The UN ’s latest Climate Change Conference recently concluded after two hebdomad of intense negotiations in Durban , South Africa . There ’s go to be a unexampled agreement to address climate change , but does that really mean anything ? allow ’s break down what happen .
Top prototype : Chukchi Sea Polar Bears by AP / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .
There ’s no point in denying it — the Durban talk , otherwise fuck as COP17 , did n’t directly accomplish much at all , if anything . In fact , you could argue the talks represented a net loss for the world ’s committedness to fighting climate change , asCanada announced it was withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol , the current UN agreement place at ignore clime change , placing it in the strange positionof being have words by China about its environmental insurance .
And if you were hop for an arrangement that would lay down concrete steps to cut carbon paper emissions or lower global temperatures , then these talks were a disconsolate unsuccessful person . Instead , they simply get all the countries there to agree to be part of a future , legally binding concord that will be defined by 2015 and go into effect in 2020 . That might just sound like pass the buck — and yeah , it kind of is — but this does represent some little progress from the Kyoto Protocol .
For one thing , this new correspondence has the United States on board , which infamously refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol . Second , this future treaty will be lawfully bind for all countries , not just those classified as develop . While major develop powers like China and India sign the Kyoto Protocol , they were under no real requirement to comply with it .
That should change with this young accord , although a major competition of the final endurance contest 60 - hour negotiating seance was India ’s objection that their compliance not be “ legally binding . ” They eventually settled on an agreement that would have “ effectual military force . ” What ’s the difference of opinion ? Your guess is as safe as mine , though hopefully that will become clearer by 2015 . It was also agreed to set up a fund to help developing countries pay for climate compliance , though there are no real particular on where the money would come from or how it would be negociate .
So where do we stand ? This is good than nothing , and the fact that the group discussion was extended by 36 hour just to get to this point suggests just how horribly hard this process really is , and how quickly any minor advancement could wholly light asunder . Indeed , American official reportedly thought this group discussion would cease in unsuccessful person , so even this minor success and modest commitment to future change has to be consider practiced news .
Admittedly , that ’s more a reflection of how bad the current situation is than anything else — we ’ve got nowhere to go but up , and at least the macrocosm ’s most powerful governments are still trying , even if they ’re not carry through all that much . This , of row , is the most optimistic possible version , because honestly I find the choice is too depressing to ruminate — Greenpeace has already declared the talk of the town a loser , and many smaller state have criticized the major top executive broker for not consider a stronger position on cutting emission .
We ’ll hopefully know a good deal more about what the Durban talks really accomplished when the raw treaty happen in 2015 – and if no agreement arrives , which is unfortunately still a definite possibleness , then we ’ll know how little these talk of the town really matter .
This is a complex consequence , and there ’s a lot of possible ways to read what happened in Durban . Here are some of the best ones , and we further you to see to it them out :
“ What Really Happened in Durban – and Will It Be Enough to Combat Climate Change?”by David Biello
“ A Post - Pollution Path to Global Climate and Energy Progress”by Andrew C. Revkin
“ Durban : Winners and losers”by Richard Black
“ unsafe X : What follow the Durban climate deal”by Fred Pearce
“ Durban maps route to climate treaty”by Jeff Tollefson
“ The mask slips : The Durban meeting shows that clime insurance policy and mood scientific discipline inhabit parallel worlds”by Nature staff
“ The Durban Deal : Everything and Nothing”by James Hrynyshyn
“ COP17 Closes : Long hold out The Process , If Not Our Climate Or Our Future”by Matthew McDermott
“ The top five takeaways from the Durban clime talks”by David Roberts
“ 2C or not 2C : That is the question about the Durban deal”by Joseph Romm
Image viaCOP17 .
ChinaClimate changeFuturismgeopoliticsGlobal warmingPoliticsScience
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