COP20—Lima Local weather Convention — International Points

By jimalley45

August 11, 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.
To print all data (e.g. expanded aspect notes, reveals different hyperlinks), use the print model:

On this web page:

Introduction
Assembly consequence
Mainstream media reporting
In context: widespread however differentiated obligations
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, often known as 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 consequence

The assembly ended with all nations agreeing to chop again greenhouse gasoline emissions. Often known as the Lima Accord, this treaty shouldn’t be legally binding and international locations should not have to specify how a lot they’ll in the reduction of, as an alternative agreeing to report their plans again by March 2015.

Whereas for a lot of it seemed like a profitable consequence, others had been disenchanted, equivalent to poor international locations struggling to rebuild from present impacts of local weather change who had been alarmed on the disappearance of loss and harm 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 facets of the assembly consequence, noting

The brand new settlement doesn’t replicate the urgency of the local weather disaster
Some good agreements – however no measures to make sure implementation
Least developed and susceptible nations neglected 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, Ultimately, a world local weather treaty is only one device 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 monumental efforts to ensure Paris [the next global meeting] gained’t be like Copenhagen which was filled with disappointments regardless of large guarantees.

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

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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 difficulty. The place the assembly was reported it was usually in the direction of the top, and simply sound chew 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 obligations the mainstream media reporting (as in most years) has usually failed to supply rationalization and context of this precept that has been an vital a part of these talks for over 2 many years; that poor and creating international locations shouldn’t bear the identical obligations because the developed ones (as a result of they don’t seem to be the reason for the anthropogenic carbon emissions over the earlier many years 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, fairly 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 help for poorer nations, and so forth. Behind the scenes, for many years, wealthy international locations have stalled on these items or actively averted making an attempt to share expertise and so forth, which is barely reported.

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

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

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

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In context: widespread however differentiated obligations

A few years in the past all nations agreed that local weather change was largely the results of actions from in the present day’s industrialized nations, as carbon dioxide — the principle greenhouse gasoline — stays within the ambiance for many years. But, the poorest would find yourself struggling probably the most for an issue they largely didn’t trigger. The approaches to mitigation (emissions discount) would subsequently be completely different for these teams of nations — the widespread however differentiated obligations precept.

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

The years of resistance on this difficulty (and plenty of others) means every time it’s mentioned once more the reactions appear to get much more hostile. Mixed with the shortage of detailed context within the mainstream media protection of this facet, it then turns into simpler every time to see culprits as China and India given their monumental greenhouse emissions lately, in comparison with the far better 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 creating nations. New Delhi based mostly Nitin Sethi, affiliate editor at Enterprise Normal, interviewed within the earlier talked about video says the identical factor, however extra frankly:

There isn’t any motion that’s going to occur between now and 2020. All of that was to be carried out by the developed international locations. They [rich nations] principally 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 creating 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 Forestall Catastrophic Local weather Change?, Democracy Now!, December 15, 2014

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