A new world order is taking the stage; in Copenhagen the G8 has been replaced by the C5, is what Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, told journalists this morning at the National Press Club, where he briefed the media on "Environmental Stories to Watch in 2010." Most of the talk and the questions focused on the meaning of the remarkable developments at the COP15 in Copenhagen. What happened was so unusual and the interpretations so diverse (ranging from "disaster" to "success"), that the only serious conclusion as to what it will mean is "don't know." A small group of heads-of-states, representing over half of the world's population, sitting together personally for multiple hours to forge an agreement, is unprecedented. A clear target (less than 2ºC mean global warming) in an international agreement is (apparently) unprecedented (although published emission reduction commitments fall far short). However, many things are still unclear, but Lash observed that a this initiative broke through "15 years of disfunction" of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, under which a global climate deal was supposed to be negotiated. This failed in Copenhagen.
And where was Europe? Is it out of the game? Was it a shame - as some have said - that it wasn't at the table when the C5 negotiated? (What's that C for? Copenhagen? Climate? No one asked or told.*) Well, no. Europe wasn't the problem after all, said Lash, it was the disagreement between the USA and the emerging economies that was the blockage. Europe had put clear and ambitious goals at the table long before Copenhagen. If it manages to create a strong presidency, with a mandate to represent the European Union, it will be back at the table.
*The C is for Copenhagen, Jonathan Lash mentions in this Guardian article.
Find complete coverage (incl. video, slides, transcript) on WRI's website here.
Read the Treehugger account of the event here.
No comments:
Post a Comment