News | Climate Change

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69B0GV20101012

(Reuters) - A former U.N. special envoy on climate change said he doesn't expect any major progress by key nations to draw up a new climate pact at a meeting next month in Mexico because opinions are still too divided.

"I do not, frankly speaking, expect too much from the COP-16 (conference of parties) in Cancun, because opinions are so divided and an agreement has not been made between major carbon emitters," Han Seung-soo said in an interview as part of Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit.
"As you may know, the climate meeting in Tianjin (China) clouded prospects."
Frustration between the world's two top carbon polluters, the United States and China, overshadowed last week's U.N. talks in Tianjin which were aimed resolving differences over the shape of a new climate pact.
Negotiators made some progress on financing but failed to dispel fears the process could end in deadlock.
Last December's major climate conference in Copenhagen also ended in disappointment, failing to reach a new legally binding deal to replace or expand the Kyoto Protocol that ends in 2012.
Poorer nations have asked the rich to do much more to rein in carbon pollution while wealthy countries insist on substantial cuts in emissions from major developing countries like China and India.
Han cited feuding over how rich and emerging nations check on each other's efforts to reduce CO2 emissions as a key sticking point.
"The United States wants verification by international organizations whereas a lot of developing countries want to have a domestically binding (verification)," he said.
Delaying agreement would leave less time for the world to figure out how to curb carbon emissions and increase uncertainties weighing on companies unsure about climate policy and carbon markets after 2012.
In coping with such a global problem, Han, former president of the UN General Assembly, still thinks the United Nations approach is the best forward, saying it was better than bilateral talks and separate treaties among big emitters.
CLOCK IS TICKING
A lengthy political process such as ratification national legislatures underscores the urgency for the world to act promptly. "Unfortunately, time is ticking," Han told Reuters. "We are behind schedule already."
However, energy-wise, what countries are doing at home and what they say at an international negotiation table is different, he said.
"China, in their own way, is trying very hard to control emissions," Han said. "But they do not want to be dictated by other countries or an international organization on what they are doing."
China, the world's top greenhouse gas emitter from human activity, is set to make almost 20 percent of energy mix come from renewable sources in 2010, while it wants to keep Kyoto and to lock in commitments by rich nations and to ensure its own emissions are not subject to international caps.
For now, big emitters are unlikely to up their pledges to rein in emissions growth because of lack of clarity on climate funds for poorer nations and failure of the U.S. Congress to pass a climate bill, Han said.
Any political gridlock from mid-term elections in the United States may aggravate fraught climate change talks, he cautioned.
FROM POLITICIAN TO CRUSADER
After his more than 40-year career in academia and politics including serving as South Korea's prime minister, the tireless Han has landed a new gig: "green growth" crusader.
He now chairs a non-profit foundation named Global Green Growth Institute, funded by the South Korean government.
The organization, set up in May, aims to find and advise well-suited green growth models for developing countries, caught in bind over keeping a lid on carbon emissions while at the same achieving economic growth. Currently it runs in-country projects with Brazil, India and Ethiopia.
"If all countries have this new paradigm of growth as we do now, then the pressure on the international forum will much lessen," he said.
During a transition period to a new renewable energy era from fossil fuels, Han believes that nuclear power can play a bridging role as part of efforts to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible.