After 13 days of intense drama, unexpected confrontations and backroom negotiations, 196 countries on Sunday adopted an agreement called the Lima Call to Climate Action. In doing so, participants ensured that the conference was not a failure. But the Lima agreement is not a success either, being a weak document with little progress from previous climate pacts.
However, the agreement does give India and other developing countries some cause for cheer. The text recognises their demand for common but differentiated responsibilities in tackling climate change. In a statement on Sunday, India's environment minister Prakash Javadekar who was in Lima said in a statement that the final draft "has addressed the concerns of developing countries and mainly the efforts of some countries to re-write the convention has not fructified...This final draft has paved the way for a Paris Agreement to be arrived next year on the basis of principles of equity and differentiated responsibility."
New Delhi avoided making a pledge in Lima on cutting fossil fuel emissions even though the burden of expectation fell on the Indian government after the US and China made a sudden deal in November on limiting emissions. Instead, Javadekar announced that India would spend $100 billion on clean energy projects, without offering any more detail about the plan.
The conference in Lima was held with the intention of laying the groundwork for a far-reaching deal in Paris in 2015 to tackle climate change. Climate scientists and policy makers agree that it is imperative to have a legally-binding agreement by the end of the Paris meet if the world is to have a chance at restricting its warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Sense of optimism
The conference began with a sense of great optimism but ran into trouble when the first draft agreement was released. The parties then were divided along familiar fault-lines – rich countries versus poor countries. India, and the rest of a group called the Like Minded Developing Countries protested that the draft did not recognise their demand for "differentiation". The developing countries of this group have long asked that they have less-stringent emission requirements than developed countries because their economies still depend on carbon-intensive growth.
More strife emerged over the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, a set of targets each country sets for itself to tackle climate change, which focused on countries committing to mitigation strategies. Developing countries are against this approach because which lets developed countries off the hook when it comes to transferring low-carbon technology and more importantly in financing climate change adaptation in poor countries.
Negotiations that were supposed to end on Friday dragged on through the night and all of Saturday. Sleepless delegates at the meeting were finally greeted with the announcement of a deal at 1am on Sunday.
The via-media agreement
The highlight of the final Lima agreement is that, for the first time ever, all countries will have to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Over the next six months, each country will have to announce a detailed plan to reduce emissons from fossil fuel use. These plans announced on the United Nations website will form part of the framework for the Paris meet.
At the same time, the text avoids asking developed countries to make any commitments on finance when they announce their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. Another point of contention is the stand of the poorest countries ‒ that make up the Least Developed Countries group at climate talks - that developed countries should be made to pay of "loss and damage" caused by inaction on climate change. The idea of loss and damage finds only a passing mention in the Lima agreement.
More countries made pledges to the Green Climate Fund established to help poor countries set up climate-related projects and the fund now stands at $10.2 billion dollars. Countries are hoping that it will reach it target of $100 billion by 2020.
The Lima agreement has left most of the heavy lifting on climate action for 2015. A preliminary round of talks will be held in Geneva in February, followed by a session to draw up a first draft for a climate deal in Bonn in June and finally the all-important Paris meet in December.
Lima, meanwhile, may well be remembered for what it failed to achieve and is summarised by this tweet by @duycks.
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However, the agreement does give India and other developing countries some cause for cheer. The text recognises their demand for common but differentiated responsibilities in tackling climate change. In a statement on Sunday, India's environment minister Prakash Javadekar who was in Lima said in a statement that the final draft "has addressed the concerns of developing countries and mainly the efforts of some countries to re-write the convention has not fructified...This final draft has paved the way for a Paris Agreement to be arrived next year on the basis of principles of equity and differentiated responsibility."
New Delhi avoided making a pledge in Lima on cutting fossil fuel emissions even though the burden of expectation fell on the Indian government after the US and China made a sudden deal in November on limiting emissions. Instead, Javadekar announced that India would spend $100 billion on clean energy projects, without offering any more detail about the plan.
The conference in Lima was held with the intention of laying the groundwork for a far-reaching deal in Paris in 2015 to tackle climate change. Climate scientists and policy makers agree that it is imperative to have a legally-binding agreement by the end of the Paris meet if the world is to have a chance at restricting its warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Sense of optimism
The conference began with a sense of great optimism but ran into trouble when the first draft agreement was released. The parties then were divided along familiar fault-lines – rich countries versus poor countries. India, and the rest of a group called the Like Minded Developing Countries protested that the draft did not recognise their demand for "differentiation". The developing countries of this group have long asked that they have less-stringent emission requirements than developed countries because their economies still depend on carbon-intensive growth.
More strife emerged over the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, a set of targets each country sets for itself to tackle climate change, which focused on countries committing to mitigation strategies. Developing countries are against this approach because which lets developed countries off the hook when it comes to transferring low-carbon technology and more importantly in financing climate change adaptation in poor countries.
Negotiations that were supposed to end on Friday dragged on through the night and all of Saturday. Sleepless delegates at the meeting were finally greeted with the announcement of a deal at 1am on Sunday.
The via-media agreement
The highlight of the final Lima agreement is that, for the first time ever, all countries will have to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Over the next six months, each country will have to announce a detailed plan to reduce emissons from fossil fuel use. These plans announced on the United Nations website will form part of the framework for the Paris meet.
At the same time, the text avoids asking developed countries to make any commitments on finance when they announce their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. Another point of contention is the stand of the poorest countries ‒ that make up the Least Developed Countries group at climate talks - that developed countries should be made to pay of "loss and damage" caused by inaction on climate change. The idea of loss and damage finds only a passing mention in the Lima agreement.
More countries made pledges to the Green Climate Fund established to help poor countries set up climate-related projects and the fund now stands at $10.2 billion dollars. Countries are hoping that it will reach it target of $100 billion by 2020.
The Lima agreement has left most of the heavy lifting on climate action for 2015. A preliminary round of talks will be held in Geneva in February, followed by a session to draw up a first draft for a climate deal in Bonn in June and finally the all-important Paris meet in December.
Lima, meanwhile, may well be remembered for what it failed to achieve and is summarised by this tweet by @duycks.
Here is the shorter version of #COP20 outcome... #missedopportunity pic.twitter.com/JWptk4mXir
— Sébastien Duyck (@duycks) December 14, 2014