Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, urged Parties to the climate treaty to "move beyond their national interests in pursuit of a common good" as the final negotiations before the Cancún climate summit took place in Tianjin, China. Figueres considers that agreement on at least two "elements" will be reached in Cancún: a framework to support adaptation and a mechanism for technology cooperation. Agreement on emissions control and funding for developing countries remains problematic, she said. She wants delegates to focus on manageable aspects of the climate negotiations at the December summit, with contentious issues to be resolved at a later date.

Tension between China and the United States threatened to overshadow the Tianjin talks, with China warning that there would be no compromise on the interests of developing countries. "We are losing trust and confidence," said foreign ministry representative Huang Huikang. The Chinese response was triggered by comments by Jonathan Pershing, United States deputy special envoy on climate change, who said that the United States was disappointed with the pace of the negotiations and might pursue an alternative to the United Nations process. Pershing also accused some countries of attempting to "relitigate" agreements embodied in the Copenhagen Accord. "A developed country I won't name hasn't done a job for itself," said Xie Zhenhua, China's head negotiator. "It has not provided financing or technology to other countries, yet it asks them to accept stringent monitoring and voluntary domestic actions. It's totally outrageous. It's quite unacceptable," he continued.

The United States needs to develop a national strategy for adaptation to climate change, according to a report commissioned by the White House. "A lot of communities in our country are struggling with how to plan to ensure reliable access to food, water and other things in their community in the face of a changing climate," said Jack Fellows, vice president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, organizer of the National Climate Adaptation Summit on which the report was based. "There's really not a clear federal strategy in this area."

The report recommends that the federal government move aggressively to develop a national adaptation strategy to coordinate planning and exchange information between federal agencies and local governments. A federal "climate portal" is needed to provide one-stop access to climate data and projections compiled by federal agencies and a list of "best practices" should be drawn up to help guide local and state governments and business sectors to develop their own adaptation plans. Report contributor Rosina Bierbaum of the University of Michigan commented that "wise adaptation measures can protect our citizens, communities, and ecosystems from many negative consequences of climate change." "But," she said, "we need to act now. Some local adaptation efforts are more advanced than federal efforts. Thus, we all need to learn from one another, agree to a national strategy, and share and develop authoritative tools, information, and best practices."

A new system that will allow scientists to monitor the impact of climate change in the Himalayas using satellite imagery has been launched. "The whole of the Himalayan region is something of a black hole for scientists and we hope to use this system to bridge the data gap," said Basanta Shrestha from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu. "We can use this to monitor the dynamics of the cryosphere in the light of climate change, which is very important in terms of both disaster management and future water availability," he continued.

The system, a regional implementation of SERVIR, is a joint initiative between ICIMOD and the Agency for International Development and the National Atmospheric and Space Administration in the United States. The launch took place as experts gathered for an international symposium on bridging the data gap for adaptation in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region. The symposium included a youth forum, attended by participants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan.