Day 10: Short report (COP15 UN Climate Change Conference)

Day 10: Roundup Discussion

The arrival of Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister two days earlier than other leaders in Copenhagen talks was to reduce the contentious situation among the negotiators in there. The resolutions need to be achieved due to its imperative of the future of human well-being. If there is no serious effort to cope the climate change effects, the well-being of the creation would be at vulnerable condition and the cost of mitigating it would lead to even much more higher than current expenditure in which according to Brown, it may cause to a reduction of 20 per cent of national income.

There is an attempt by some parties to reject Kyoto Protocol. The developing countries urged the rich countries to stick with their Kyoto obligations which is by soon would enter to a second round starting from 2013. Yvo de Boer, UN executive secretary of UNFCCC, asked the parties involved in this climate talks to remain pursuit to Kyoto Protocol as the new agreement to replace it would rather take many years before it can be ratified. Kyoto Protocol has been proposed since 1997 and come into action in 2005 after a long-term negotiation went around. The hanging status of Kyoto Protocol at present was described by India’s environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh as someone in intensive care if not dead.

On the other hand, U.S which is seem to be inactive in the climate change discussion has shrivel some strain of people through a John Kerry’s statement, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on the US’s stand in climate talks recently. He gave assurance that U.S would pass climate change bill by 2010 if the negotiation in the conference is successful. U.S is one of the developed countries who were abide by the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 but later rejected it during the early time of George W.Bush administration. The emission reduction that US has announced so far was around 3 to 4 per cent which is absolutely nothing to achieve the target of climate change fall from this larger emitter in the world.

Japan had announced to provide 15 billion of U.S dollars to the short-term financing of climate fund, amount that is higher than 9.6 billion of U.S dollars that EU pledge to give on the same period. However, they held it as a conditional pledge where the thriving negotiation in Copenhagen that may produce fair political accord would be a factor for the pledge to be valid or work.

Abu Mardhiyyah

International Islamic University of Malaysia