Published December 1, 2010
by jmedalye
On Monday the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties began in Cancun, Mexico. At the start of the conference, the outlook for a meaningful international deal looks grim. With the US unwilling to make international commitments to reduce emissions, and Canada falling in line with the US position, analysts are predicting that Cancun will follow the dismal footsteps of Copenhagen. Progress is expected on REDD+, with Indonesia strongly supporting negotiations on international agreement towards payments for the ecosystem services of tropical forests. According to the UNFCCC, yesterday’s meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-LCA) shows signs of promise for the negotiations on adaptation finance and mitigation finance for developing countries. Meanwhile, newswires and blog reports from activists on the ground have reported renewed frustration with the UN process and its engagement with civil society. Speculations that Mexico has made COP16 deliberately inaccessible to the media and NGOs are erupting throughout the communication channels of these networks. The spatial spread of the conference is astounding with the official negotiations occurring 20 km apart from the NGO side events, and both nearly another 20 km from the Klimaforum community, which is situated far inland on the peninsula. Yesterday, Henry Rummins at Friends of the Earth reported that their delegation was stalled for hours trying to travel through the gridlocked traffic, monitored by military humvees, blocking the roads to the conference. He reports, that the biggest drama of the day came from a journalist demanding of the Mexican hosts in a press conference why they'd put the media centre a ten-minute bus ride from the press conference room. Whether these logistical details will be worked out as the conference precedes remains to be seen. Jacqueline Medalye and Ryan Foster will attend COP16 on behalf of York University from December 3 – 10, 2010.
Posted in: Blogs | Turning Up the Heat
