17 December 2010
Climate Change Economics Adviser, Sarah Love, gives us an insider's view of the UN summit in Cancun.
Arriving a little bleary eyed from my long flight to Cancun (economy of course!) I was excited to have made it to my first major UN climate conference. As I picked up my pink 'UK delegation' security pass, I have to admit being a little apprehensive about what was in store. The vehicles mounted with machine guns that lined our route from the airport did little to reassure me.
However, as a relative newcomer amongst a team of 'old hands' my overwhelming feeling was one of excitement and privilege to be in a position to directly influence the discussions and experience the process first-hand.
My role within the UK team was to participate in the negotiations on carbon markets – 'flexible' mechanisms set up under the Kyoto Protocol that allow countries to buy and sell carbon credits, including those that come from emission reduction projects in developing countries.
A key task for me would be to lead for the EU on discussions around a particular technical issue – standardised baselines – that we believe will help improve access to carbon market finance by poorer developing countries and contribute to low carbon growth.
I'll forgive you if you're a little hazy as to what 'standardised baselines' actually are. To put as simply as I can, they are a way of providing easier, more objective means of assessing the quantity of carbon credits that carbon market projects can earn. For example, a Tanzanian cement factory could earn carbon credits if it beats a performance standard set for comparable factories in the region.
My first major task was to chair one of the many workshops or 'side-events' taking place a short bus ride away at the CancunMesse – the exhibition area of the conference. I'd done lots of preparation for the event (on the topic of carbon market reform) but that didn't stop me worrying about whether all the speakers would turn up (they did), attracting a good audience (standing room only), and whether the technology would let us down (no difficulties there).
Me with Steven Gray from Carbon Markets and Investors Association, and Stefan Wehner from Perspectives GmbH. All pictures: Kate Harris / IISD
However, what I didn't bank on was that the room would be located right next to the Mexican Pavilion and coincided with a very loud and enthusiastic performance by a local Mariachi band. Some things you just can’t plan for.
The negotiations themselves also required a lot of flexibility – with meetings being arranged at short notice and new issues raised and text being suggested on a daily (hourly!) basis. Although we could cope relatively easily in the UK delegation, asking colleagues to cover sessions that were running simultaneously, I had a lot of sympathy for some of the smaller delegations, typically those from poorer developing countries, who did not have enough negotiators to cover all sessions.
I really felt for one negotiator who complained that he had had three hours sleep on Wednesday night, two hours sleep on Thursday night and could see where Friday’s discussions were leading...
For me, I was glad that a good decision on standardised baselines was agreed relatively early on – following tough negotiations both in and out of the room – leaving me more time to support colleagues in the other sessions.
But let's not pretend it was non-stop excitement. The pace of the negotiations can be frustrating at times and the mantra of a fellow negotiator "it’s a marathon, not a sprint" proved to be good advice. Even so, sitting in a sweltering room after midnight listening to a lengthy discussion about whether the text should refer to 'editorial errors', 'simple errors' or 'errors that could easily be addressed' proved rather testing. Believe me, patience is a valuable skill for negotiators.
In the end, the long sessions and late nights proved worth the effort. The final text, agreed on Saturday morning, following a sleepless night for most negotiators, contained most of the elements we had been looking for. In particular, I was pleased to see positive decisions on an adaptation framework – to help promote action on adaptation - and the establishment of a Green Climate Fund to help developing countries adapt to climate impacts and grow in a low carbon way.
So where do we go from here? Cancun has established a good platform for discussion between now and the next big UN climate change meeting in Durban next December. We need to build on what has been achieved and set our sights on achieving a comprehensive, ambitious, and crucially, a fair global climate change deal. Cancun has not done all that is necessary to set the world on track to achieve the level of emission reductions needed to avoid dangerous climate change, but it has laid the basis for a deal that, just conceivably, might do so.