The Doha climate talks

I can recall the shock and horror at the betrayal of hopes at Copenhagen in 2009.

How things change! The talks are held in one of the least envoironmentally-friendly cities in the world. Its neighbour, Dubai, has an indoor ski field!

The absolute cynicism of these people (like our own negotiator, Tim Grosser, who has gone to see how much can be got away with is almost beyond belief – all these people lie for a living.

In the article below the US negotiator has been caught out being 'somwhat economical with the truth' – he appears not even to have read his own administration's reports.

We would be forgiven for not even knowing that these talks are taking place and for letting out a giant yawn.

As our rulers fiddle the world burns

---Seemorerocks

Doha: Talks on brink of collapse as anger rises against Qatari hosts

Climate change: Anger is growing against the host country of Qatar, which has the largest carbon footprint in the world per person, for failing to take action on climate change and cut its emissions.

The Telegraph,

6 December, 2012

UN climate change talks are at risk of collapse tonight as developing nations object to the refusal of Arab nations to cut carbon emissions and at failure of Western nations to come forward with money for adaptation to global warming.

Britain could be forced to dramatically increase its cuts to carbon emissions in order to secure a deal if other countries are unwilling to compromise.

Two activists were thrown out of the United Nations talks in Doha, the capital, after attempting to hold up a banner outside the main meeting hall. It called on the tiny oil state to show leadership and cut its emissions.

Developing nations are also angry that the rich world has not come forward with money for climate change adaptation.

They want $60bn (£37bn) over the next three years to switch to greener forms of energy and protect against floods and drought.

Although the UK has pledge £2bn over the next two years other countries, including the United States, have not put any money on the table beyond 2013.

Environmentalists are angry that the world has made no further progress on agreeing targets to cut carbon emissions.

The EU has said it will sign up targets as part of a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. But this is impossible until the bickering group of countries decide how to divide up cuts in carbon.

One option on the table would mean the UK may have to up its current emissions targets from 34 per cent by 2020 to 42 per cent.

Meanwhile most of the rest of the developed world has not even put forward any new targets to cut carbon emissions.

There is particular anger towards the countries in the Arab world, that many believed would come forward with ambitious targets during the first UN conference to be held in the Middle East.

However Qatar has only announced a new research centre on climate change and no new targets. While it emits a large amount of carbon dioxide due to gas flares from oil extraction, it is treated as a developing nation and has not been subjected to curbs on emissions as developed nations have.

Ali Fakhry, of the Arab Youth Climate Movement, an organisation set up in the wake of the Arab spring, said it will be “disgrace” if the talks fail to reach an agreement in Doha.

“We are starting to believe that hosting the meeting was green wash and PR,” he said.

“It is time for Qatar to take the lead and ensure the negotiations do not collapse.”

The talks, that are scheduled to finish this Friday, are widely expected to go into the weekend. They may have to reconvene in months if a deal is not struck.

As ministers take over from negotiators in an attempt to drive a deal, Greg Barker, the UK Climate Change Minister, said pressure is growing on Qatar.

“Clearly now is the time for the Arab regions to step up to the plate and show leadership to bring this meeting to a successful conclusion. The clock is ticking and there are concerns in the least developed countries about finance and mitigation. We desperately need more countries to take action.”

It will be a severe embarrassment to Qatar, which is attempting to grow its stature in the world and which will host the World Cup in 2022, if the talks fail.

Naderev Sano, chief negotiator for the Philippines, joined a civil society protest against a weak deal after reportedly bursting into tears during a plenary in frustration.

He said hundreds of thousands of people in his own country are already suffering from floods and storms caused by climate change.

“Based on what we have seen so far and with less than 48 hours to go, a successful ambitious outcome is not in sight," he said.

Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid's senior climate change adviser, said he had never seen such outrage at a UN meeting.

“The Doha outcome must be both responsive to the scientific need for action and fair to developing countries which didn't cause this problem but are suffering the most severe effects.”

The two activists led out of the conference centre by UN police were believed to be from Libya and Algeria and part of the League of Independent Activists.

US envoy's cutting remark on C02 emissions fails to add up

Todd Stern seems to overlook even his own government's reports that indicate US would be nowhere 16.3% cut by 2020

the Guardian,

6 December, 2012

The Obama administration has been vigorously defending its climate record at the Doha conference in Qatar. But it appears that Todd Stern, the US state department climate envoy, has been rather selective with his facts.

In his sole press conference at the meeting, Stern told reporters the US was on track to meet its commitment on cutting emissions by 2020, citing a report by the Resources for the Future thinktank.

The report said that incoming Environmental Protection Agency regulations on coal-fired power plants, along with other measures, could lead to a 16.3% cut in emissions by 2020.

"The US has done quite significant things in the president's first four years, in his first term," Stern said. "I saw just the other day actually a report by Resources for the Future which is a quite good kind of environmental economic thinktank in Washington that projects us to be on track for about a 16.5% reduction based on the policies that we have in place now."

That figure is not far off Barack Obama's admittedly modest target of 17% cut on emissions from 2005 levels, which he offered to the UN climate meeting at Copenhagen in 2009. The problem was, however, that Stern overlooked official US government reports indicating the US would be nowhere near a 16% cut by 2020. He also overlooked several different cautions included in the RFF report (pdf).

Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who first drew reporters' attention to the gap, said the most accurate projections indicate America is well short of meeting even the modest commitment Obama made in 2009 for cutting the emissions that cause climate change.

The 2013 outlook from the Energy Information Administration, released just this week, gives a far less rosy picture than Stern. The government agency projected only a 9% reduction in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 – and emissions would then creep back up again by 2040.

Meyer said Stern's colleagues at the White House Council for Environmental Quality told him at Doha that US emissions would be down about 10% from 2005 levels. "So clearly the gap to be closed is a significant one, requiring further domestic initiatives," Meyer said in an email.

A State Department official responded to a requests for clarification by quoting from the RFF report, which said: "The United States is about on track to achieve President Obama's Copenhagen pledge with respect to mitigation goals."

However, the State Department official also acknowledged that the RFF report assumed actions not yet taken by the EPA. The current EPA actions, on their own, would not bring the US up to the target.

"The RFF estimate assumes additional regulatory action beyond what has occurred to date," the official said in an email.