The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Warsaw might is set to close Friday. But with many critical issues remaining contentious and awaiting resolution, it is unclear if the talks will end on time or will spill over to the following day, as has been the experience at the past meetings.
The Conference of Parties (COP19) and the Conference of Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 9) began on November 11 at the Warsaw National Stadium with 194 member states. The high-level segment on ministers began on November 19.
On Thursday, over 800 non-government organisations and civil society bodies, who are accredited observers of the UN climate conference, staged a unprecedented mass walk out since there had been no progress over the key issues including finance at the negotiations.
They went out of the stadium, guarded inside by the UN security forces and outside by Polish security personnel, in a procession and gathered at the city centre.
On Friday, they gathered for meeting and working at the "Convergence Space" at 63 Nowy Swiat in Warsaw Centre.
Greenpeace, Oxfam, International Trade Union Confederation, ActionAid, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Friends of the Earth (Europe), and Peoples’ Movement on Climate Change (Philippines) are among the organisations. Some NGOs, however, refrained from joining the protest as they did not find it a right approach.
Earlier, the Group 77 and China, of which Bangladesh is a party, staged a three-hour walk out early Wednesday from the negotiation table on loss and damage mechanism in protest against some unacceptable suggestions forwarded by the rich nations.
After Thursday’s walk out, conference President Marcin Korolec in a statement said: "I regret the fact that some NGOs decided to leave the COP19 climate conference to express their disapproval towards the extending negotiations. Activities of non-governmental organisations are often thought to draw attention towards the issues perceived by them as important.”
He hoped that the voice of the NGOs would remain present in the discussion on “how to solve the most important problems of the planet.”
Korolec, who was removed from his position of the environment minister on Wednesday, will stay as the plenipotentiary of the Polish government to the climate negotiations.
In the statement released Thursday evening, he claimed that the countries had “achieved considerable progress on climate finance. The talks about the shape of a new global agreement were also held throughout the night. I am convinced that we are getting closer and closer to the final success.”
Concerns of failure
In reaction to the walk-out, Matthias Groote, the chairman of European Parliament delegation, said all nations should stick to their Durban commitments. “There is a growing sense of frustration here in Warsaw, and concern over the little results achieved so far, while we need to agree on the steps towards a global climate agreement. Instead, some are backtracking on their previous commitments.”
Groote said: “The conference is reaching a critical stage. It is now up to the COP presidency to act and bring a positive drive, so it doesn’t end up in failure.”
At an informal stock-taking plenary convened late evening on Thursday, China warned that the Warsaw climate talks were on the verge of delivering virtually nothing.
China expressed solidarity with the NGOs and social movements who had walked out of the Warsaw Stadium. “While still cherishing the last hope to make Warsaw a successful climate conference,” China’s lead negotiator Su Wei said he fully understood why there was a walkout, according to a statement released by Third World Network (TWN), an observer at the COP19.
He said: “The Warsaw talks which should have been an important step forward in the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, is now on the verge of delivering virtually nothing.
“Even worse, the moves of many developed countries are directly undermining the UNFCCC itself; when one major developed country announced that it was backtracking on emission cut commitments previously made, and another developed country gave multiple signals that it was utterly unwilling to take the UN climate process seriously, the integrity of the talks was further jeopardised.”
Referring to a ministerial dialogue on climate finance held on Wednesday, Su Wei said the “finance ministerial” showed “almost no actual finance” and the “loss and damage talks that have stalled because developed countries refuse to engage on the substance of an international mechanism.”
He added that “Warsaw has not seen any increase in emission reductions nor increased support for adaptation before 2020 – on these things it has actually taken the process backward.”
He expressed China’s strong disappointment over the backtracking by developed countries from their commitments on mitigation ambition and finance.
On the side-lines of the talks, Indian Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan expressed India’s “deep concern that there has been absolutely no progress in any of the issues of interest to developing countries in this COP.”
She observed that discussions on crucial issues of direct importance to developing countries like finance, technology and loss and damage had remained deadlocked due to the lack of will by developed countries, according to the TWN statement.
“This comes in the backdrop of some developed countries actually reneging on their commitments or decreasing them. I fully share the sentiments of the NGOs and call on developed countries to show their determination to implement commitments and increase their ambition to address the mitigation gap and provide enhanced means of implementation and ensure that the negotiations reach a meaningful conclusion in the COP."
At the informal stock-taking session on Thursday, COP President Korolec on long-term finance said: “If we manage to complete the issue of finance, we have major success in Warsaw.”
Korolec clarifies government decision
After the government sacked him, Korolec briefly addressed a press conference and issued a statement reassuring that he remained the COP19 president.
“By taking a decision on change on the post of minister of environment of Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the same time reassured my position as the President of COP19/CMP9. The decision on the change of my position will be formally enacted only on November 27.”
He also said: “We look forward to the success of the summit in Warsaw and the entire Polish presidency, which will last until December 2014."
Korolec will be replaced by Maciej Grabowski, former deputy finance minister responsible for preparing shale gas taxation. Reacting to the firing of Korolec in the middle of the UN climate negotiations, Maciej Muskat, director of Greenpeace Poland, said: “This is nuts. Changing the minister leading the climate negotiations after a race to the bottom by parties of the convention shows the prime minister is not sincere about the need for an ambitious climate deal.”
He said while introducing the new environment minister, Prime Minister Tusk had justified the change by a need to accelerate the exploitation of shale gas in Poland.
In his short opening speech, the new environment minister highlighted the development of shale gas in Poland as his priority.