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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... Latest Releases
The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| NOVEMBER 14, 1998 10:15 AM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Greenpeace International Bill Hare, Greenpeace Intl Climate Policy Director + 541 4275503 - Holger Roenitz, Press Officer + 541 4238136 |
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| Economics Take Over Climate Talks | ||||
| BUENOS AIRES - November 14 - Greenpeace today expressed deep concern that Environmental Ministers allowed national economic concerns to block progress on addressing the problem of climate change. "This is turning into a trade and economic negotiation - climate is getting pushed further and further down the agenda. Science is being replaced by carbon trading markets as the driver for the talks. " said Bill Hare, Climate Policy Director, Greenpeace International. "Consideration of the issue at the very heart of the climate convention - whether existing commitments to cut emissions are sufficient to protect the climate - was aborted - no decision on this vital issue was made. This is of very deep concern to Greenpeace," said Hare. The final agreement after two weeks of negotiations and an all night session was the most basic agreement on a workplan for further work. "The most consistent thing about these talks has been the thick fog of jargon. This has obscured the real issue - escalating greenhouse gas emissions. The real work remains to be done at home: fossil fuel investment is expanding, subsidies to polluting industries continue - that is what governments can act on immediately. Within the timetable agreed are embedded important and controversial issues - the means and timing of introduction of market mechanisms - the so-called "flexmex" (emissions trading, joint implementation and clean development mechanism). These will be negotiated and agreed by COP6 in two years time. - progress on funding and means for accelerating technology transfer to the South - funding adaptation to the impacts of climate change for the most vulnerable countries, which is linked to proposals that countries with fossil fuel dependent economies should receive compensation if their economies are impacted (e.g. OPEC) One potentially significant area of progress was the agreement on compliance. It was agreed to establish a process to negotiate a legal regime to ensure that parties meet their agreements under the Kyoto Protocol and the penalties for failing to comply , i.e. this will determine whether the Protocol has real teeth. There has been only minor progress on two other issues: * Sinks - agreed to defer potentially bad decisions - forestry planting offsets - until the year 2000 when the IPCC Special Report is completed and considered by the Parties. The IPCC Special Report will consider the scientific and technical issues surrounding the role of sinks in meeting Kyoto Protocol obligations. * HFCs - agreed to hold a workshop to collate information on ways to limit emissions from the use of HFCs. Currently emissions of HFCs - a very strong set of greenhouse gases - are rising. This is therefore an implicit acknowledgment by parties that these are not desirable alternatives to the ozone depleting substances. HFC 134a is for example 1300 to 3300 times stronger than CO2 in terms of its global warming potential. Information on limiting PFCs will also be collated at this workshop. ### |
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