Citola Blog
Countdown to COP16 Climate Change Conference in Cancun
The COP16 climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico is fast approaching and to be held on November 29th to December 10th.
As delegations from the UK and around the world prepare for the conference, the sentiment is that COP16 will progress international climate policy, however, a global binding mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is most likely beyond COP16.
As Sir Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics has said, “The two defining challenges of our century are managing climate change and overcoming world poverty. We cannot overcome one without the other.” The leads to the requirement for billions of dollars of funding for economic transition, technology transfer, carbon abatement and climate adaption.
A report presented to the UN chief Ban Ki-moon has lead finance ministers, leading economists and heads of state to say that it is "challenging but feasible" to raise $100bn (£62bn) a year by 2020 to allow poor countries to adapt to the effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions relates to market mechanisms and a price on carbon. Chris Huhn, UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary has stated: “Concerted global action and a carbon price of at least $25 is required to achieve the necessary transformation in the global economy.”
As was stated in a previous post, progress on REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) is one reason to feel optimistic about COP16. The US government has recently laid out plans for investing US $1B in REDD+ from 2010-2012 and the “REDD+ Partnership” has pledged ~ USD $4 billion for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.
Sir Nicholas Stern has stated in recent media that progress on climate finance can increase global progress and break the policy inertia. With the recent announcements of sovereign REDD funding, we will have to wait and see how this influences and progresses talks in Mexico.
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