Copenhagen Update

Dec 16th, 2009 6:10 PM UTC
By Andreas.Huebers

World leaders are arriving in Copenhagen Wednesday night and Thursday, but there has been slow progress in the negotiations. Therefore, they have to negotiate a long list of unsettled issues. Their very difficult task will be to build consensus – fast and wide-ranging. The pressure from personalities like Desmond Tutu, civil society and even the private sector is enormous.

Meanwhile, chances to get leaders to agree to “new and additional resources on top of existing and committed” funding are fading. There are two types of wording for additionality in the current draft [no consensus yet], one for fast track and one for long term financing.

Fast track funding (2010 – 2012) is supposed to be “new and additional”, which is to be interpreted as additional to existing ODA (funding) flows, whereas post 2012 funding is “scaled up, predictable new, additional and adequate.”

There will be a figure for 2010 – 2012 climate financing, presumably 10 billion, and an annex specifying the amounts per country. There seems to be relatively wide agreement on establishing REDD, but no intention to use carbon market mechanisms, so funding will come from the (limited) public sources. There is a general placeholder for aviation and maritime bunkers so support of a high level task force to investigate innovative financing seems sensible.

-Andreas Huebers, ONE’s German office

TAGS: Climate and Development, Copenhagen