Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Hosted by South Africa and Germany, the second Petersberg Climate Dialogue took place in Berlin, Germany, last week. Norbert Röttgen, German environment minister, reported that all participants had agreed that the Kyoto Protocol is "not dead." Moreover, he said all agreed that the Protocol is "a paradigm on how environmental policy can be designed, with the participation of other countries." The Petersberg Climate Dialogue aims to provide further impetus to the formal negotiating process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Though prospects for any form of substantial long-term agreement in the foreseeable future remain slim, Röttgen felt that the Berlin meeting had achieved results. "We discussed things we hadn't before," he said. It was recognized at the meeting that the "incremental" approach adopted since the disappointing outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference had been successful. Hence, the forthcoming Durban Climate Change Conference should address outstanding issues and operationalize the Cancún decisions. The possibility of a transitional phase to ensure continuation of a rules-based system as the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period ended in 2012 was discussed as a potential Durban outcome. South Africa has announced plans for further meetings in September and October in the run-up to the Durban summit.

The European parliament has rejected a proposal to toughen the European Union's position on emissions reductions to a 30 per cent cut by 2020 after a rebellion by British members of parliament (MEPs). The Conservative MEPs had tabled a series of amendments that would have substantially weakened the resolution. Bas Eickhout, the Green MEP who authored the proposal, said that it was "with great regret that I was forced to recommend MEPs to reject my own report after it was hijacked by amendments from conservative and centre-right MEPs."

The Conservative MEPs went against the party line, despite intervention from Downing Street. Andy Atkins from Friends of the Earth, commented that "as well as snubbing David Cameron, Tory MEPs are defying the latest scientific advice and playing fast and loose with our future." Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment in the United Kingdom, described the outcome as a "missed opportunity." "The European Union risks falling behind in the economic growth story of the future," he said. The leader of the Conservative party in the European parliament, Martin Callanan, said: Conservative MEPs have always been sceptical of the European Union unilaterally increasing its target to 30 per cent without a worldwide agreement. I am in favour of increasing the European Union target to 30 per cent, or even higher, in the context of a global agreement where our competitor countries take similar action."

Humanity needs a new technological revolution to ensure the sustainability of the planet, according to the 2011 World Economic and Social Survey from the United Nations. The report concludes that US$1.9 trillion per year will be needed over the next 40 years for incremental investments in green technologies. Increasing food and energy demands mean that at least US$1.1 trillion of that will be needed in developing countries.

"Business as usual is not an option," said lead author of the report, Rob Vos from the United Nations Development Policy and Analysis Division. "Even if we stop the global engines of growth now, resource depletion and pollution of our natural environment would continue because of existing production methods and consumption habits. Without drastic improvements in and diffusion of green technologies, we will not reverse the ongoing ecological destruction and secure a decent livelihood for all of humankind, now and in the future."