G77+China successfully counter move by EU to add agriculture as a source of emissions for purpose of accounting
Developing countries fought for
two days, and finally succeeded in keeping agriculture out of CO2
mitigation discussions on the third day of the ongoing climate talks in
Warsaw. On November 11,
much to the surprise and chagrin of G77+China,
emissions from agriculture was introduced by the elected chairs of the
19th Conference of Parties (COP 19) as an agenda item for discussion,
even though it was agreed in a preparatory meeting in Bonn earlier this
year that discussions on this subject would not become part of the
formal negotiating process, and that it would instead be discussed in a
workshop.
The chair announced that it was looking for a draft decision on
agricultural emissions by the end of the first week of ongoing two-week
climate negotiations. India and China, however, managed to successfully
counter the move to introduce agricultural emissions and pushed
discussions on it to June 2014.
The European Union, supported by developed countries such as Canada
and New Zealand, has been pushing to add agriculture as a possible
source of emissions for the purpose of accounting.
Developing countries have opposed this, saying it would have major financial implications for farmers,
most of whom are poor. Although methane emissions from rice fields and
livestock and release of soil carbon are major sources of emissions,
mitigation efforts in the agricultural sector would translate into huge
financial burden on developing countries.
Developing countries who have refused to undertake emission cuts so
far see this push by the developed countries as means of putting an
agricultural emissions mitigation burden on the developing countries,
thereby, lessening their burden to reduce carbon emissions in future.
On the opening day of COP19, Fiji spoke on behalf of G77+China and
said that the proposal came as a surprise to the negotiators of the
developing countries as in a earlier meeting this year, all the
countries had decided not to discuss this subject formally. On
Wednesday, India intervened and said only adaptation of climate change
resilient agriculture should be discussed. India’s intervention was
supported by G77+China and, surprisingly, the United States. Mitigation
in agriculture will not be further discussed in the current conference
and not until June 2014.
G77+China proposal on loss and damage
Last year at COP18 in Doha, developing countries managed to get
included a last minute decision on setting up of a mechanism for
assessing and providing monetary compensation for loss and damage
arising out of impacts of climate change. On the second day of COP19 in
Warsaw, G77 and China formally put their negotiated stand in form of a
conference paper, urging the all nations to begin deliberations on loss
and damage.
This swiftly led to countries forwarding letters of requests, urging
for establishment of an international mechanism to address loss and
damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change from
extreme and slow onset of weather events in developing countries, least
developed countries and small island states. These nations are
particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. The
paper further delineates a mechanism through which money from developed
countries will flow to disaster-struck developing countries. It proposes
to install a “Technical Facility” that will conduct long-term impact
assessments; enable knowledge and data management; and develop new
approaches and tools to build capacity to address loss and damage from
the adverse effects of climate change. This initiative, says the G77 and
China paper, should be called the International Mechanism for Loss and
Damage (IMLD).
The mechanism will also include a “Financial Facility” that will
comprehensively address loss and damage from adverse effects of climate
change in the short-, medium- and long-term. The paper says that IMLD
should be administered by COP and a trust fund created with money from
the developed countries.
The US and other developed countries have not quite liked the idea of
a loss and damage mechanism as they may have to compensate for a
natural calamity in a developing country. But developing countries are
hoping that IMLD could be one of the concrete deliverables of COP 19.
The issue of loss and damage first surfaced about three years ago.
The demand from the developing countries is that monetary compensation
goes beyond what cannot be tackled by finance for adaptation.
The G77 and China now want this paper to become the basis of negotiating text on loss and damage.
