Sticking to the role

The COP20 was held during December 1-14 in Lima, Peru, along with the meeting of other subsidiary bodies. The 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 10), the 41st sessions of Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 41) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 41), and the seventh part of the second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2-7) were also held along with COP20 in Lima.

A significant meeting in November 2020, just a month before COP20, between US President Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping, had raised hopes of substantive action on climate change. In the US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change, made after the meeting, the US agreed to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2025 and China agreed to the year 2030 as the year when its emissions would hit peak levels. The Presidents also agreed to form a US-China Climate Change Working Group to exchange information and disseminate innovative, cost-effective technical solutions to climate change.

The discussions at Lima revolved around the forthcoming COP in Paris, where the widely anticipated comprehensive agreement on climate change was expected to be signed. More specifically, there was much discussion on the process of submitting the intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as early as possible in 2015. The Lima Call for Climate Action was adopted, which was essentially a staging ground for the forthcoming Paris agreement in the next COP.

Discussions

Peru’s Environment Minister, Pulgar-Vidal, took over the presidency of COP20 and lamented the slow progress of work in the past few conferences. He underlined the need to have a working draft in COP20 so that the work towards a binding global climate agreement to be signed in Paris could be speeded up.

With the Paris deadline looming, all countries got down to the business of drawing up a draft. Two issues came up immediately. First, which direction should the new agreement take: should the long-term mitigation goal be to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees centigrade as the LDCs suggested or should it be below 2 degrees centigrade as put forward by EU or should the target be net zero emissions by 2100 as suggested by New Zealand. The other issue was that of common but differentiated responsibility (CDR) — one that was taken up by developing countries led by India, Argentina, Jordan, Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia. Sensing that a Paris draft was in sight, developing countries wanted a draft agreement on CDR, which could be included in the Paris draft. This renewed push for CDR was opposed by developed countries including the US, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. The EU took a more balanced position saying that the text should reflect the larger goal of mandatory emission reduction commitments by all countries, developed and developing.

The other issues discussed in COP20 were as follows:

• Adoption of the Lima Call for Climate Action: This was the most important outcome of COP20 and included the first draft negotiating text for the Paris Agreement.
• A draft on CDR: After much discussion, developed countries agreed to the proposal of developing countries to include the principle of CDR in the Paris Draft. The only modification was that the phrase ‘respective capabilities’ was added to CDR.
• Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs): A guidance on INDCs was included where countries had to outline the actions that they contemplated in the post-2020 period. These INDCs had to be clear, transparent and quantifiable.
• REDD+: There was some progress on reforestation, with Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Costa Rica pledging to restore an area of forest twice the size of Britain by 2020
• Adaptation and Adaptation Finance: It was agreed that countries will submit National Adaptation Plans, and developed countries will provide financial support to help vulnerable countries to draw up their Plans.
• Loss and Damage: The Loss and Damage Mechanism, put in place in COP19 in Warsaw, was reviewed, and a continued support to loss and damage in vulnerable countries was pledged.
• Finance: Before COP20, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) had received pledges of USD 10.2 billion from 27 developed countries. It was agreed that this needs to be expanded. The long-term commitment to raise USD 100 billion from public and private sources by the year 2020 was also reiterated.
• Technology transfer and capacity building: The Technology Mechanism, including the Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), to support the development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies was sought to be further operationalised to cover more and more countries. The emphasis on capacity building of developing countries in implementing climate change actions was emphasised.
• Gender and climate change: The issue of gender and climate change was underlined for the first time. The importance of gender responsive climate policies and actions was emphasised.

As in other conferences, the discussions continued endlessly in COP20 and overran the end-date by two days. Ironically, the US and China, even after the joint agreements a month ago, were at loggerheads over the language on commitments. While China wanted to have some flexibility for developing countries, the US wanted a uniform commitment from all.

Conclusion

The COP20 began with a lot of optimism in the aftermath of the US-China bilateral engagement on climate change a month ago. Furthermore, a new government in India also appeared to be getting more serious on taking voluntary commitments on emissions reductions. However, there were counter pressures in developed countries as well. With rising energy costs in Europe and Russia playing truant, there was a regression to coal in some countries. Also, in France and Germany, some voices were heard asking for more relaxed regulations on vehicle emissions, to counter rising energy costs. In any case, COP20 was not intended to achieve any major breakthrough, but was meant to provide a working draft for the consideration of the Members in the COP21 at Paris in 2015. The only agreement that was signed at COP20 was the one on forestation among eight Latin American countries. The incoming COP21 President, French Minister Laurent Fabius, summed it up well in his message to the COP20 President: “…setting an example of a great COP with ambition, a listening ear and a spirit of compromise” and for “putting to rest the haunting ghost of Copenhagen [COP15]”.

The writer is Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Mass Education Extension and Library Services and Department of Cooperation, Government of West Bengal