Bonn climate talks disappointing: RI

Monday, 9 August 2010

The Jakarta Post

Indonesia voiced concern over the outcome of climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, which seemed to move the world further away from a global treaty on emissions cuts targets in Cancun, Mexico, this year.

The five-day climate negotiation, part of the second round of talks before the Cancun summit, was concluded over the weekend (Saturday in Jakarta).

"We are unhappy with the results *of the Bonn meeting*," Indonesian delegation head Rachmat Witoelar told The Jakarta Post from Germany on Sunday.

"This is like a patient suffering a severe disease but not able to die."

He said a lot of work remained undone before the upcoming meeting in China, the last preparatory meeting ahead of Cancun.

The Bonn meeting was the third round of talks this year after the failure of the Copenhagen summit to reach a legally binding treaty.

Around 110 heads of state and governments from the world attended the Copenhagen summit last year.

Rachmat did not elaborate the result of the Bonn meeting, saying it was difficult to repeat the successes made in Bali in 2007.

The Bali meeting reached a consensus after a fortnight of tough negotiations to agree on the Bali road map and Bali action plan. The road map set the deadline for the world to adopt a legally binding treaty in 2009.

The Copenhagen summit, however, failed to meet the target, ending in the Copenhagen Accord political statement.

"It is now difficult to replicate the outcomes of the Bali meeting because a number of developing countries, including Indonesia, have developed rapidly," he said.

"Categorizing annex and non-annex *countries* should be seen in the context of what we can do for the planet, and not what the planet can do for us."

Under the existing Kyoto protocol, only rich "annex" countries are legally bound to cut their emissions.

The undeveloped and developing "non-annex" countries, including emerging countries Indonesia, China, India and Brazil, requested funding from rich nations to mitigate and adapt to the severe impacts of climate change.

Developed nations, however, argued that the emerging countries should also adhere to legally binding targets.

Rachmat said the likely outcome of the Cancun meeting would be a new time line to agree on a global treaty.

US deputy special envoy Jonathan Pershing also expressed disappointment over the poor progress made at the Bonn meeting.

"I came to Bonn hopeful of a deal in Cancun, but at this point I am very concerned as I have seen some countries walking back from progress made in Copenhagen," Jonathan said as quoted by Reuters.

The European Union's co-lead negotiator, Artur Runge-Metzger, also accused some countries of adding text in a "tit for tat" way and said, "It is important in Tianjin to turn that spirit around."

The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned the upcoming meeting in Tianjin, China, should be the last opportunity for governments to resolve outstanding issues and agree to address climate change.

"It was worrying to see that the discussions in Bonn that moved behind closed doors did not progress issues adequately. The mitigation discussion even went backwards and became more polarized," Gordon Shepherd, leader of the WWF global climate change initiative said in a statement.