COP20—Lima Local weather Convention — International Points

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July 6, 2024

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by Anup Shah
This web page Created Saturday, January 24, 2015

This web page: https://www.globalissues.org/article/805/cop20-lima-climate-conference.
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On this web page:

Introduction
Assembly final result
Mainstream media reporting
In context: widespread however differentiated duties
Extra data
Information tales from IPS

Introduction

December 1 – 14, 2014, Lima, Peru was the venue for the twentieth annual United Nations Local weather Change Convention, also called the twentieth Convention of the Events — or COP 20.

The aim of this convention was to create a common settlement on local weather change motion and start the method of financing mitigation.

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Assembly final result

The assembly ended with all nations agreeing to chop again greenhouse fuel emissions. Often called the Lima Accord, this treaty is just not legally binding and international locations should not have to specify how a lot they may reduce, as a substitute agreeing to report their plans again by March 2015.

Whereas for a lot of it seemed like a profitable final result, others have been disillusioned, equivalent to poor international locations struggling to rebuild from present impacts of local weather change who have been alarmed on the disappearance of loss and injury commitments from the ultimate textual content which has been a part of the dialogue for years.

The worldwide local weather motion, 350.org, summarized the disappointments and hopeful features of the assembly final result, noting

The brand new settlement doesn’t mirror the urgency of the local weather disaster
Some good agreements – however no measures to make sure implementation
Least developed and weak nations disregarded within the chilly
Divestment (from fossil gas reliance) is extra vital than ever
International momentum for actual options is stronger than ever and can carry on going.

In making an attempt to place a optimistic spin on the general disappointment they felt, they concluded, In the long run, a world local weather treaty is only one software to fight local weather change. Actual change goes to proceed to return from the grassroots. The UN Local weather Talks proceed to be a spot the place the world’s international locations comes collectively to debate this disaster and persons are placing in huge efforts to verify Paris [the next global meeting] gained’t be like Copenhagen which was stuffed with disappointments regardless of huge guarantees.

Samantha Smith, Chief of WWF’s International Local weather and Power Initiative, was fairly scathing of the assembly final result saying that political expediency gained over scientific urgency. She additionally famous that Developed nation governments couldn’t even handle to clarify how they may ship the long-promised US$100 billion per yr in local weather finance by 2020. In a transfer that seemingly dismissed the plight of essentially the most weak international locations, they utterly eliminated any significant language about ‘loss and injury’.

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Mainstream media reporting

As with nearly each earlier assembly (with occasional exceptions), mainstream media reporting was very poor given the significance of this world subject. The place the assembly was reported it was typically in the direction of the tip, and simply sound chunk sort summaries saying all international locations agreed to emission cuts and that this was a significant enchancment.

Whereas the treaty continued to say it honors the long-standing widespread however differentiated duties the mainstream media reporting (as in most years) has sometimes failed to supply rationalization and context of this precept that has been an vital a part of these talks for over 2 a long time; that poor and growing international locations mustn’t bear the identical duties because the developed ones (as a result of they aren’t the reason for the anthropogenic carbon emissions over the earlier a long time which have led to this, which is detailed way more on this website’s web page on local weather justice).

A touch in the direction of this precept might have been introduced as a viewpoint of China or India, given the impression they’re being obstacles, moderately then explaining this precept in additional context.

That was simply one of many points skirted over or omitted from widespread reporting. Others included points on financing, expertise assist for poorer nations, and many others. Behind the scenes, for many years, wealthy international locations have stalled on this stuff or actively averted making an attempt to share expertise and many others, which is barely reported.

Yearly, this criticism is manufactured from mainstream reporting, so with out following these negotiations every year, it may be straightforward to return away with the impression that this assembly had a optimistic final result.

However as this dialogue hosted by Democracy Now! exhibits, there have been a variety of vital problems with rivalry:

Emissions-Slicing Deal Reached at COP 20 Lima, However Will It Assist Stop Catastrophic Local weather Change?, Democracy Now!, December 15, 2014.

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In context: widespread however differentiated duties

A few years in the past all nations agreed that local weather change was largely the results of actions from right now’s industrialized nations, as carbon dioxide — the primary greenhouse fuel — stays within the environment for many years. But, the poorest would find yourself struggling essentially the most for an issue they largely didn’t trigger. The approaches to mitigation (emissions discount) would due to this fact be totally different for these teams of nations — the widespread however differentiated duties precept.

It’s on this context that the dialogue for loss and injury has come about. And it’s one thing that wealthy international locations are eager to eliminate .

The years of resistance on this subject (and plenty of others) means every time it’s mentioned once more the reactions appear to get much more hostile. Mixed with the dearth of detailed context within the mainstream media protection of this side, it then turns into simpler every time to see culprits as China and India given their huge greenhouse emissions in recent times, in comparison with the far higher quantity by the industrialized nations over the longer interval. See this website’s part on local weather justice for extra detailed background.

And as this website has stated for years on the local weather justice web page, the wealthy nations are delaying any significant motion till it’s finally — and disproportionately — paid for the by the growing nations. New Delhi based mostly Nitin Sethi, affiliate editor at Enterprise Commonplace, interviewed within the earlier talked about video says the identical factor, however extra frankly:

There isn’t a motion that’s going to occur between now and 2020. All of that was to be executed by the developed international locations. They [rich nations] mainly have simply stated at Lima that we aren’t going to do any greater than what we’re doing to date, and the burden can shift onto the post-2020 period, the place different growing international locations need to share it. So, to me, it signifies actually negotiation in unhealthy religion.

Nitin Sethi, Emissions-Slicing Deal Reached at COP 20 Lima, However Will It Assist Stop Catastrophic Local weather Change?, Democracy Now!, December 15, 2014

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