The latest round of international negotiations for a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protoco, wrapped up in Accra, Ghana this weak without any concrete agreements of note. However, reports coming out of the talks suggest that progress was made on a few fronts.
The timeline for a compromise is running out, with only five more scheduled sessions before the deadline of December 2009.
"We are still on track, the process has speeded up," Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said. "There is a growing sense of urgency."
He added that negotiators are getting past some of the rhetoric that has slowed earlier negotiation sessions among the 160 participating nations.
The primary success of this round appears to be an organized focus on slowing the rate of deforestation in tropical nations, where enormous tracks of virgin forests play a large role in slowing or adding to global climate change. These forests remove huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But when they are cut and burned to make way for farming, livestock or other development, they release that carbon back into the air.
Although no specifics have emerged from the talks, reportedly there was agreement that developing nations should be paid by the rest of the world to preserve these valuable forests.
Other developments include the following:
Sectoral Emissions Targets
The Japanese proposal to set emissions targets by industry sectors reportedly gained a foothold in this round of talks. Sectoral targets would replace or complement national targets for reducing greenhouse gases and would provide some security for developed nations, which fear industries will move to developing nations that have no emissions targets.
South Korean and South African Leadership
South Korea, which is not a "developed" nation responsible for emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol, said it intends to set binding emissions targets and act as a bridge nation between developed and undeveloped nations. Similarly, South Africa demonstrated a willingness to lead undeveloped nations towards greater participation in cutting global emissions. South Africa said it hoped to halt its increase of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020-2025.
Proposal to End Fuel Subsidies
On Tuesday, a United Nations report showed that greenhouse gas emissions could be cut by up to 6%, while simultaneously increasing global economic growth, if subsidies on fossil fuels were abolished. The report suggested subsidies rarely work as intended, benefitting the rich instead of the poor. Removing these subsidies would raise prices and force businesses and individuals to reduce fuel consumption.
Suggestion to Differentiate Among Developing Nations
Negotiators drew attention to the fact that some developing nations, such as Singapore, Argentina and some OPEC nations have more wealth than developed nations, particularlly in the eastern part of the European Union. As a result, negotiators suggested that a future climate change treaty should indicate the responsibilities of more than just "developed" or "undeveloped" nations–creating different tiers for developing countries.
Developing nations resisted the idea of splitting their negotiating block into smaller units.
Yvo de Boer said, "I can’t predict where that debate is going to go."
Disagreements between developed and undevelped nations continue to be the most daunting obstacle to negotiations. Rich nations want poor nations to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and vice versa.
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