News | Climate Change

http://www.thestar.co.za/expiry-of-kyoto-fails-to-inspire-urgency-in-climate-talks-1.1012710

Government representatives from around the world convened in Cancun, Mexico late last year for the UN climate change negotiations in an effort to reach agreement on a successor regime to the Kyoto protocol, which expires next year.

In the wake of the Copenhagen talks, it is no surprise that climate negotiations are perceived by many as having settled into a familiar pattern that has come to characterise large scale global negotiations with no real constructive outcomes emerging.
That has been the experience of the World Trade Organisation’s Doha round, which has now gone way past the agreed deadline; and last year’s Seoul Group of 20 summit seems to suggest the same.
The build-up to Cancun was low key, with the emphasis on reaching a “balanced package” of decisions and a work plan for a way forward to Durban this year. This was understandable given the disappointment felt at the outcome of the Copenhagen summit held in December 2009.
Developing countries feel that the rich countries have not lived up to the bargain struck at Kyoto in 1997 to significantly reduce emissions; and that developed countries have yet to meet their side of the bargain struck at Bali in 2007, which envisaged developing countries joining the transition to a low carbon economy in exchange for funding and technology.
For their part, developed countries feel that large developing country emitters – for example China, India, and South Africa – need to step up to the mitigation plate.
It is not surprising that an atmosphere of low trust pervaded the negotiations.
On issues such as deforestation and land use practices, questions of trust surfaced. In particular concerns that current proposed methods of accounting for emissions from forest management might allow developed countries to claim carbon credits without changing their habits. The main concern was that an agreement on deforestation might act as a cover for developed countries’ failure to reduce emissions drastically. It is essential to ensure transparency with respect to the methodology for monitoring, reporting and verifying the social and environmental safeguards that will be part of the agreement as well as the system of tracking funding support provided to developing countries.
Even if efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement take time to bear fruit, it is incumbent on southern Africa to promote the transition to a low carbon economy.
A number of domestic policies could make it easier to exploit those opportunities. Firstly, there are likely to be new opportunities for exploitation of natural comparative advantages that may up to now have been dormant or minor.
According to the UN Environment Programme, Uganda expanded land under organic farming, the number of certified organic farmers has grown and organic exports increased from $6.2 million (about R42m) in 2004/05 to $22.8m in 2007/08. This expansion has been spurred by appropriate policy interventions.
Secondly, climate change mitigation and adaptation policies imply a shift towards new sources of energy, the development of new technologies and adoption of climate-friendly consumption patterns. It is essential that southern Africa establish a foothold in these new industries.
Thirdly, it is obvious that water will become an increasingly scarce resource. Its proper management will require policies that encompass water conservation and, where feasible, delivery at a price that allows full or near full cost recovery.
Finally, in all the above, regional policies may be more effective both in terms of cost and delivery. Developing countries can only do so much without the expertise, technology and financial instruments provided in the context of an international agreement on climate change. Southern Africa should remain engaged in the UN climate change negotiations, while pressing ahead with domestic policies to support uptake of renewable energies. - Business Report
Ivan Mbirimi is a trade and environment policy consultant and Peter Draper is a senior research fellow at the SA Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). Both are co-authors of SAIIA’s recently released book, Trade and Climate Change: The Challenges for Southern Africa
.