Will our children be able to have the weekend we had?

By: Esther Babson

After a weekend in the outdoors it’s bizarre to be back in the hustle and bustle of the conference. As everyone has already said, this weekend was great. Learning about the various management programs showed how much effort is put into the park which was intriguing. Yet, at the same time it took away some of the awe of the park as a natural habitat. Still it will be a weekend I will never forget. The weekend also reminds me of what we have to lose. What if we go beyond the 2 degree mark? Will the park we experienced still be there for our children? Only time and these negotiations will tell.

With the beginning of the second week of the conference the chaos has definitely ramped up. Security has been intensified, delegates are rushing around and the criticism of the negotiators keeps building. At the CAN(Climate Action Network) press briefing on Monday the speakers were adamant about needing action from the countries. Representatives from each of the groups, mentioned the need for the US to start getting with the program. A common phrase was their need to get with the program or “get out of the way”. The meeting today continued with this theme of asking the U.S. to stop blocking every effort and attempting to push back any real progress until 2020. Bishop Geoff Davies spoke from the Anglican Church and made fantastic points about the morality of these negotiations. By waiting until 2020 the we will inevitably go over the 2 degree mark which in Africa will mean devastation to the agricultural dependent as well as the continent as a whole. This isn’t ethical and it shouldn’t be allowed.

This relates well to the briefing I went to today from the chair of the AWG-KP group where work on continuing Kyoto is still questionable. According to the briefing one of the key issues is getting consensus which obviously is incredibly difficult on such a controversial topic. It also was mentioned that they are looking at the other possible options besides a second commitment period. They wouldn’t fully elaborate on what those options looked like but one possibility involved a 2-stage option with commitments being part of it only as a future amendment which would be worked on after the conference ends. Unfortunately this option seems as though actually finishing a commitment amendment could be delayed and delayed. Not knowing all the intricate aspects of the negotiations puts me unable to truly decide what option is best but hopefully as this crucial week moves forward positive steps forward will be made.