Hope from Cancun

This week we’ve been looking over the Cancun Agreement in order to access if they represent positive steps in the negotiations. As we learned from our simulation of negotiations, coming to agreements such as this, is incredibly difficult. Though the document still is not going to keep our world from going over the 2 degrees increase, it definitely shows that we still are moving forward, even if it’s slowly.

An article I found incredibly helpful and informative about the Agreement was Reflections on the Cancun Agreements by Jennifer Morgan from the World Resources Institute. After reading through the actual Cancun Agreements, I definitely agreed with the points that the author makes and was enlightening on some points that overlooked. The first point which stuck out to me when reading the Cancun Agreements was when the author “urges developed country Parties to increase the ambition of their economy-wide emission reduction targets”(8). Through out the rest of the Agreement, the language appears to be much more forceful then past ones. Morgan notes the importance of language by the second page saying that “the preamble of the Cancun decision under the Kyoto track has important language that recognizes that to avoid the worst impacts of climate change…(we) have to reduce emissions in a range of 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020”(Morgan,1). With the raging debates over a single word that can come from these negotiations, it is really incredible that this is written into the preamble. This change in language alone shows clear steps in the right direction.

Another area, which I was impressed by and Morgan points out, was the focus on reporting. Throughout the report there are new requirements for reporting for the developed and even voluntary for the developing countries. Specifically the Agreement sets up “a registry to record nationally appropriate mitigation actions seeking international support and to facilitate matching of finance, technology and capacity-building support for these actions”(10). I see this as a great opportunity for countries to really work together and have a lot more transparency. One last area the Agreements did well in was the support of the “Green Climate Fund” which supports developing countries cope with climate change. Looking back  to 2010 an article from the Guardian, Cancun agreement rescues UN credibility but falls short of saving planet, gives a glimpse into the importance of this fund but also the possible downfalls of it. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/dec/12/cancun-agreement-rescues-un-credibility). Beyond these improvements, the document does have many other positive aspects but also some clear areas that are lacking. Hopefully negotiations will make even more progress when we get to witness them in South Africa.

Morgan, 2010. “Reflections on the Cancun Agreements.” http://www.wri.org/stories/2010/12/reflections-cancun-agreements.