Developing, Industrialized Countries Clash at Poznań

At Poznań, everyone agrees that actions should be taken to protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations. But how? According to the original documents, decisions should be made “on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.”

This is tantamount to the discussion heard recently at the Conference, where Parties are essentially saying “we’ll do what we can, but don’t make us do anything that jeopardizes our economies.”

This is could be problematic if we want to make big strides on a global basis. Industrialized nations have the responsibility of taking the lead on preventing climate change, and developing countries are the ones most likely to be affected if climate change persists. But as the developing countries embrace development itself, they also contribute to the climate change problem.

However, they do agree that, when it comes to sustainable development: everyone has a right to it, and everyone should engage in it.

According to Amanda Chiu of the Worldwatch Institute, who is attending the conference:

“China, citing the equity language of Article 3, mentioned the need for eventual ‘global per-capita emissions convergence’ – the idea that, at some point in the future, all countries in the world should have similar per-capita emissions as a matter of climate equity. But this concept did not pick up momentum, at least not in the workshop. We’ll see if anything changes, because this is still an ongoing discussion. India has long been a supporter of convergence as well.

Developing countries spoke up as they applied more pressure to industrialized countries to take the lead in addressing climate change, a principle also stated in Article 3. Brazil, however, called for non-Annex I Parties (i.e., developing countries) to deviate from their baseline emissions and start reducing their emissions as well. The EU seconded this call, but I think the statement from Brazil resonates a little more with developing countries.”

As discussion goes on, it seems to revolve around the same basic issues: a sense of urgency to get an agreement before Copenhagen, a rift between the developing nations and the industrialized nations, and constant pressure to get some consensus because the Kyoto protocol is outdated…”