LAST MONTH’S Copenhagen accord on climate change, though falling short of a full agreement, “can be used to speed up negotiations” leading to a more comprehensive agreement, according to UN climate chief Yvo de Boer.
Speaking at a press briefing in Bonn yesterday, he conceded that the much-hyped Copenhagen summit “didn’t produce a final cake, but left governments with the ingredients to bake a new one in Mexico City” next December.
But Mr de Boer, whose official title is executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), reiterated his view that the “window of opportunity” for reaching a deal on drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions “is closing”.
While noting that the Copenhagen Accord – hammered out by the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa – had not been formally adopted, he said it was a “political tool that has broad support at the highest level and can be used to speed up negotiations”.
Another round of talks will take place next June in Bonn, headquarters of the UNFCCC. But Mr de Boer said his contacts with up to 20 governments since Copenhagen had shown a desire for “more intensive negotiations” in advance of the Mexico City conference. He had also written to all 193 countries which are parties to the UNFCCC asking them to indicate by January 31st whether they wished to be associated with the Copenhagen Accord, so that he could complete his report on last month’s often-chaotic summit.
Mr de Boer made it clear, however, that this was a “soft deadline”.
Under the terms of the accord, January 31st is also the date by which developed countries are to specify targets to reduce emissions and developing countries to indicate what actions they are taking.
Asked whether he feared that the accord could replace the UNFCCC process, he said: "In theory, you could have a parallel structure, but that strikes me as an incredibly inefficient exercise". In any case, "every country says it does not want another separate track". He also said he had received an assurance from US climate envoy Todd Stern that a report in the Guardianquoting his deputy, Jonathan Pershing, as saying that the UNFCCC was so cumbersome it should be "sidelined" did not fairly represent Dr Pershing's view.
Asked about the impact of yesterday’s election upset in Massachusetts on President Barack Obama’s chances of securing US Senate approval for new climate and energy legislation, Mr de Boer said he did not believe it would change the American agenda.