Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South African Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the current round of climate negotiation
Source: Government of South AfricaPublished Friday, December 5, 2008 - 09:55
The climate negotiations in Poznan are expected to consolidate the political momentum and bring greater focus on the road to an agreed outcome by the end of 2009. The current negotiating round in Poznan is about gearing up to conclude negotiations on a binding, equitable, more effective and inclusive climate regime by the end of 2009 in Copenhagen.
We envisage six high-level outcomes in Poznan:
1. In Poznan we will be moving into full negotiating mode, thereby laying the basis for serious negotiations in 2009. To secure a deal at the end of 2009 in Copenhagen, we must outline a clear process and milestones for both negotiating tracks under the Bali Roadmap. We should bring new focus to the negotiations by revising the text that assembles all the creative proposals for a strengthened climate regime up to and beyond 2012. This will narrow down our negotiating agenda for next year to the key issues that must be resolved.
2. A declaration by the Conference of Parties (COP) President that captures the following elements in relation to a shared vision:
* The over-arching shared vision should guide our efforts under both the Convention and Kyoto tracks.
* A shared vision should balance climate and development and adaptation and mitigation recognition that solving the climate problem and making the transition to a low carbon economy will only be possible if any solution is undertaken with development priorities at its heart.
* The guidance provided by the best available science and most ambitious Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenario for climate stabilisation.
* For all developed countries this means a commitment to deep, absolute domestic emission cuts in the range of 80 percent to 95 percent below 1990-levels by 2050, underpinned by credible mid-term targets in the 25 percent to 40 percent range below 1990-levels by 2020.
* For developing countries, a substantial deviation below baseline in some regions by 2020 and all regions by 2050, on the basis of an equitable burden-sharing paradigm and binding delivery on the means of implementation (technology, financing and capacity) by developed countries.
3. The presidential declaration should give a clear political signal that climate negotiations will intensify despite the global economic downturn. The current (temporary) financial crisis will not be allowed to diminish efforts to deal with the longer term climate crisis. In the face of a serious crisis, the world has now demonstrated that it is possible to raise significant amounts of money to meet a common global challenge.
4. Kyoto-ratifying developed countries should adopt an emission reduction range of at least 25 percent 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. This will give credibility and enable us to finalise ambitious mid-term targets for all developed countries within this range by the end of 2009, in time to avoid a gap between the first and second commitment periods of the Kyoto Protocol and thus secure the carbon market. Without such an unambiguous commitment it will be very difficult to engage developing countries in a credible way to make their deviation below baseline "substantial".
* Japan, Russia, Australia and Canada have avoided putting their numbers on the table for too long. They now need to come forward with credible and ambitious mid-term targets within the 25 percent to 40 percent range for 2020
* From the United States (US) we expect comparability of commitments and compliance. We appreciate President-elect Obama's commitment to restore America's leadership in international global warming negotiations. In 2009, we will be looking to the US to come forward with ambitious commitments that will keep the world in the IPCC's most ambitious stabilisation scenario for 2020.
5. In respect of the legal form of the agreed outcome in Copenhagen, we are clear that it should be an "agreed outcome" that is legally binding and enforceable, in particular in respect of the means of implementation.
6. The final obstacles to make the Adaptation Fund Board operational in 2009, so that we can move to implementation, must be removed in Poznan.







