do not want any emissions trading scheme. The government will put the plan before the Senate again in three months' time and could call a snap election if it is defeated again. There have been strong calls to end the political dispute. "It is now time to forge an agreement on climate change policy," said Heather Ridout, Australian Industry Group chief executive. "An agreement is needed in the interests of business certainty."

The latest figures indicate that, as a whole, the industrialized nations are planning greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 15 to 21 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2020, according to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The latest commitment came from New Zealand, with a conditional commitment to cut emissions by 10 to 20 per cent by 2020. WWF heavily criticized New Zealand's position, accusing the government of caving in to industrial lobbies that presented "apocalyptic visions of a crippled New Zealand economy" if greater cuts were attempted. "The Government’s target is a kick in the teeth for the 1.5 million kiwis who took part in Earth Hour and showed the government their willingness to take action on tackling climate change," said Peter Hardstaff, WWF climate change campaigner.

Taiwan experienced the worst flooding for 50 years as Typhoon Morakot submerged entire villages in water and mud from landslides. Fourteen thousand people were airlifted to safety as three metres of rain fell over southern Taiwan. The typhoon is reported to have caused close to US$850 million damage to agriculture and tourism.

There has been anger at the government's response to the disaster, with the president, Ma Ying-jeou, besieged by villagers when visiting a centre for survivors. The administration is accused of moving too slowly to rescue survivors. In turn, Ma criticized the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) for failing to predict the extent of the rains. "Of course, there is always room to improve in terms of typhoon forecasts," responded Shin Tzay-chyn of the CWB, "but attributing damage solely to imprecise typhoon forecasts - the CWB simply cannot bear such a responsibility." The Bureau warned residents in central and southern Taiwan to expect heavy rainfall but it had to keep increasing the rainfall estimates as the typhoon passed across the country.