Climate Change Conference: Island nations protest

Don’t lose faith in a legally binding climate agreement being reached in Copenhagen. That was the core issue on Wednesday as a large group of island nations called for harder work to get such an agreement into place by appointing a special group. The initiative met with resistance from countries such as China and India during a tough debate at the conference.

It was during the major plenary meeting on Wednesday morning that the issue on the legal forms a new climate agreement would take was raised. Fundamentally, the disagreement concerns if, and in which way, a legally binding agreement shall be drawn up during the Copenhagen meeting itself. Several island nations, spearheaded by Tuvalu, wanted to appoint a special group to work on the issue. Islands are particularly vulnerable to the floods and storms that will be the result of climate change unless curbed and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) are therefore pursuing the policy that a legally binding agreement must be reached now.

Others, including China, India and Saudi Arabia were of the opinion that discussions should focus on substance rather than procedural issues. The EU has earlier emphasised the wish to see a legally binding agreement reached in Copenhagen but also that this would be difficult to achieve. This is why, at this stage, efforts should concentrate on reaching general political consensus. To others it is also an issue of resources:

“We have a small delegation here. We will not be able to participate in these kinds of discussions. It is also far too early to appoint a group as it in practice establishes the death of the Kyoto Protocol”, said Venezuelan Ambassador during the plenary meeting.

Not resolved

As this type of decision requires consensus, the Danish Presidency held meetings with representatives for the two groups during the day. Early on Wednesday evening, the issue was not yet resolved. The EU’s negotiators had a separate meeting with representatives of the island nations in the afternoon. After the meeting, the AOSIS President Dessima Williams again underlined that a legally binding agreement should be the goal in Copenhagen (see webcast interview above).

“China blocking”

At the EU’s daily press conference focus was on another issue. The EU’s Chief Negotiator Anders Turesson brought up the form discussions should take in the LCA group. In this group issues such as emission targets are discussed by countries that are not necessarily party to the existing Kyoto Protocol. The United States are part of this group, which makes the LCA an important forum in the attempt to carve out a future climate agreement. Mr Turesson argues that China and the Group of Developing Countries (G77) block the EU's opportunities to discuss emission reductions with the US.

“As things are standing now, we have no forum to discuss emission targets with all developed countries. This has a negative impact on the results we can achieve here”, said Mr Turesson. His speech received the support of Spanish Chief Negotiator Alicia Montalvo.

 “The process is being abused in a blocking manner”, she said.

See the entire press conference via the link on the right.