Dezember

Parties debate “shared vision” in UNFCCC workshop

Poznan, 3 Dec (Martin Khor) – Continuing differences were evident on the issue of “shared vision” at an interesting workshop held in the climate talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The first part of the workshop, held on 2 December afternoon, heard power-point presentations by representatives of some major parties, including China, India, Brazil, the European Union, Japan, the LDC group and the small island states.

Developing countries disappointed over LDC fund

Poznan, 3 Dec (Juan Hoffmaister and Chee Yoke Ling) -- In Tuesday’s discussion of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation on the Least Developed Countries Fund and the review of the Convention’s financial mechanism, the Group of G77 and China stressed that developed countries continue to fail to fulfill their financial commitments. The role of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) was also a matter of concern for developing countries.

Parties reiterate views at Shared Vision contact group

Poznan 8 Dec (By Lim Li Lin) -- The Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) held its meeting of the contact group on shared vision on Friday 5 December. The issue of the contact group had been the subject of debate at the opening of the AWG-LCA. A number of developing countries had questioned the disproportionate amount of time allocated to “shared vision” during the Poznan climate talks. It was decided that a contact group session for an hour-and-half would be held.

Mitigation group discusses how to measure, report and verify efforts

Poznan, 9 Dec (By Meena Raman): The contact group on mitigation at its second meeting dealt with the issue of what are “measurable, reportable and verifiable” (MRVs) mitigation actions of developed and developing countries under the Bali Action Plan (BAP). The contact group, which is under the ad-hoc working group on long-term cooperative action (AWG-LCA), met on 6 December.

Spend the trillions on climate

Global Trends - By MARTIN KHOR The two crises of our times — economic recession and global warming — should be tackled together. The trillions of dollars earmarked for economic recovery can be spent to fight climate change.