‘Progress’ at COP21 talks

‘Progress’ at COP21 talks

Mon, 7 December 2015

Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon ppp

King Norodom Sihamoni delivers a speech during the opening day of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 last month at Le Bourget, on the outskirts of the French capital of Paris. AFP

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School of Vice: "Worried" about the adverse impact of global climate change? Most reputable investigations and reports on the state of Cambodia's natural ecology and environment have revealed a bleak portrait of the country. Within the last three decades the rape and plunder of the natural riches and assets of Cambodia, from mineral extraction of various kind, defacing of historical natural landmarks such as lakes and mountains to systematic wholesale deforestation [about 3 per cent of the once mighty national forest cover remains, according to one estimate] have all contributed to the degrading process and the rapid transformation in local climatic conditions which further seriously bedevil human livelihood and add stress to its already subsistence base. The same reports have also pinpointed the country's ruling elite as being behind most of these activities, and efforts at arresting this destructive trend have often met with assassinations, intimidation and judicial harassment of some consequence and kind. 

Despite of all these bleak realities and undercurrents, the world of protocols and diplomacy; of statesmen and kings making politically correct and soothing speeches at global summits and press conferences appears to move, thrive and exist in a cocoon or bubble of its own. Among these invited delegates, perhaps, some are genuinely concerned about the state of the world's climate, but the presence of those representing the state and government of the Kingdom of Cambodia should make anyone of us with even a modicum knowledge of the country hang our collective head in shame. Yet, to ask why these personalities and agents of greed and opportunism of the most cynical and unethical kind have been able to thrive at all despite of all the harm they have brought onto millions of lives, one would have to ask or question as to why those 'civilised', intelligent sections of their audience have fallen so easily for their words and rhetoric; why such witnesses and listeners have been so keen to echo and endorse their empty, insincere gestures and specious undertakings, from smearing their critics/dissidents with acts of "racial incitement" ["playing the race card"] and seeking to sabotage socio-economic progress/development, to charging them with fermenting political unrest and instability?  

The age-old observation about evil prevailing because 'good men and women' choose to 'stand back and do nothing' bears a shade of poignant resonance and truth in this instance. How does one begin the process of reversing this attitude of indifference among the 'good and decent'? I'll leave this question to the reader to reflect upon!

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One week of scheduled talks remain for negotiators at the UN Climate Talks in Paris (COP21) and a new draft text for an agreement released on Saturday leaves a lot to “push forward” on – despite some positive outcomes – according to the Kingdom’s civil society delegation.

The new draft text has been significantly reduced from the nearly 100-page document that resulted from the previous round of negotiations in Bonn, Germany. The reduction in length left Cambodian negotiators concerned and legal experts estimating it would take years for a final agreement to be ready when only weeks remained.

“In general, there is a lot progress here, despite still [having a] number of brackets in the draft agreement,” said Nop Polin, a delegate representing a broad coalition of Cambodian civil society organizations.

In the draft agreement, so-called bracketed text refers to language that is provisional and has yet to be agreed upon by negotiators. Counting the number of brackets removed can be a way of measuring what progress has been made.

“Despite some blocks from giant oil production countries,” Polin said, he was pleased with the commitment to the scientifically advised 1.5-degree Celsius limit on the rise in global temperatures as a long-term goal.

While a 2-degree rise, the threshold for catastrophic consequences, is still set as the upper limit, the inclusion of the 1.5-degree mark was a major goal for civil society going into the talks.

Meanwhile, securing climate change adaptation and mitigation financing, as well as loss and damage agreements, key issues for the Kingdom and other developing nations, is still uncertain.

“Some commitments by the UK, EU, France, Canada, Australia, Sweden and Germany have already contributed [to] climate finance and will continue to do so,” he wrote, adding that, while “still in brackets”, further expansion of such financing is on the table.

Loss and damage is distinguished as a more short-term “insurance” for natural disaster-stricken countries to draw upon. It is now in the text, but also in brackets.

Furthermore, sustainable development is still being obstructed by countries whose economies rely heavily on oil.

“Related to finance, OPEC oil-producing countries are also attempting to block language on turning economies away from fossil fuels – something generally agreed [upon] by everyone else in the negotiations,” Polin said.