Citola Blog
Road To Cancun Paved With Good Intentions
How about these for elusive goals? In no particular order: Truth in advertising, honesty in politics, certainty in climate change negotiations.
We’re at a critical juncture of the climate change conference in Bonn. After the stalled session of self-protection and lobby gridlock that we saw in the COP 15 conference in Copenhagen last December, there are strenuous efforts, as we’ve remarked before, at trying to avert a similar situation in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of this year.
The preparatory talks in Bonn are teeing things up reasonably well, it seems. But it’s not yet sure that we’re going to see the major breakthrough that some commentators are talking about.
Outgoing officials often have a kind of refreshing honesty in their statements. The pronouncements of Yvo de Boer, the retiring head of the secretariat dealing with climate change at the United Nations, falls into that category. He set the Bonn conference this question, for example. The treaty he’s talking about is the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire in 2012:: “Are we working towards a new treaty, or a set of decisions, or both?”
Mr de Boer insists that greater clarity as to motives, purpose and willingness to spend towards action on climate change is required amongst the leading, developed nations. If that clarity isn’t achieved, Cancun looks set to be another Copenhagen, albeit with somewhat better weather.
Some things are clear, though. One is that reforestation and avoided deforestation (REDD) is seen as a key weapon to push through the reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gases. Documents tabled in Bonn make that fairly evident.
Another is that the $30 billion in funding dedicated to the purpose of protecting forests amongst developing countries is going to be provided in the form of a grant, not a loan. Some might argue that this signifies a guilty conscience (similarly, some say that allocated carbon permits are a right to pollute rather than an additional environmental benefit). But at Citola, we feel it’s a sign of good intentions. As such, it is to be welcomed.
A lot of good can be done
A lot of good can be done with $30 billion in funding! Though the funding needs to transition and demand milestones/metrics and bring back commercial realities to drive true sustainable change.
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